Page 48 of The One I Need
“Yes,” I say as I pull off the highway toward Izzy’s condo. Luckily, traffic is light so I’ll be in front of her building before I know it. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“You know I do,” she says. “I’ll always worry. That’s what moms do.”
I smile, because she has said that to me many times over the years. Every time she does, I always think of what would have happened if my biological mom hadn’t given me to her. What if she would have been chosen by the adoption agency before that? What if I wouldn’t have been put up for adoption? It’s a rabbit hole I could get lost in.
But then I remind myself that everything happens for a reason. And I’ll always let my mom worry, because I’m glad that I’m here for her to worry about.
“Okay, Mom. I’m picking up Izzy,” I say. “I’m going to go.”
“Oh no you don’t,” she says as I pull up to Izzy, who is waiting for me in front of her building. “I want to say hi.”
I put the car in park and turn on the hazards. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
I quickly get out of the car and meet Izzy at my trunk to help her load her bags.
“Warning,” I quickly say before she starts talking. “My mom’s on the phone in the car. She wants to say hi to you. I don’t know what else she’s going to say, but I wanted to warn you.”
Izzy just laughs. “Of course you’d be the one to talk to your mom before going on a trip.”
I shut the trunk and both of us get into the car. “I’m back, Mom.”
“Hi. Izzy, is it?”
I look over to Izzy, who all of a sudden doesn’t have much color to her face. “Yes. Hi.”
“I’m Suzanne Price.”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Price.”
“Call me Suzanne, dear. Now, I need a favor from you.”
Izzy shoots me a confused look. I shrug my shoulders, because I’m just as clueless as she is.
“Sure.”
“I need you to make sure my boy doesn’t get married in Vegas,” she says. “I’m sure you’ve heard about his propensity to propose. Please don’t marry him in Vegas, or allow him to marry anyone else. However, if he’s insisting on it, I’d like to be there, so please call me and let me know.”
This makes Izzy laugh. It makes me want to slam my head against the steering wheel. “That will be no problem, Suzanne. I’ll take good care of him.”
“Good,” she says. “Because sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay there.”
Chapter16
Izzy
“First we needto play a slot machine, because I’m still mad you didn’t let me play at least one at the airport. Then we’re going to get settled into our room. Then I thought we’d meet up with Hazel and Knox to say hello and then maybe take a walk on the strip. It’s your only day to do it, so I figured if there was anything you wanted to see, we should do it today. Oh! And there’s a show—”
“Oliver!” I don’t mean to yell—or scare our Uber driver, a very nice lady named Juanita—but my head is spinning and we’re not even to our hotel yet.
“What?”
“Take a breath.”
“Oh,” he says as he realizes that he hasn’t stopped talking since the second we landed in Vegas. “Sorry. I’m just excited. I’ve never been to Vegas.”
“Neither have I,” I say. “But we don’t have to do everything today. We have two more days. Plus, Hazel and I have to meet with some people this afternoon.”
