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“Yes. You got it, man.”
We drive up to the nearest IHOP and as we’re seated I furiously browse through hotel sites, finding that any hotel per night is my budget for the week.
I turn the search to motels. Okay, there’s one I can afford. But, it’s a little farther than I wanted to drive. Well, if it’s what I’ve got, it’s what I’ve got.
I can’t help but think about Brady’s offer to us. Liam loves Brady Thomas and would just die to stay with him, and hang out with him if he could.
But it’s not a good idea. There’re too many blurred lines, and I want to keep myself as professional as possible with him. I don’t want to lash out at him, nor do I want him to somehow find out about Liam.
This motel will be fine. Everything is going to work out.
As Liam scarfs down his waffles, drenched in butter and syrup, I cringe. Here I am, eating the ‘fit and simple’ egg white omelette and fruit, and there he is, eating twice his daily calorie intake.
But I’ve been a good mom in every other way possible today. Is it really so bad to let him indulge once in a while? I know the answer, so my guilt fades quickly.
When we finish our meal, Liam is a gooey mess. So I send him to the bathroom to get washed up while I settle the check.
Brady’s phone number peeks out from my cash as I pay for the meal.
But I fight it. I shake my head to myself and we take pride, as we exit and make our way to our temporary home.
We pull up in the parking lot, and I have to fight weeping in front of Liam. It’s so much worse than I could have imagined.
Half the lights in the sign are out. There’s a stray dog wandering around, pacing the main entrance into the lobby, and there are a couple of rooms that are roped off with yellow tape.
Can I really bring Liam into this environment? If it’s this awful on the outside, I can’t even begin to imagine the inside.
I fight myself again, turning the car off and going to unhook my seatbelt. I’m incredibly aware of our surroundings, and I’m scanning the building as I place my hand on the door handle.
As the dog curves around the building, I get out and get us checked in, but I freeze when I see two men off the second floor on the balcony ‘exchanging business’.
That’s when I finally decide it’s a no. I should have just pulled it off as soon as I pulled up. But I’m desperate.
“Mommy, are we getting out?” Liam asks.
“No, bud. We’re going to go somewhere else. Are you buckled, still?”
“Yes.”
I pull out my phone and my wallet, and take out Brady’s phone number.
Hi, Brady. It’s Izzie. What’s your address?
I wait for only a moment, and wonder just how much I’m going to have to explain, while I’m still in this parking lot before he replies.
But, to my surprise, he promptly gives me his street address, and I plug it into my navigation.
I tried. I tried so hard to avoid it. But now it’s the only choice we’ve got besides the car, and I’m not doing that to Liam.
I take a deep breath and pull out of the shady motel parking lot and drive to Brady Thomas’s house.
