A Loop in Time by Clark Graham Page A

on her face. He didn’t know why he said it; just a fit of jealousy he guessed. He figured he was losing her so he would go for it. It was all or nothing now.
    “Las Vegas?”
    “Yes, I figure we can elope since you have no family to speak of and since I have no family that I know of. As far as I know, my parents have not been born yet.”
    She stood there in stunned silence for about five minutes. To ease the tension he got down on one knee and did it properly. “Susan, will you marry me?”
    In her head she was screaming, ‘no, no, no.’ it made it all the more surprising when her lips said, “yes!”
    John jumped up and threw his arms around her in a bear hug. She started pounding on his chest, “I can’t breathe.”
    He released his grasp. “I am sorry, I was just so excited.”
    “Let me go get a few things and then we can go.” All the way into the bedroom she was berating herself, ‘are you crazy? You know nothing about him!’ In her heart, however, she was dancing. It was so spontaneous and sudden that she loved every second of it.
    It was like the day she ran away from home with her brother. It had not been planned. He had said, “I can’t live like this any longer. I’m leaving. Are you coming?” She had said yes that time too. She had never felt so free. Her father would never beat her again.
    She selected her nicest dress to get married in. Then she picked up the blue negligee she had thrown into the corner. She was going to need that after all. She packed everything in an overnight bag and then called the hospital and told them she wasn’t going to be at work for a few days. She was taking personal leave.
    She was all smiles when she came out of the bedroom with an overnight bag. “Ready?” He asked.
    “Yes, let’s hurry before we come to our senses.” They both piled in the Jeep for the eight hour drive to Las Vegas. They talked about their future plans and ambitions. He mentioned the conversation he had with Granger and about crop dusting in Idaho. She said that her enlistment was over in six months, so they could move to Idaho after that if the job was still available.
    They were both feeling good about life when they checked into a motel to change and have a shower. She made some calls and found a nice suit for John. They then headed over to the all night wedding chapel to get married.
    It was a small building on a corner and they had to wait in line to get married as there were three other couples ahead of them. When they got there, a receptionist got all of their information and then the preacher performed the ceremony. It was short and sweet and they had a passionate kiss at the end. When they went to leave their paperwork was already done. All they had to do was sign it.
    They went back to the motel where the new negligee came on and then came back off in a matter of a few minutes and they spent the rest of the night entangled in each other’s arms.
     

Chapter Sixteen
     
    It was well into the afternoon when John woke up. He looked over at Susan. She looked so peaceful laying there. Their arms were still around each other but he needed to get up as his hand had fallen asleep and was tingling badly. When he tried to move, it woke up Susan.
    “Oh, good morning,” she said. She was truly happy. “It wasn’t all a dream. We did go crazy and get hitched.”
    “Yes, and had such a wonderful night,” he said as he pulled his arm out from under her head. He started moving his fingers trying to get the circulation back.
    “Mrs. John Buck,” she said as she contemplated her new name. “Or I could just go by Susan Buck. I guess legally I should go by Bobby Sue Buck.”
    John was surprised by this. “Your name is Bobby Sue?”
    “Yes, most people go by their first name and then shorten it. I go by my middle name and I lengthened it. My parents thought it was so cute to have twins. They named us Bobby Sue and Bobby Joe. It didn’t work as he went by Bob and I went by Susan. The