“You won’t end up alone,” I reassure her. Since she’s no longer paying attention to the fountain, I lace our fingers together, so we don’t get separated in the crowd, and lead her down the Strip. We don’t have a destination in mind. We simply wander. Sheoohsandahhsover the lights and architecture, but it’s a little white chapel with a neon sign that has her stopping in her tracks.
“Ohmygod, it’s so cute,” she gushes, holding a hand to her heart. “I wonder if this is one of the chapels where you can have an Elvis marry you?” A giggle slips out of her parted lips.
“I tried to convince Maddox and Isla to get married at one of these tonight,” I tell her.
She giggles again. “I know, silly. I was there.”
“Oh. Right.” We both stare at the white chapel, swaying slightly. “Wanna see if they do tours?”
“Tours?” Mira scrunches up her nose. “That place is tiny. What would we tour?”
I shrug. “Wanna see if they have an Elvis?”
“Yes,” she says, clapping her hands. That idea has her excited.
“Do you think he’ll be a young Elvis or an old Elvis?” Young Elvis really knew how to make the ladies go crazy for him. Old Elvis liked weird-ass sandwiches that give me heartburn just thinking about them. I hope it’s a young Elvis.
“I don’t know.” Mira leans forward a bit, narrowing her eyes like she might develop X-ray vision if she tries hard enough. It’s adorable.
I tug her toward the chapel’s front door. “Let’s find out.”
We only stumble twice on our walk up to the little white building, but it has us giggling like idiots.
Mira shushes me as I open the door. “Shhh. People might be gettingmarriedin there.” She smashes her finger against my lips.
I shut my mouth because she appears super serious, and I don’t want to piss Mira off. The Graves siblings have atemperif you rub them the wrong way. She seems mollified when I nod, even though I almost burst out laughing again when her finger ends up in my left nostril because of the motion. We stagger inside, and a Dolly Parton lookalike gives us a megawatt smile.
“Well hey there, sugar dumplins. You two looking to get married tonight?”
Mira and I look at each other and break out into more giggles. Us? Get married? That would be crazy.
“Tell me,” Mira says. “Does Elvis himself do the marrying?”
Dolly smiles. “Why, of course. There’s nothing quite like being married by the King himself.”
Maddox is such an idiot for passing this up.
“Is he an old Elvis or a young Elvis?” I ask.
Dolly throws back her head and laughs. “Young Elvis tonight, darlin’.”
I turn wide eyes on Mira and bounce on the balls of my feet, because Young Elvis? Hell, yeah! That’s what I’m talking about. “It’s young Elvis, Mir.Young Elvis!”
“So, is that a yes?” Dolly asks. “We’ve got a few different packages I’d be happy to tell you about. But a beautiful couple like you? I’d recommend the Enchanted Graceland package.”
“Enchanted Graceland? That sounds pretty,” Mira says.
“Oh, honey, it is.” Dolly waves us over to her little reception desk and flips open a brochure. “Let me tell you all about it.”
seven
MIRA
Why is it so hot?And why can’t I move? Where am I? Everything hurts and my mouth tastes like ass.
What the hell did I do last night?
My head is throbbing, so I obviously had too many drinks when we all went out. That much, at least, is clear. I vaguely remember Maddox carrying Isla out of the club when she started to fall asleep, but everything after that is hazy. Kind of like my mind right now.
