Truth Is Like the Sun

Chapter 21

The weather was frigid, too cold even for the first week of December, at least for Tennessee. Carol Ann couldn't help the feeling of annoyance in her stomach though she tried to squash it down as she drove to Graceland after work. Somehow work had gotten tedious in a way it hadn't been before. And somehow she ended up not at Graceland but somewhere else instead.

She had been here once before, with a baby boy who was no more than six months of age asleep in her arms. She had felt as though she wasn't supposed to be there then but now it felt right. Knowing that she was in the presence of her future mother in law was like a rite of passage.

Heavy sadness mingled with something akin to joy as well as a longing to have known this woman Elvis had so adored.

Carol Ann had cried last time, but though tears did well up in her eyes she also found herself smiling. Her fingers traced the outline of Gladys Presley's gravestone. She longed to say a few words and hope that they somehow made it up to heaven but she wasn't alone. They were only a few people around, but she was afraid that they might overhear her.

Part of her wanted to keep their relationship a secret forever. What they had between them was just theirs now. Her mother's disapproval was already bad enough; she didn't dare to think how his fans would react, how Priscilla would react.

If Priscilla didn't know already.

She didn't pay any attention to the dismal cold and damp, wrapping around her like a blanket capable of chilling her to the bone.

Carol Ann wished that she had planned this, so she could have left a few flowers. But her watch told her that there wasn't any time for that, she was expected at Graceland.

With December starting Elvis and Carol Ann wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time together and she was aware of it. The pre Christmas season was a busy time for everyone. They would spend the holidays themselves apart as well, he at Graceland with his family, including Lisa Marie and Priscilla, and she at her brother's farm two miles away from their first neighbor.

Carol Ann tried to block out all thought before making her journey to Graceland.

There was something especially inviting about the atmosphere. Maybe it was the Christmas decorations that had just been put up, or the smell of sugar cookies emitting from the kitchen.

"Hey Mama!" AJ came darting out of the kitchen. "Me n' Mary made two loads of cookies already."

"And you went and mucked out too?"

"Course I did. Mary said that I can take some home if I want to."

"You can, hm?" Carol Ann pretended to mull this over but was unable to keep from smiling at the desperate look on AJ's face.

"Please?" AJ whimpered.

"Of course, buddy. You take a few."

His pout flipped to a beam and he took off without another word. Elvis appeared in the doorway, wearing his usual smile. Instead of greeting her, he broke out into song, "Hey Carrie Ann, what's your game now, can anybody play. Hey Carrie Ann-"

"Not anyone," Carol Ann cut in. "But you might."

AJ emerged yet again, face contorted in disgust. "Her name's Carol Ann not Carrie Ann. Why do you call her that?"

Elvis chuckled. "It's a song."

"I know. And I don't like it and no one calls her that."

"He always did call me that," Carol Ann said. "And Uncle Jeff and Uncle Hank would too."