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“So I could start a hotel right here, in Foley. I could build it from scratch. And, what’s more, I could make sure it has something that Foley also needs.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“A permanent entertainment venue.”

I gawked at her for a second. She grinned madly, and I huffed a laugh.

“You mean a stage? Like a real one? With speakers and lights and the whole deal?”

“The whole deal,” she said. “But I would need someone who knows more about that sort of thing to help me. Do you know anyone?”

I reached forward and grabbed her shirt lightly. Pulling her toward me, I kissed her softly on the lips.

“Yeah, I think I might know somebody. You might know him, he’s kind of famous around here. His name is Jesse James, if you can believe it.”

“Oh,” she said, grinning. “Sounds kind of hot.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Charlotte

The idea had come while I was sitting in the jail cell. It was simple really. I had all the know-how one needed to run a hotel. I could handle the operation from top to bottom. From how the rooms should be decorated and set up to cleaned and turned over, from rates and amenities to how to play the delicate game of guest Tetris that presented itself on the regular. From how to spruce up an old building to how to start from absolute scratch and oversee the construction and building of a brand new one, all of it. I had done it all.

So why wouldn’t I be able to handle a hotel of my own?

I hadn’t signed any kind of non-compete clause with Bethel hotels, primarily because I had been promoted from within rather than hired from outside. There was nothing legally stopping me from applying my knowledge and experience to building something new. Besides, it wasn’t like they were planning on expanding in West Texas anytime soon. Arizona and New Mexico, and eventually Southern California, sure, but not West Texas. It was a dead area for them.

But I knew West Texas. It was home. I could work here, could thrive here. I knew what the customer base wanted and needed, and without the pressure of having to try and appeal to high-end clients, I could focus on making a more functional, almost commercial place.

The real kicker was the venue. I could do all the hotel stuff in my sleep, having opened over a dozen hotels for Bethel and acting as the general and then regional manager over them. I knew the ins and outs better than anyone one else. But a venue was something this area of the state desperately needed. National acts had nowhere to come to, and local acts had nowhere to aspire to. Building something here meant we could draw crowds from all over the region and be something unique.

On top of that, I happened to know some people who knew a thing or two about event promotion.

Flynn would be the perfect mind to pick. Having only barely met him, I could tell the type of person he was already. A motivated self-starter, if I could convince him to take the lead on promoting the space, I could fill it with acts regularly, and give the hotel and the surrounding area a draw beyond a place to stop between Dallas and Juarez.

It would also be a chance to give Jesse somewhere his band could play regularly. Almost like Vegas, where acts would do shows for years, Jesse could have a standing spot and perform whatever he wanted with regularity. It would give him some stability, give the area a homegrown act to draw people in, and give us both a chance to see each other more often.

All this had settled in my mind while I sat in that jail cell, and now, as I sat on the bed with Jesse, finishing my sandwiches, I started to lay it all out. As I spoke, I grew more and more excited, and he grinned wider and wider. He seemed to like seeing me so stoked about the idea and occasionally peppered my rant with ideas of his own.

“What about construction?” he asked. “If we have to build something from scratch, that’s a huge investment. Plus, there’s all the red tape to go through.”

“I have a savings account that I’ve been putting money into since I was a kid,” I said. “I’ve made really good money the last couple of years. And I’ve met a lot of investors too, who would come and stay for long periods of time. I might be able to call on a few of them. But even without them, I think I can convince a bank to give me the business loan based on my experience and what I can put down of my own capital.”

“The Galloways will invest too,” he said. “Obviously, I’ll have to talk to the brothers, but Collin has been looking for something to invest in locally that he can diversify with. This seems like it’s right up his alley.”

I nodded. “If you guys want to invest, obviously, that will help. I can’t imagine that together we won’t be able to at least get the starting funds. This is a real idea. This could really happen.”

“All right,” he said, finishing one of the delicious pickles and taking a sip of the root beer. “So if you really want to do this, I am fully supportive. But I have one major concern.”

“Okay,” I said. “Go ahead.”

“I am just worried about you quitting the job that I know you love,” he said. “You’ve been working there for over a decade, and as you said, you worked your way up from cleaning rooms and working the desk to being a regional manager and handling all these locations at once. You’re a rockstar in that company, and I worry that you will be throwing away all that work to do something that you think will make our relationship stronger.”

“Jesse…”

“No, really. I don’t want you to do this because of me. I will find a way to see you as much as I can. We will make this relationship work. No matter what. I love you.”

“And I love you,” I said, my skin tingling as I said those words.