Truth Is Like the Sun

Chapter 16

They returned to the daily grind as autumn came and with it the falling of the leaves. Carol Ann send AJ off to the 5th grade with new school clothes that were soon as ripped and grass stained as last years had been. Elvis went back to his schedule of concerts, appearances and charities while Carol Ann, very much to his dismay, stayed at the factory. Lisa Marie went back to California with her mother, making her the primary reason Elvis went to Los Angeles.

Still, they always found a way to spend time with each other, usually at Graceland. AJ insisted upon going to Graceland every day after school so he could take care of his horse. Needless to say, Louann had a conniption when this had been brought up. She reluctantly acknowledged that it was not up to her (not without making sure that her daughter and grandson knew exactly how she felt about it) but refused to aid them in any way. In the end it was decided that either Joe Esposito or Vernon Presley, depending on who was available at the time, would pick up and return AJ when Carol Ann couldn't.

Their son had come to love Graceland and its inhabitants. Now AJ spend more time both at the house and with Elvis than Lisa Marie did. It was bittersweet in a sense, because that had never been what Carol Ann wanted. All she'd want was for them to get the same amount of love and attention.

On a brisk autumn night, after they had just finished eating, the phone rang and Louann Riley raised her pinched gaze.

"I'll take it," Carol Ann said, attempting to reign in her excitement but outright failing. She wouldn't admit it, but on the days they could not see each other on, she spend all day looking forward to his call. She never thought that she'd ever feel that tingle again, that she would ever fall in love again.

"Hey, honey."

Elvis laughed on the other end. "What if this would've been someone else?"

"Well I know that it was you."

"Don't be too long," Louann said pointedly.

"I still wanna talk to him too," AJ said. "Can I..."

"They botherin' you?" Elvis asked, voice laced with sympathy.

"It's alright."

"Well...I gotta...when do you get off work Friday?"

"Friday? I ain't workin' on Friday."

"Perfect!"

"Perfect, hm?" She couldn't quite hide her skepticism. "What do you got on your mind?"

"What I was thinkin' is that you come over Friday evening before you'd have supper and we drop AJ off at the guest house with his grandpa Vernon and get Dodger over there with em...and then we throw out the Mafia for the night..."

"You're askin' me out on a date," Carol Ann concluded, feeling a blush creep up on her cheeks.

"Got me there, Carrie. Yes, I'm askin' you out on a date...just that it's at Graceland."

"You know that I love Graceland."

"That makes two of us. So that's a yes?"

"Yes." She couldn't explain the girlish giggle that followed. Just as she couldn't explain how she could come home from a long day at the factory with aching limbs, feeling as though she was a hundred years old- and then talk to Elvis, who made her feel as though she was fifteen instead within a matter of minutes. Even with his climbing age, Elvis never lost his youthful spirit. He could act like a mature, responsible man when he needed to, but he'd still tease her the same way he did when they were young.

He'd ride golf carts across the Graceland property with AJ. It resulted in some kind of calamity most of the time. One day one of them was going to break a bone but there was no stopping them.