Following the finger he pointed, Bonnie saw a trellis decorated with flowers and twined with small white lights. Elvis had moved and now waited for them in front of the platform under the arch.
Rita had left the restaurant. She stood next to Mildred Granger to one side of the trellis. Both women grinned at the couple.
JT hurried Bonnie over to them. “Ma, what are you doing here? Who’s with Pa?” The words came out with a whoosh of breath.
Bonnie stared up at him oddly, causing JT to redden a little and shrug. “I worry about him.”
She nodded and looked toward the smiling women, each dressed in a flowered muumuu. “How is your husband, Mildred? I miss seeing him every day.”
The other woman looked from her claimed son to Bonnie and grinned broadly. “He’s just fine. Tucked up into bed and out like a light. So there’s no reason to worry, Captain.”
Bonnie’s eyes widened at the nickname. “Why Captain?” She met JT’s eyes as she asked.
Mildred chuckled. She shook her head and made a motion at her lips as if locking them with a key. Bonnie moved her gaze to the man beside her.
At her silent insistence, he groaned. “It’s connected to my name.”
“So, am I going to hear what the letters stand for?”
He shook his head. “I told you. You have to marry me first.”
The mothers and Elvis broke out into belly laughs. Something about the situation had Bonnie reaching into her pocket for the white bag. Before she got it to her lips, JT softly whispered encouragement next to her ear as he slowly rubbed her back.
“Just concentrate on your hands. Say, ‘My hands are warm.’” She did and actually felt heat melt down her arm and into her fingers.
“Say it again,” he gently urged as he eyed his braying mother.
When Mildred looked his way, he shook his head and frowned. His voice remained gentle as he coached Bonnie, something she noticed. It helped to bring her out of the panic as much as his mantra had.
The laughter stopped. Something still seemed wrong. To Bonnie, it was like she’d wandered into a play where everyone knew the lines except her. Well, her and JT.
A tug on her grass skirt tore Bonnie’s eyes away from that man. She looked down to see the Simpson twins.
One of the girls held up an orchid. “This is for you to hold. But be careful with it. Daddy said it’s deli—”
Her face scrunched up in thought as she struggled with the word. “Delicate?” Bonnie supplied the word, and both girls bobbed their agreement.
“Isn’t it kind of late for you two to be up? I’d expect you both to be in bed by now.”
The girls nodded in tandem, like they did most things, making their silk-flowered leis bounce. “Daddy said we could stay—” One said, while the other finished, “—until after Elvis is done.”
Hearing his name, Elvis took control. He’d been ignored long enough and wasn’t used to it. “Come on over here, little lady.” He gestured and the flutter of the jumpsuit’s cape caused rhinestones to catch the twinkling white light. It gave him a glowing appearance, almost angelic even.
At the singer’s direction, Bonnie and JT held both of each other’s hands and faced one another under the trellis. That done, Elvis started his song.
“It’s now or never. Be mine tonight…”
JT, a man who was basically still a stranger, leaned down and knew the exact words to calm her. “It’s for your town. Just let him sing. It’ll be over soon.” He squeezed the hands he held.
How could this man so easily understand what she needed? Bonnie’s mind reeled with the feelings he created in her. It went beyond tingles of attraction. She felt complete. As if her future was secure as long as he stood next to her.
Elvis sang out a high note and held it on the word, “Love.” He finished the familiar song to the roar of the audience. Bonnie didn’t know how these people had the energy to be so enthusiastic. Not after all the activity of the luau.
The singer held up a rhinestone-studded arm to calm the crowd. “Thank ya, thank ya very much!”
Those famous words sent a wave of laughter through the small crowd. “Now folks, we have some business to do yet, and Elvis is just the man to make it happen.”
An expectant hush blanketed the parking lot. Even the band members were silent. Bonnie clutched JT’s hands nervously.
“We’re gathered here to join this man and woman in holy matrimony. Does anyone know--”
Bonnie’s screech cut him off. “Whaaaat!”
Rita stepped forward. Before she could say anything, JT leaned down. “It’s all a part of the party. Just like a play or something.”
Bonnie nodded. “For the town.”
Near her, Bonnie watched her mother beam as her thin shoulders relaxed. Funny, but she hadn’t noticed how thin her mother had become in the last month. She wanted to stop this farce and ask her about it. Elvis steamed ahead with the odd play.
“Anyone know why these two shouldn’t be wed?” He paused only a moment. “Good. Let’s get ‘er done, then.”
Inclining his head to JT, the singer pointed a ringed finger in his direction. “Do you,” Elvis looked down at a paper he held and read, “James Tiberius Kirk—”
The crowd erupted at the name. Elvis held up his hands for silence. “What are we, on an episode of Star Trek?”
Reaching her face up to JT’s red one, she whispered, “Captain. Makes sense now. Just wait for mine.”
He relaxed a little at her camaraderie. Elvis continued on then, asking JT to love and cherish the woman next to him until death parted them.
“I
