Free Iced Tea by Sheila Horgan Page B

grace gene into our gene pool.   None of us are going to look that good, probably not ever, but definitely not dancing.”
    The music grew with intensity as they glided around, Morgan looking more beautiful than I could have imagined.  
    When the song was over, we wandered downstairs, got the paperwork, thanked Jovana profusely, and headed across the street to the diner.
     
    “You sure you won’t get in trouble at work, Teagan?   We’ve been here a while, I’m not sure how long you get for lunch, but between the drive over and the dancing, you’ve probably already overshot it.”
    “The nice thing about my job, I’m the Grand Poobah of the office.   It might not pay better, but I do pretty much anything I want, any time I want.”
    “How about you Cara, have you got some time?”
    “I do.”
    “Good.   I have a couple of things I think you should know about me.   Maybe you won’t be as excited to help your brother and me get married once you hear them.”
    Teagan and I exchanged a look.
     
    Teagan ordered a huge plate of hash browns, scattered, a side of ham, and a cup of tea.   I ordered the ma-tuni special, which has nothing to do with tuna, I just want to make that clear.   I ordered Pepsi, as you can never be sure that the tea they serve in a diner is made the proper way, with a Lipton tea bag, and a preheated cup.   Morgan ordered a fried hot dog and french fries, with a diet Pepsi.   If you’re going to eat a fried hot dog, a diet Pepsi seems a little weird, but I kept my mouth shut, for once.
    “First, I just want to say that I love your brother.   He knows everything I am about to tell you, and he says it doesn’t matter, and that he loves me anyway.”
    “Morgan, you don’t have to do this.   Your past, whatever it is, doesn’t matter.   You make Liam happy.   Jordan is a happy kid.   Whatever is in your past might want to stay there.”
    “Teagan, I appreciate it, I really do, but you can’t hide from the past these days.   Between the Internet and no one having any sense of discretion, everything is up for grabs, and I’d rather that I tell you this stuff myself.”
    “I’m just saying that you don’t owe us an explanation of anything.”
    “But I do, and some things are going to seem pretty strange without some background information.   Like the fact that none of my family will be at the wedding.”
    “What?   Why not?”
    “They don’t approve.”
    “But they don’t even know us yet.   We aren’t that bad!   Maybe we should plan a dinner or something.   Let them get to know us before they decide.”
    “It isn’t you they don’t approve of, it’s me.”
    Teagan leaned in, “I don’t understand.”
    “Not very many people know all the facts, most people just have assumptions and guesses, but if you have any questions, I’ll answer them when I’m done.   Please, just let me tell it from the start.”
    Teagan and I exchanged a look.   This couldn’t be good.   Visions of Turkish prisons danced in my head.   Not that I know what a Turkish prison looks like, but the thought crossed my mind.
    Morgan took a deep breath and started in,   “I wanted to be a doctor.   I wanted to be a doctor more than anything else in the world.   It was all I thought about from the time I was a little girl.   I worked hard in school.   I took accelerated classes in high school.   I got to school every morning before 7 and I was still there studying after dinner.   I took classes on the weekend, got my first aid courses done, my CPR classes, everything.   By the time I was old enough, I was working weekends on an ambulance crew, just to find out what it was really like.   I volunteered at the hospital.   I was one hundred percent involved with everything to do with medical training, and I worked hard at it 18 hours a day, every day.”
    She shook her head, “Maybe I should have paid more attention to the things other kids were doing at the time, but I had my head