Epilogue
Walter
The long red ribbon was stretched across the entrance of the hotel, several feet behind me as I stood at the makeshift podium. My team had worked endlessly on the grand opening. Every time we unveiled a new hotel, it took more planning. More money. But Utah’s budget really took the crown.
The media was in attendance. Celebrities. My family. Friends. Many familiar eyes looking at me from the crowd.
But there was a set just to the side of me that meant the most. She was holding a pair of scissors that were almost the length of her body. A smile on her face that made this father so damn proud.
“I want to thank my daughter,” I said into the microphone. “I don’t want to embarrass her, but many of you don’t know that Joanna graduated from the University of Miami a little over eighteen months ago and came to work for me. As any father would, I tossed her to the wolves.” I winked at the crowd. “I made her learn the ropes. I put her up to the test and this”—I opened my arms wide, glancing up at the vast thirty-foot overhang above our heads—“is her creation.” I took a breath as I scanned the faces looking back at me. “Most parents can’t say that their little girl designed the best hotel in their portfolio.” I gazed at my pumpkin. “But I can. I’m so proud of you, Joanna.”
Thank you, she mouthed to me.
“I’m honored to introduce you to our newest addition.” I moved back, turning my body toward Joanna as she held the scissors to the red ribbon, waiting for me to give her the signal to cut it. “Park City Mountainside.”
I eyed my daughter, and as each side of the ribbon fell, an applause erupted from the crowd.
Everyone rose from their seats, entering the hotel, and Joanna and Jenner made their way over to me.
“Congratulations,” Jenner said, clasping my hand, reaching forward to wrap his arm around my shoulders—the kind of hug the younger generation gave nowadays.
“And to you too,” I said, patting his back. “You know you deserve just as much recognition. You worked your ass off on this one.”
He released my hand, his arm dropping as he said, “You should have heard some of the rumblings in the crowd. They were blown away by the exterior alone, and they hadn’t even been inside yet.”
“If they think this property is magnificent, wait until they see what you and Joanna are spearheading next.”
Jenner’s arm slipped around my daughter’s shoulders. “Baby, are you ready to do this all over again in South Beach?”
“You mean, head back to one of my favorite cities in the world and eat Gloria’s desserts every day?” She grinned at me. “I’m more than ready.”
“Speaking of Gloria,” I said, gazing at the faces that walked by, looking for hers, “have you seen her?”
“She’s here,” Jenner replied, turning around, waving his hand in the air, and I assumed he’d spotted her. “She’s on her way over.”
Gloria approached with her son, Brett—a close friend of Jenner’s, who I’d now met several times—along with his fiancée, James, a woman who needed no introduction. Neither did Monica, my daughter’s best friend, who was a permanent staple in our family.
Monica threw her arms around me. “What a wicked place,” she said, hugging me like a second daughter. “I love it here, like, so, so much.”
“You know there’s a room for you anytime you want to come,” I told her. “That’s true for any of my hotels.”
She smiled. “And when you’re ready to up your style, you know I’m your girl.”
I laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Hell of a hotel,” Brett said, shaking my hand. “James and I are thrilled to be staying here this weekend.”
“Yes,” James agreed. “It’s absolutely beautiful, Walter. Thank you for inviting us.”
“I appreciate you coming,” I told them, and then I looked at Gloria, tapping my stomach that seemed to have a heavier bulge than yesterday. “I sampled some of your desserts this afternoon when my team was prepping for tonight’s gala. Don’t tell my pastry chef that I said this, but yours are the best I’ve ever had.”
Gloria blushed and replied, “You’re too kind.”
“Had my daughter not brought your desserts over for Thanksgiving, I wouldn’t have ever found you, and this never would have happened.” I pointed at the entrance behind me, where past the lobby and into the lower belly of the hotel was Gloria’s newest bake shop.
My guests were going to be able to snack on her treats anytime they wanted.
“Half of LA now knows about her,” my daughter said, smiling at her friend. “And we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
While they hugged, Ford and his daughter came over along with Dominick and his girlfriend, Kendall, as well.
“This place is gorgeous,” Ford said, picking up his little girl in his arms.
I remembered when mine had been that size. When her tiny hands would hold on to me so tightly. When her pigtails would tickle my face.
When I could protect her from everything.
“You should be proud of your brother,” I said to him. “He worked his tail off on this hotel.”
Ford clapped Jenner’s shoulder and said, “You’re always making us proud, buddy.”
“I hope you’ll be joining us for the gala tonight?” I asked Dominick and Kendall.
“We wouldn’t miss it,” Dominick replied.
As I was looking at Dominick, I felt a tap on my arm, and I glanced toward the source.
Little Everly still had her finger on me, and she whispered, “Daddy says he’s taking me skiing tomorrow. But he says I can only go if I’m a big girl and I don’t cry at your party.”
“Is that so?” I asked her, chuckling. “What happens if your daddy cries at my party? Did you make that part of your bargain?”
“Daddy!” Everly yelled. “What if you cry—”
Ford started tickling his baby, distracting her from finishing the rest of her question. Her head fell back, her mouth opened, and the cutest, loudest giggles came out of her.
I leaned into my daughter’s ear and said, “When are you going to give me one of those?”
She looked at me. “A grandchild? Dad, we’re not even engaged yet. Besides, you keep me so busy; I don’t have time for anything, let alone a child.”
I did keep her busy, but that was because I needed her.
She was far more talented than her old man with an eye for design and a personality that kept her marketing team engaged and motivated.
Of course, I hadn’t believed that at first.
In fact, Utah was a role I never intended to give her.