Elvis and Ginger: Elvis Presley's Fiancée and Last Love Finally Tells Her Story by Ginger Alden Read Free Book Online Page B

upstairs to the master bedroom and left. I was just as nervous as the night before and could feel my heart racing.
    Elvis was sitting on his bed, watching television. He wore a loose-fitting navy jumpsuit and a black rhinestone belt with chains. As he greeted me with a smile, I relaxed a little and thought with relief,
So last night was real.
    Elvis got up and walked past the foot of his bed to turn off the TV, looking over his shoulder at me. “You know, television destroys the art of conversation,” he said.
    This was an interesting observation, coming from a man who had at least one television set in just about every room. Returning to his bed, he asked me to sit beside him. I did as he requested, trusting him to be as gentlemanly as he’d been the night before.
    We talked a little about music. When I told Elvis that my mother often played hymns, and that “In the Garden” and “How Great Thou Art” had always been two of my favorites, he asked me to follow him into his office. I was touched when he started playing the organ and sang “In the Garden” just for me.
    I had always admired Elvis’s voice, which was so uniquely his—it could be soulful, tender, or powerful as he chose. Now, as Elvis sang softly to me, I felt calmed by the same peaceful, comforting feeling I’d had back home when listening to his gospel albums. Elvis knew how to reach inside you and touch your soul with his voice.
    Afterward, I followed Elvis back to his bedroom, where he began talking about a car he owned, a Ferrari that he’d nicknamed the Black Mamba. “I named it after the fastest snake in the world,” he said enthusiastically and then went into more detail about the car.
    I had never even sat in a Ferrari, much less ridden in one. When he brought up his car, I thought he wanted me to see it. “Can we go for a ride in your Ferrari?” I asked.
    “Not now,” Elvis said. “I’ll decide when we take a ride in it. That car is too fast for you.”
    Ha!
I thought. Little did he know how much I loved to speed down the highway on a motorcycle. I felt a little awkward at that moment, wondering if this was Elvis’s way of letting me know he liked to be in control.
    A few books still lay on the floor beside his bed. Elvis reached for Cheiro’s
Book of Numbers
and seemed eager to pick up where we had left off reading the previous night. Going through books again wasn’t what I had expected, but I thought it was interesting that he wanted to read together on a date.
    I felt a little less tense this time as we read to one another, and I found the subject of numerology intriguing. It wasn’t something I thought anyone could understand right off the bat, but I was open to it. Elvis seemed to enjoy teaching, and I listened closely, trying to grasp the material.
    After we’d discussed the book a little while, Elvis changed the subject, bringing up another of his cars, a Stutz Blackhawk. He mentioned taking me for a ride in it over to Memphis Aero to see an airplane he owned. (Memphis Aero was a part of Memphis International Airport for private planes.)
    I grew excited as Elvis made a few phone calls, setting his plans in motion. He even invited some cousins along, which made me wonder whether Elvis, like me, sometimes needed a safety net, just like I relied on my sisters.
    When Elvis went into his bathroom, leaving me seated on his bed, I glanced about the room and observed more details than I’d taken in during my first visit. Antihistamine bottles, a box of tissues, and two telephones crowded his night table. A closed-circuit television monitor, its power off, was close by. I wondered again if Elvis had been watching my sisters and me the night before. (I never would see it turned on though.)
    A television set with a Betamax tape player on top of it stood against the wall opposite the foot of the bed. To the left of that, a bookcase held a record player, radio, and some Betamax tapes. On top of the bookcase were a couple of framed