Truth Is Like the Sun

Chapter 28

Somehow, in a strange sense, the summer of 73 reminded Carol Ann of the summer of 61. It was magical. Carol Ann toured with Elvis for two weeks while AJ went to karate camp to be educated in the martial arts. They spend one week at the ranch with both AJ and Lisa Marie and a three day weekend in Nashville to take the kids to Opryland. It amazed Carol Ann how well Lisa Marie fit. All the awkwardness there had been last year was long gone. If Lisa came to live with them full time, Carol Ann wouldn't have minded one bit. She in fact would have welcomed it. She loved to see AJ and Lisa fight the way she did with her brothers but seeing them make up was even better.

Carol Ann and AJ moved into Graceland the day following the one on which they had made love for the first time in years.

The arrival of fall was a let down for everyone involved. Lisa cried bitterly when she had to return to California. Carol Ann had never seen a child so upset. Even the way AJ bawled when Bonaza was canceled in January did not come close.

AJ settled into his new middle school with an ease that puzzled both his parents. There were teasing incidents, of course and at one point Carol Ann had been called into school because AJ had used karate on another boy, who happened to be a head taller than him.

Carol Ann did drive or fly out to see Elvis at certain concert dates, sometimes with AJ in tow, sometimes on her own. The rumors continued and though there were tears and anger, they dealt with it.

Christmas came and went without any incidents. Priscilla reluctantly dropped off Lisa a few days before the big day and picked her up again after the new year had come.

Lisa's 6th birthday was celebrated in California with her school friends- Elvis, Carol Ann and AJ threw her another when she spend three days out of her spring break with them. Her brothers came to see them at Graceland, along with their wives and children, when AJ turned twelve. Though distant toward Elvis, they seemed accepting enough, unlike her mother, whom she had not spoken to since the day they left her home. Elvis rented the Memphian once again, but this time they filled half the theater with family and friends, including several kids from AJ's school- at least half only came because Elvis Presley was there.

All the while Elvis and Carol Ann planned a wedding. She wanted to keep it simple and Elvis let her do what she wanted. As long as they would be married in the end and all his loved ones would be present, he didn't care so much how and where they would be wed.

Now almost a year had gone by since she moved in already and the day had finally come. Sometimes Carol Ann wondered if Elvis was just supposed to be her perpetual what if. Maybe she wasn't supposed to know what could have been.

Looking in the mirror, the woman staring back at her looked nothing like herself. The woman was beautiful rather than a plain country girl. Her hair was swept into an updo Carol Ann could have never managed by herself, a few delicate curls framing her face. The wedding gown, white with velvet trim and trailing on the ground, fit like a glove. She shouldn't expect anything else though; it had been custom made for her.

"Carol?" Lisa's voice blasted through her thoughts. "Are you gonna get married now?"

"You know we will." Carol Ann turned to smile at the small girl. Priscilla had chosen the ruffled dress the six year old was wearing and though Carol Ann deemed it hideous, she was above letting something so small ruin her wedding day.

Hank, being that he was her oldest brother, had agreed to give Carol Ann away.

"But when?" Lisa complained. "We just keep on waiting and waiting and waiting."

"Lisa." Carol Ann somehow managed to pick the little girl up and place her on the counter in front of her. "We all waited so long, a few minutes won't make no difference."