Pieces of My Life

Chapter 4

They didn't have sex. It wasn't as though that was anything out of the ordinary. Divorced woman or not, Loretta Lynn wasn't one of those loose girls who'd throw herself at Elvis in hopes of ending up in bed with him. It might surprise many, but Elvis didn't jump women on the first, or even second or third date either. He had cheated before and at times he'd been seeing more than one girl at the time (though he didn't have sex with all of them either). Those weren't his proudest moments. If he wanted to be with Loretta, he would have to fully devote himself to her. After what her ex-husband put her through, she needed it more than any other woman he could think of.

The holiday season passed by in a rush. They sent each other Christmas cards and even spoke on the phone for a few minutes on the 25th. Elvis invited her to his birthday party. It wasn't until he woke the next day that he realized that most of his family would be there, including Aunt Delta. After he had cleared out Graceland for the date, all of their subsequent dates had taken place at her Nashville home.

But there was no way he was going to uninvite her now. If she didn't want to come, she would cancel on her own.

She didn't.

Aunt Delta was on her second glass of whiskey before Loretta even got there, the Mafia wouldn't stop teasing him and Lisa Marie complained about Kathy having to stay in Los Angeles because her five-year-old daughter was sick.

Lamar Fike eyed the birthday cake longingly, prompting Elvis to say, "Don't even think about it, man. We're not gonna eat until everyone is here."

"You mean until your girlfriend is here," Charlie taunted.

Elvis glared at him. "You better watch out, guys. And you wonder why I don't want you around when she comes over."

Aunt Delta, who had left the room unbeknownst to Elvis, walked back in with a brand new bottle of whiskey.

Elvis groaned. "Oh no. You had enough. Take that damn thing back to the kitchen."

"You let me be the judge of that."

"Aunt Delta-"

"Your girl is at the door," Joe hollered from the hall. Elvis shot Aunt Delta a warning look before walking off to greet Loretta, everyone else momentarily forgotten.

"You sure look good today," Loretta said. "Happy birthday, baby. I got you a necklace." She handed him the wrapped box she was holding.

"I don't think that you're supposed to tell me what it is."

"But I done did. I hope that you like it. I got it to match your suits."

"A necklace?" Lamar interrupted. "You got a guy a necklace?"

Elvis glowered at him but Loretta seemed unconcerned. "Yeah, I did," she said. "I've seen him wear 'em before so I figured he'd like it. I was gonna get him a ring but he's got a lot of rings."

Lamar twisted his lips. "How would you ever know how many rings he got?"

"Lamar," Elvis said through gritted teeth. "Go back to the dining room, why don't you?"

"Because I really don't want to. You didn't even introduce me to her."

"Alright. Lamar, Loretta. Loretta, Lamar." Elvis pointed between them. "Now I introduced you."

Lamar ran back into the dining room, screaming, "She's got E a necklace, guys. A necklace."

"A masculine necklace," Loretta called after him. "The kind of thing I've seen him wear before."

"Don't mind them," Elvis said. "They're bein' stupid again."

"Honey, I been married to Doolittle Lynn for over thirty years. You shoulda seen how some of his friends would talk to me."