One of the photos is Dallas with his arm around what must be one of his brothers. They might be in their mid-teens in the photo. They’re both wearing cowboy hats and double denim and they’re standing next to saddled horses. There are snow-capped mountains in the background. The Montana ranch, I’m guessing.
There’s a photo of Dallas’s father. Also in Montana, by the looks of it, stoic and somehow iconic. I recognize him from the newspaper articles that were published around the time of hisdeath, showcasing his illustrious career and also his misery over the loss of his wife.
And there’s one of Dallas’s mother. Hattie Carson. She’s young in the photo, maybe in her twenties. She’s absolutely stunning and looks every bit the movie star she was.
As I take another step to take a closer look, I accidentally knock something over. A leather briefcase. It was on the floor, leaning against the desk.
A stapled stack of papers falls out of it and something immediately catches my eye.
The Hotel Thibodeaux.
I blink, wondering if I’m imagining things.
HopingI’m imagining things.
I can’t believe what I’m seeing.
Name of Purchaser: Dallas J. Wilder
Name of Establishment: The Hotel Thibodeaux
Bourbon Street
The French Quarter
New Orleans
Dallas …owns my hotel?
No.
It can’t be.
It took months for the sale to be finalized. You can’t just buy a hotel overnight. There’s due diligence and copious amounts of paperwork and time spent waiting around for lawyers to sign off on things. The buyer drove a hard bargain and these things take time, I’ve learned that first-hand.
I thought the owner was a billionaire … fromHouston.
But maybe I got that detail wrong.
I got that detail wrong.
He’s not from Houston. He’s from New York.
Isthatwhy he was in New Orleans that night he came into the bar? It must be. Everyone’s always talking about how he’s such a workaholic. Why else would a New York billionaire like him randomly be wandering around Bourbon Street? He said something about a keynote speech but why else would he have come intoourbar? It’s a dive, let’s face it, and he’s abillionaire.
I mean, I guess it all makes sense now, when you think about it.That’swhy Ellen was so obedient and forgiving that day he took me out.
He’s her fucking boss.
Hewas the one who allowed Ellen to treat the employees so badly. Heallowed us to be overworked and underpaid.
Because he didn’t care.
I always thought that whoever bought my hotel must be the worst kind of human being, who only cared about himself and everyone else could go to hell, as far as he was concerned.
It’s him.
I can’t believe this.
