Blue Like Elvis Read Online Free PDF

“And I must say, the
years have been kind to you. I can’t get over it! Jimmy’s scrawny little
sister, all grown up and beautiful.”
    “Hey, if you two
will excuse me,” Pamela said, squeezing my arm, “I’m sure you have lots of
catching up to do. See you after lunch, Shelby?”
    “Sure thing.
Thanks, Pamela.”
    “Bye, Pamela,”
Tucker added.
    “Bye, Dr. Thompson.”
    “Pretty girl,”
he whispered as she walked away.
    “Ya think?” I answered,
turning back to look at him. I still couldn’t believe it. It simply would not
compute in my mind that the obnoxious kid I put up with all those years was
standing right here in front of me . . . looking like this ?
His hair was still curly, and a handful of freckles still splashed across his
nose. The years had been morethan kind to Tucker Thompson, if the
gentle laugh lines crinkling around his eyes were any indication.
    I suddenly
realized he was wearing a white lab coat. With his name embroidered on the
pocket. “Tuck, are you a doctor ?”
    “Well, thanks
for that bold vote of confidence. But yes, I’m a doctor. This is my first year
of residency.”
    “But how did you
end up here? Didn’t I hear you went to Vanderbilt?”
    “Yeah, I did my
undergraduate work there, then lucked into my internship there at the
Vanderbilt Hospital. But what about you? What are you doing here? Last I heard
you were at Samford.”
    I had to take
another deep breath. “Oh, well, I graduated last spring. Actually, today is my
first day on the job.”
    “Really? Here at
Baptist?” Same goofy smile. But somehow, it looked downright mesmerizing now.
    “Yeah, I’m going
to be working in the hostess department. We visit patients and—”
    “Oh, I know all
about the hostesses. Everybody does. Great program. The patients all love them.
Doctors do too,” he smirked, doing a bad Groucho imitation with an imaginary
cigar.
    He just stood
there smiling at me. I felt all woozy inside. Which only made me mad, of
course. Woozy? Over Chubby Tucker Thompson?
    “Listen, Moon—”
    “Tucker, you’ve gotto stop calling me that. I’m working here, okay?”
    “Fine, sure. No
problem. So Shelby, do you have plans for lunch? Wanna join me in the
cafeteria?”
    Oh dear. By this point, I was on brain and emotion overload. I could almost hear the fog
horn blasting through my mind. Aoogah! Aoogah! Wasn’t that the warning
signal heard on submarines? Submarines? Where did that come from? Oh,
for the love of Pete. I had to get a hold of myself. Grow up, Shelby. It
isn’t Robert Redford. It’s Tucker Thompson.
    I scratched my
eyebrow. “Lunch? Um, well . . . yeah, I guess.”
    His smile faded.
“Gee, don’t sound so excited. I don’t want to put you out or anything.”
    “No!” I reached
out and touched his arm. I pulled it back, as if it had done the deed on its
own. “No, Tucker, it’s not that. I . . . I’d like that. I would.
But can you give me just a minute to check by the office first?”
    His face
relaxed. “Sure. I’ll just wait right here. Take your time.”
    Remember when I
said it felt like my head was about to spin off? It did. Right then and there,
toppling off down the hall.
    Good heavens.

Chapter 4
     
    Ten minutes later
we’d gone through the cafeteria line and found a table near the windows. The smell
of the food. The memory jolt. The information overload. It was definitely
taking its toll. I’d picked a salad and hoped I could park it where it
belonged—in my stomach, not on Tucker’s nice white lab coat.
    It was strange
at first, trying to reconnect when our original encounters were so . . .
bizarre. But glory, I could hardly take my eyes off him. It was so weird.
Completely surreal. Him sitting there, looking so handsome. Me, sitting here
trying to fork my lettuce and get it in my mouth. We caught up on each other’s
lives, filling in the gap of so many years. We talked about our families and
memories of growing up in Memphis.
    “So, how’s