Free Iced Tea by Sheila Horgan

took a whole lot longer than we expected.   I really don’t know how much it cost to do this, I really don’t want to know, but I know our insurance rates took a hit and don’t even mention the tax thing in front of my husband.”
    “They certainly did a beautiful job.”
    “Let me show you something else.”   Jovana led us back to the far end of the room.   There was a smaller room, the size of a large bedroom, with full makeup table, a small round platform to one side, the windows, just like the ballroom, and a huge ornate old-fashioned standing mirror.
    “Now picture this, Sugar.   It’s your wedding day, you come on up here, we can play some music for you, serve you a drink, your makeup artist can do your makeup right here, and look, look at this.”  
    She pulled Morgan over to the mirror, positioned her at an angle.  
    “Sugar, we take your picture right here.   Then we can Photoshop it any way you want.   We can have you looking in the mirror as a beautiful bride, and have a picture of you as a child looking back.   I did one last year of the bride looking back wearing her first communion outfit, it was stunning.   But you know what I think I would do with you Sugar, I’d take a picture of you in your wedding dress, standing next to your best man, and if you have a picture of the two of you together when he was just a pup, I’d superimpose that picture looking back at you.”
    “That sounds lovely Jovana, it really does, but I’m on a budget.   There won’t be any makeup artist, no photographer.   I was hoping that the family could get some casual pictures, and that AJ might be willing to take a couple of formal ones.”
    “Oh, Sugar, we can do better than that!   Honey, AJ will take some pictures, cause that is what we photographers do, but I was hoping you would allow me to be your photographer.”
    Morgan looked slightly trapped.   I could see that she was adding the price of a ballroom, together with the price of a first rate photographer, and the number was much bigger than she could deal with.
    “Sugar, get that look out of your eye.   It doesn’t cost nothin’ for me to take a picture, and I’m not gonna charge you a dime.   It’s all digital.   I’ll take the pictures, I’ll put them on a disk for you, and you can choose which ones you want to print out.   AJ can help you figure all that out.”
    “I could never impose on you like that.”
    “Sugar, I wanted daughters all my life.   It just didn’t work that way for me.   I’m never going to get the chance to be the mother of the bride and my son married a lovely girl with a lovely mother, so I didn’t even get to abscond with the mother of the bride duties for her.   If I can do a little bit here and there, for a few young ladies, it brings me joy.   It isn’t an imposition Sugar, it’s an honor.”
    That got all three of us.   We teared up, but I’m proud to say, we kept it together.   Mostly.
    “So, Sugar, do you like what you see?”
    “It’s beautiful.”
    “Would you like to get married here?”
    “I’d love to, but I’m not sure we can swing it.”
    “Well, let’s get down to brass tacks.   This is what it will cost you.   You need to take out an insurance policy for the day.   My insurance guy does it all the time; the charge is reasonable, since we’ve never had a problem.   You need a couple of security people.   I know your group won’t be a problem, but because we’re in Old Town, it’s best to have someone at the door, making sure that your guests are the only ones coming into the place.   If you have your own people, that’s fine, but I have got a few guys that are willing to do security, they’re bouncers at the bar, they charge $50 each, and food, whatever you are serving is fine.”   Jovana lowered her voice, “They mostly do it to meet your young female guests.”
    “Let’s see, what else?   Oh, if you want to serve your guests food, we have a full kitchen