What A Monkey Wrench In Our Lives

Long story. Bear with me. Rick has a friend, or should I say, as of yesterday, an ex-friend, from the Atlanta area. They go back more than 25 years. Golf is the thing with them. Anyway, Steve called on Monday and said, "You need to get me a hotel room in Chattanooga for a couple or three nights. I'm coming up to play golf." So, since I work the hotel points game, I booked him into a very nice, new, Holiday Inn for 3 nights. He called back a bit later and said, "Is it OK if I bring a friend?" Well, Steve is married, but, we didn't object. He showed up Tuesday with Stacey in tow. He had just "rescued her" from Myrtle Beach, SC. We went to dinner, we treated, and put them up in the hotel. Rick and Steve went out before 8 AM the next day to play a round of golf. When they finished, Rick called and asked me to pick him up from Steve's hotel. I was waiting when they pulled up. Steve got out of his truck with a pillow and a shoe box in his hands. He shoves them into Rick's hands and says, "I really have to go to the bathroom. I'll just go here in the lobby." So, he disappears down a hallway. Rick found me at the computer, checking emails. We chatted. He had this pillow and shoe box and put them down on a chair. We waited for Steve to come back from the bathroom. Remember, his female friend is upstairs waiting for him. Ten minutes go by and Steve doesn't come back from the bathroom. Rick went to check on him. The restroom was empty. Rick went outside and Steve's truck was GONE!! He immediately called him and found that his phone had been turned off. He brought this woman from SC to Chattanooga and just dumped her! He hasn't been heard from since. She has no home, no place to go, and she's in our hotel room. Nice, huh? So, Rick and I have decided that the only thing we can do is to take her into our home for a period of time. We went out and bought her a bed today. She's still in the hotel tonight by herself. We'll go get her and all her worldly goods she brought from SC to our house. We don't know her. She admitted that she has been clean and sober for two weeks. TWO WEEKS!! What are we doing? Anyway, she is going to move into our tiny little house tomorrow. I can't even pronounce her last name. My heart goes out to her as she has no support system at all. Her parents live in NC and they say, no, you cannot come here. She has 2 ex-husbands and two children who live with their dads. Nobody wants her. Nobody wants to help her. She's all alone with $8 in her pocket, no car, no place to go. I can't stand the thoughts of her going back on the streets and making it that way. No, I won't stand for that. We are doing the right thing, although, I feel a bit scared. I just think that for the grace of God, I should be in her shoes. I'll be in touch more often for the next little while to let you know how this drama unfolds. Rick is ripe to talk to Steve if he ever answers his phone or calls. I don't think Rick will ever hear from him in his life. This is just too extreme to ever recover from in their relationship.