Page 21 of The Dream Hotel

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

CR Number: M-7493002

Facility: Madison

Date: October 28

Flags: Legal

Status: Released after review

Dear Sara,

I never heard from you after my email, so thought I’d check in again. I certainly didn’t mean any offense when I repeated the conversation I had with your dad the other day. I was just trying to give you a sense of how much he’s still in shock after what happened to you. And I also wanted to reiterate my offer of help. I’m happy to add to your commissary account or get in touch with a lawyer or a rights organization for you, though I’m sure your husband has already taken care of that. The one piece of advice I have is: make yourself invisible. Don’t talk to the attendants, don’t make friends with the others. Keep to yourself. Stay quiet until your hearing.

Anyway, I finally made it to Orlando after nearly a week’s delay on the highways and byways of our country. The Ford Bronco I bought in Los Angeles turned out to have an engine problem, and it took me forever to get it fixed and then brought to my dealership. I had to go on the MyCourt app to ask for arbitration because the seller refused to take responsibility for misrepresenting the car. Luckily, I had all the right documentation, and the seller ended up folding after just two emails from the arbitrator.

Thank goodness this business with the Ford Bronco is done, because Mel was complaining again that I was using it as an excuse to skip a visit with the girls. Can you believe it? I love my girls, I wish I could spend even more time with them. Why would I choose to be stuck with a broken car in the middle of nowhere, Louisiana, rather than be home with them? That woman, I swear. There’s something deeply, deeply wrong with her. My mom has always hated her, and now I understand why.

But on the plus side, I have some good news: my business is getting recognized by the Chamber of Commerce next month for extraordinary service to the community. We’ve been sponsoring the girls’ soccer team for three years and doing free shuttle rides on game days, and I suppose someone there took notice. There’s going to be a fancy ceremony at the Transcontinental downtown, with the mayor and everything. I’m very excited.

Well, I won’t keep you for too long. Write me back with some of your news and let me know if I can help.

Yours,

Zachariah