Playing House Away From Home

Chapter 17

"I covered him up," called Charlie, who had overheard the conversation.

"Let's hope we won't have to cover him up," Loretta said, trying to keep from laughing. "Was it a jumpsuit?"

"He only wears those now," Lamar said.

"Lamar," Elvis said, "I told you all I was gonna wear the 68 special suit."

Elvis and Loretta had both opted to wear clothing they normally wouldn't wear during their regular performances. Elvis told her of the white 68 special suit the moment he became aware of the fact that it was still in his closet. He'd gained some weight, but managed to lose it again in time for the tour. Loretta had found a yellow dress she wore once on the Wilburn show. It wasn't quite an evening gown for it was long but not trailing on the floor.

At dress rehearsal they matched after all. They joked that Sam and Grace McCall, the couple they had played in the movie, would have looked like this if they were of high society.

They would start the tour in Kentucky and finish in California, as the couple in the movie did. The initial idea had been that they would go only through states the McCalls would have gone through on their journey, but it was quickly abandoned in favor of more profitable venues elsewhere. The moment they heard that they would be going to Kentucky, both Elvis and Loretta wanted to go to Lexington, as the Brinkmans had moved there from whatever small town they had lived in before. They made sure they got tickets and told them that they were free to give them away if it wasn't convenient for them. In a sense they were hoping to see the children again- meanwhile Loretta's twins were hoping that they wouldn't. Peggy and Patsy had begged their mother to perform anywhere but in Lexington.

Elvis had laughed and told Loretta it could only mean that her little girls were more attached to her than she assumed. Loretta didn't seem to find it nearly as amusing though.

Elvis dropped his head in his hands and sighed. "Less than a week and we still don't have no official program." He forced himself to sit up straight yet again. "You wanna keep How Great Thou Art?"

"It's a great hymn."

"It is a great hymn," Elvis agreed. "But the way we're doing it is not so great."

"Well, it's like you done said to me when we was filming. If it ain't good you gotta try again till it is."

Elvis' lips moved into a half smile. "Hmm. You said that you still wasn't any good."

"Well, I'm not an actress and I don't think no one could train me to be."

It was funny how, after knowing each other for such a short period of time, they build each other up when they started to doubt. If Elvis paid his doubts any attention, they would worm their way into his heart and eat away at it. Still, he could feel his edge slipping away recently.

"So try that again?" Elvis asked, fingers slipping through his hair.

"I think that it's a real great hymn."

"Can ya say yes or no, my lady?"

"Yes," Loretta said firmly. "We'll just have to find the right key."

"I sure hope no one is gonna expect everything we sing to be on the record."

"Ain't like we couldn't tell 'em that."

Elvis and Loretta agreed that they wouldn't incorporate any planned jokes into their routine. Anything that might come up would be spontaneous. They were both over having to work with a script after the movie.

"Guys." Joe's voice rang. "Might be time to get up and back to work."

Elvis groaned. "Want some water?" he asked Loretta.