Acquiring Trouble (29 page)

Morgan and
the
group entered th
e c
afé
and found Miss Lily standing in the middle of the room with her broom tilted threateningly at John Wolfe’s portly stature. In fact, the patrons were so engrossed in the scene that they didn’t even notice that the i
nfamous Morgan Hamilton had entered
.

“What’s going on?” Morgan whispered to Miles.

“I don’t know. But it seems riveting. I can’t look away… is she going to hit him or not? Is he going to
hit her with his belly and send her flying across the room?”

Morgan agreed. She couldn’t stop watching as the broom got closer and closer to John’s face.

“I’m telling you I’m the first one who said we needed to admit we made a mistake about Morgan. That she wasn’t the same pierced and dyed delinquent that she was in high school. And, I’m the one who said maybe she wasn’t
as
bad in high school as we made her out to be.” Miss Lily leaned threatening closer to John’s red face.

“If you
ain’t
lying you
ain’t
breathin
’! I was the first one to tell them that. It was me who got the scoop on you! I knew the second the mercenaries drove into town. How do you think Dinky and Noodle got there so fast? You beat that
,
woman!” John leaned down and brought his face near Miss Lily’s.

“I know she’s working with the FBI and has been this whole time in order to right the wrongs of her company. That she’s
riskin
’ her life for justice. Now beat that you old
billy
goat!” Miss Lily smirked as she poked John in the chest. Her perfectly coiffed
hair
had
fallen slightly on
her run from her house to the c
afé to spread the gossip
she’d had just learned about Morgan.

Morgan couldn’t take her eyes away the scene. The broom was so close and
John and Miss Lily were toe-to-
toe. John leaned forward
and placed his lips on Miss Lily’s. The patrons gave a collective gasp. Morga
n felt her eyes go wide and her
chin
nearly
hit the floor along with everyone
else’s.

“That’ll shut you up
,
”
John murmured
into the shocked silence.

THWAK! Miss Lily’s broom came down hard over John’s head.
Pieces of straw went flying and there was now a big crack along the broom’s handle.
Miss Lily spun on one heel, put her nose up in the air
, and sauntered out of the café as John smiled after her.

“Well. Morgan, I do believe you’re no longer a novelty after that display.
So, how about breakfast? I do love the steak and eggs
,
” Marcy
said as she
took a s
eat at one of the round tables.

Morgan looked around and almost laughed at what she saw. No one was bothering her. They were all gossiping about John finally making a move on Miss Lily.

“After all, his wife had died almost ten years ago…”

“Miss Lily should finally get over that boy.”

“They bonded over gossip.”

“Maybe she’
ll
finally learn how he finds things out before anyone else. I still think
it’s
aliens.”

It was a
wonderful
feeling to sit down without the whole restaurant looking at her and knowing that for once the whispers weren’t about her.

Miles held out a chair and Morgan sat down. Mar
cy and Jake sat across from her.
Paige and Cole sat between Miles and Jake. The bell rang over the door and Pierce strode in.
He looked around and smiled when he saw the group.

“I had to
give my statement to the FBI. What did I miss?” He took the seat next to his mother and looked around in confusion as everyone started laughing.

Morgan relaxed into her seat. Exhaustion was slow
ing taking over as she sipped
her coffee and enjoyed the easy banter around her. Paige asked about
her life in
DC
and if she enjoyed living in a big city. Morgan could tell Paige was trying very hard to make up for the way she had previously treated her.
The old Morgan
would’ve
held onto the grudge. A
s she sat there with laughter around her and Miles’
s
arm around her shoulder, she decided it was time to let go of the past. She felt the anger and the bitterness slide away and decided from
here on out
she was going to focus on the
happiness of the future.

“Morgan?”
Pam drew her attention away from her thoughts and back to the present. “Can I join you?”

Morgan looked at her normally composed sister and saw nervousness in her eyes along with sadness. They had been best friends until
Morgan
started to look like her biological father
,
which caused
their
parents
to break
their sisterly bond
. “Of course you can.” Morgan smiled and saw Pam’s face tr
ansform into guarded happiness.

“John called me this morning and told me all about what happened last night. Are you alright?” Pam asked as she took th
e last empty seat at the table.

“I am. Thank you, Pam.” Morgan smiled at her sister and wished they could be close once again. She was so tired of feeling alone. She had been observing the Davies family and a desire
hit her
like she’d never had before
—a
desire to have children, to see them playing with their cousins while she and Pam laughed at their games. Miles appeared and laughed along with them. She wanted that more t
han anything else in the world.

“Then I heard what Miss Lily said about you
working with the FBI to do what was right.” Pam leaned forward and dropped her voice so that their conversation was private. “It got me thinking. A person who would risk their life for people she didn’t even know would have an innate sense of right and wrong.” Morgan nodded, but wondered where her sister was going with this. Pam nibbled on her lower lip, just like Morgan did when she was thinking before continuing, “
You didn’t really kiss Stephen did you?”

“No.
I was asleep a
nd woke to find his hands on me,
” Morgan said a little
more harshly than she intended.

Pam shook her head, the sadness coming back into her eyes. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I tried to, but
D
ad was
already blaming me and kicking me out of the house. And then Stephen was telling you all that I was seducing him. No one
would’ve
believed me
,
so why bother?” Morgan shrugged and tried to pretend t
he accusations no longer stung.

“
I’m so sorry Morgan. I made your life miserable. No wonder you never came back.” Tears glistened in Pam’s eyes as she pulled out a tissue from the pocket of her navy blue
,
perfectly creased
slacks
.

“It’s okay, Pam. It was a long time ago,” Morgan said, realizing that she no l
onger felt the anger she once held for
her sister. She felt so free now. Free to love,
free to move on with her life.

“No, it’s not. I was horrible and
D
ad just encouraged it. Why would he do that?” Pam asked a little too loud fo
r Morgan’s taste.

Miles turned his head toward them now and the rest of the table did a poor job of pretending not to listen. Well, if
Morgan
was to move forward she needed to
tell them all the truth. Her mother had
tried
to
find the courage
after she left, but couldn’t
. Morgan may be beaten and bruised,
but she had courage in spades.

“He did it because I wasn’t his child and he hated me for it.” Pam’s eyes went large and her hand covered her open mouth. Morgan heard the sharp intake of breath
that ca
me from the table, but then she felt the reassuring feel of Miles’
s
hand on her shoulder.
“Mom told me the afternoon of my disownment. She fell in love with a man in Cincinnati. She found out she was pregnant and was about to leave
D
ad when she got a call telling her that her lover had died. Dad threatened her with social abandonment and disgrace if she left. So she made a deal with him to claim me as his in return for her staying and not causing him any embarrassment either at being cuckold
ed
.
”

Pam closed her eyes while she processed what she had just heard. Her lips began to quiver as tears rolled down her cheeks. She took the offered napkins and wiped
tears
away before reaching for Morgan’s hand.
“No wonder you didn’t come back to his funeral.
I
t was you that left roses at
M
om’s grave every year, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. I was at the funeral too. Mom and I talked every Saturday
for two hours until she passed.”

“I feel as if everything I’ve known has
been a lie
,” Pam whispered as her tears began again. She took a deep breath and pulled herself together, squaring her shoulders as she looked anew at the sister she willingly pushed away.  With a big grin she said, “
The only thing for certain is that we have so much to catch up on! I
have
to get
my
kids
.
They always wanted to have an aunt. Do you mind? I’ll get them out of school so they can spend the whole day with you. Wait, first I’
ll go tell Jeffery and then we’ll get the kids. Oh Morgan, this is going to be wonderful!” Pam threw her ar
ms around Morgan a
nd pulled her into a tight hug.

“Oh that’s so sweet!” Paige dabbed her eyes and then pinned her brother with a stare. “Miles, I want
a
sister
.
You guys never do that
.
”

Morgan looked up and found Miles looking at her with such adoration that she felt her heart melt. She longed to leap into
his
arms and kis
s him.

“I’ll do my best, sis.”

“I have to go get Jeffery
and then the kids
. I’ll meet you back here in thirty minutes.” Pam
hurried out the front door with a large smile on her face. Morgan looked around and found Miss Daisy and Miss Violet with their heads together, tears in their
eyes and smiles on their faces.

“Someone needs an order of pecan pancakes
,
” Miss Violet sniffled as sh
e disappeared into the kitchen.

Miles leaned back in his chair and rested his arm around Morgan’s shoulders. He absently traced a circ
le with his thumb over the borrowed Kentucky sweatshirt
and found himself thinking about running his hands over her soft skin instead of
the
shirt. He smiled as she laughed at a story his mother was telling her. If he had actually been paying attention instead of daydreaming
about
ripping off her clothes, then he probably
would’ve
been embarrassed. His mother loved to tell childhood stories about him. Her favorite
s
were the stories of the seriou
s elder brother who liked orders, schedules,
and sometimes wore a superman cap
e when he was doing his chores.

Morgan laughed again and placed her hand on his knee as she looked up at him. God
, he loved this woman. There were
no if
,
ands
,
or buts about it. The feeling was bursting up from his heart and he knew he never wanted to spend another day away from her.
If he were
n’t in a room full of people he would tell her how mu
ch she had come to mean to him.

Miles glanced around the c
afé. The mismatched tables and chairs were mostly empty now
. Miss Daisy was arranging the small
vases of flowers on the tables while Miss Violet was humming as she flipped pancakes. Miles found
himself smiling. He was happy. He realized
the feeling
s
he had so long shoved aside
as he was busy making the grades in college, serving his country,
and
building his company
,
just made him smile even more.