So when Genevieve stood and asked whether I founded the company printed under the proposed buyer, I said yes, and then I said the rest of it plainly. That my parents’ family company had put five hundred and sixty thousand into a property my firm was purchasing. That I had disclosed the relationship in writing and recused myself from pricing months earlier. That the deal was already approved.
The acquisition closed in April. I kept Sloane’s minority interest intact, which our committee questioned and I defended, because she had genuinely built the brand and deserved to be paid for it. She resigned from the operating role herself and now consults for three properties in Charleston, and she is very good at it.
My father sent a letter that autumn. Six drafts, he told me later. He never used the word sorry and I have decided that is all right, because he asked me what a room attendant actually does in a shift, and then he listened to the whole answer.
The first thing I changed at the Wrenmoor was the carts.
My grandmother died in February. The place card is in my desk drawer. Glad you came tonight, from the only person in that room who ever saw me arrive.
