no restaurant experience see a restaurant and buy it. People with no bar experience buy a bar just because they watched Cheers too many times. This is America. People make all sorts of terrible decisions and they’re allowed to do that because it's their money, their credit, and their time on the line.”
“Yes. I will of course argue that in court, but things are a little bit different for Mr. Elliott. His sons are saying that this decision to sell this place to you was against his better judgment. They’re arguing that if he was in complete control of his mind, then he would never make a decision like that because it was against his monetary interests. They're going to argue and show evidence from his wife that show him to be a ruthless businessman.”
“Isn't he allowed to change his mind? Isn't he allowed to think differently?”
“Of course he is, but since they are taking this to court, it will be the judge's decision as to whether he suddenly had this change of heart and became someone completely different than he was for years up to this point. Maybe he just isn't all there anymore.”
Jacob and I talk about this a lot more, but the conversation goes in circles. I argue our case and he argues theirs.
Of course, he's going to make all of the arguments that I’m making and probably others in his briefs and to the judge, but I can tell that this is going to be an uphill battle.
When it's time for him to go, I walk him toward the door and ask, “Tell me honestly, do you think we’re going to win?”
“I'm going to do my best. I'm going to argue and fight like hell, but honestly? From what I've seen in their suit? Mr. Elliott seemed to really take a liking to you. You probably remind him of himself when he was younger.”
“Okay,” I say, elongating the word and trying to figure out where he's going with this.
“That's a problem. Mr. Elliott was not known to be someone who was very nostalgic, warm, or even nice. To sell you this place, he was being nice. The land itself is worth millions. Even though this place is falling apart, has all these terrible reviews, and is a business inching toward bankruptcy, it's worth double, if not triple, what you paid for it if all of the parts were sold on the free market.
“That's not good for us. We need a compelling reason for why he did it and we don't have one. They do. They are arguing that he couldn’t make this decision in his right mind and though it's going to be an uphill battle for both of us to get what we want, I want to prepare you for the possibility of losing this place and that's why I don't want you to invest another penny into it.”
After Jacob leaves, I pour myself another drink and sit down on the couch.
I look at the way the clear liquid wraps around the cubes of ice and I lose myself in my despair.
17
Tyler
I had no idea that this place was so valuable. I first came here to look at the boats and have dinner.
I just happened to meet Mr. Elliott in the bar. At that time, I had no idea that he was the owner and thought that he was just some old man who looked like he was down on his luck, drowning his sorrows at the bottom of his glass of Jack Daniel’s.
We talked a lot that night about everything and nothing at the same time. He invited me to come back the following evening and I did.
Then we ended up meeting up a few times a week for months after. I liked being with him. I started thinking of him as a lot more than just a friend.
I had a father in my life, but that was more of a curse than a blessing and I started thinking of him as something of a fatherly figure. We had the same sense of humor and the same obsession with work.
He told me that I had to find something else that makes sense in my life besides work, but he encouraged me to make a fortune anyway. He told me that was the struggle of his life, to do what he loves and then find fulfillment in all of those other ethereal things that make life worth living.
He told me that when he first got