Truth Is Like the Sun

Chapter 7

Very few thoughts passed through Carol Ann's consciousness as she watched her boy ride. Elvis was still asleep though it was past noon. That wasn't unusual when they were dating, but Elvis had been up with her and AJ every morning for the last three days.

How could three days feel like an eternity and yet like a second?

It was hard to describe what it was like to be on the ranch with Elvis and her son but she knew that she didn't want it to end. It would be over all too soon though. As soon as tomorrow, when Elvis' beloved daughter would come to join them.

Carol Ann hadn't even asked if Priscilla knew who Elvis was with out there. It all weighted heavy on her mind. The past would have to be dealt with and she supposed that it was- little by little, piece by piece. It was sad to think of all the time they'd lost, of all the times they could have been there for one another and didn't simply because they never knew. Carol Ann wished that she could have known the life they would have lived had they just been together from the very beginning.

"Aaron, don't make me get you off that horse" Carol Ann scolded when her son became too boisterous, tossing his hat in the air and half leaping out of his saddle to attempt to catch it.

"I'm a cowboy, Mama!" AJ exclaimed, though his hat landed on the ground and he was barely holding on.

"I'm gonna tan your hide in a moment."

"Aw, come on. I'm a cowboy. Like Bonanza."

"Aaron Jesse Riley! I'll-" Carol Ann trailed off when she heard a masculine chuckle behind her.

There stood Elvis Presley, a crooked smile spread over his handsome face. "Now that really takes me back, ya know?"

Carol Ann nodded, responding with a smile of her own. "Takes me back too. Just bein' here on a farm."

"Little boy is pretty good. He's a natural."

"He's gonna break his neck if he keeps going like that. Makes me think of when you and those guys went tossin' fireworks at each other. Now who does that?"

"Guess that was kinda dumb, huh?"

"It scared me," Carol Ann admitted softly.

"Sorry that it did." His voice was full of conviction. He was the same man he had been back then, yet he was someone completely different at the same time. His life now did not even resemble the life he'd had in 1961. Carol Ann's however was almost the same. Little changed in her world.

"Back then you told me to..what was it? Carrie don't be a square?"

Elvis let out a soft laugh. When it faded a smile settled in its place. It was somewhat hazy, matching the afternoon sun over their shoulders. "So we're doin' the barbecue thing today?"

"Don't see why not. AJ's gonna be happy about that."

"If we can get him off that horse. Boy does he love that horse."

"Maybe we could do it tomorrow though. Does Lisa like barbecue?"

"Sure does," Elvis said.

"What are some of her favorites?"

"Whatever you guys want is gonna be fine."

They watched as AJ got off his horse, panting heavily as he led her over to the stables. Elvis pointed toward the boys legs, making Carol Ann aware of his cowboy swagger, a gait he had often tried to imitate before though this time it was most likely due to sitting on a horse's broad back for hours. Both Elvis and Carol Ann suppressed laughter, their hearts filling with pride for their young wannabe cowboy.