Thrill Ride

Chapter 1

C harlotte Gates took a deep breath and prepared to scream. The roller coaster smoothly approached the apex of the hill, nary a loud creak to be heard on the shiny silver track, and no, not everyone loved this sensation, but she couldn’t get enough. To teeter at the top of a roller coaster, waiting for the inevitable pitch downward and twist of her gut brought her peace. Letting loose a scream from deep within, bubbling up from the diaphragm and just exploding. In those few beats before the roller coaster raced ahead to its next twist or loop or corkscrew, she felt like anything was possible. Worries about how she lost her job, her next paying article, her next bill, her next next next . . . it all fell away, chased to the outskirts of Charlotte’s mind by that sense of lightness and freedom.

Charlotte pushed out a howl as she seemed to hang in midair above her seat for a moment too long before the cart tore down the hill at an unimaginably sharp angle. The rush of air cut the layer of humidity present in Orlando even in early January. It was an unorthodox time of year to debut a new ride, but the Cosmic Catastrophe Coaster had been a long time in the making, with Wonder World pushing the opening more than once. Now it was here and it was glorious. The cart sped around a tight corner, looping unnervingly close to the water below, sun sparkling off its unnaturally aqua-tinted surface. This was Charlotte’s fifth ride on the complex, first-of-its-kind coaster, pushing even her iron stomach to lurch. But getting to know this coaster’s nuances came with her job.

As a theme park reporter, her brand of research included everything from knowing how many water fountains the queue had to how likely this roller coaster would make a novice turn green. She regularly got asked questions like “But no, really, how scary is it even if I don’t like roller coasters?” and “What if I don’t like going upside down?” and “Will I feel claustrophobic in the over-the-shoulder restraints?” in every possible variation. When she couldn’t rely on her admittedly skewed perspective of “intense” as it applied to a theme park ride, she brought a not-super-into-roller-coasters friend—read: plied said friend with their choice of theme park snacks—with her to gauge their reaction and interrogate them about their every thought on the ride as she took notes. One of those friends had stopped answering her texts.

Cosmic Catastrophe raced around its last corner and started the slow approach back to the launch point, a cavernous building themed to look like the galactic headquarters from the Cosmic Thrill movie franchise. She appreciated when a theme park included intellectual property in a thoughtful way like this. Charlotte pushed away the restraint bar and stepped out of her seat to the loading platform. Loosely pulling her chestnut strands into a messy ponytail and adjusting her romper, she took her time, a luxury on preview days like today without the usual crowds. And she needed that time. That fifth trip left her a little wobbly around the edges and she needed to find solid footing and water. She practically salivated thinking about the ice-cold bottle of water she’d shoved in the locker before her ride.

Charlotte nudged the exit gate on the loading platform, the promise of hydration (so, so necessary in Florida) putting a bounce on her step. Focused on getting to her locker as quickly as possible, Charlotte didn’t notice the figures looming at the end of the exit corridor.

One of them called out, “Charlotte! I was hoping I’d catch you.”

Well, shit. Charlotte clocked her surroundings even though she knew she had only one way out of this area. She breathed, doing her best to pull her stomach out of the pretzel it knotted itself into.

His voice had that effect.

“Chad. I didn’t expect to see you today.” Charlotte hoped it didn’t sound too much like she was pushing words through her gritted teeth. His blond hair was wavy, only slightly ruffled. There wasn’t a sign of sweat anywhere on his face even in a long-sleeved shirt, tie, blazer, and pants. Chad Sandusky had the absolute nerve to be one of the ten people in the world who glowed in heavy, humid weather and looked as handsome as ever on this eighty-degree day. A tall man was with him, also in a suit but not faring so well in the heat. He had longer black hair with delicate curls forming in the sweat around his hairline. Dashes of red colored the tops of his cheekbones, and when Charlotte looked up, unreasonably deep green eyes with light gray flecks met hers. The brief glimpse sent a jolt down her spine that she couldn’t attribute to the coaster. His tailored suit indicated he was an executive, but he wasn’t someone Charlotte had seen around before.

“I’ll email you later, Chad. Nice to see you,” the striking stranger said and nodded at Charlotte, seemingly using this run-in as a chance to escape.

“Sounds good, Gregory. Thanks for coming by.” Chad shook his hand and turned his full attention back to Charlotte as Gregory left. “Sorry, wrapping up a little business; you know what it’s like. And even if it’s the competition, it’s a big day for Nia’s team. They’ve been working on Cosmic Catastrophe for a while. I wouldn’t miss supporting it,” Chad enthused.

Charlotte wouldn’t snort. She wouldn’t. “How kind of you.”

“So how have you been since . . . you know,” Chad said.

Since you ruined my ability to trust another partner ever again when you cheated on me, just after I got laid off from my dream job? That’s what Charlotte screamed in her head. Did she scream that only in her head? Chad stared at her, clearly waiting for an answer, so yes, that had been her inside voice. Small blessings.

“I’ve been keeping busy enough between freelance gigs, covering things like this opening for Ride Report and a little consulting, and helping with the family business,” Charlotte babbled, putting a hopefully not too fake positive tone in her voice. She really did enjoy the work she was doing, even if it wasn’t as satisfying or as prestigious as her old job at DreamUs, and she wanted Chad to know she was fine without him. “Definitely taking advantage of this time to explore some opportunities,” she added.

“Oh, you’re back in Lake Sterling? Lands of Legend is lucky to have you! I’m sure your family is thrilled. They always wanted you to stay there.” Chad smiled broadly.

Sure, Chad. He’d never seemed to think much of Lands when they were dating. In fact, he’d insulted the park more than once by pointing out its modest acreage and how Charlotte was lucky to dodge a lifetime of trying to improve the park. Yes, while Charlotte had chosen to walk away from Lands to pursue work at DreamUs—much to her aunt, uncle, and cousin’s disappointment—it wasn’t because she didn’t love the theme park.

Charlotte had not intended to tell Chad she’d moved back to her hometown and gone back to working for her aunt and uncle as a consultant at Lands; she knew he’d see it as a defeat, a move of desperation. And sure, Charlotte was a little desperate. Losing her creative producer position at DreamUs had been a blow. She felt unmoored, confused. She felt like a failure. She’d tied everything she was into her work. Running to the safe harbor of her home, her family, and Lands of Legend seemed like the obvious solution—at least in the short term. But Chad wouldn’t see it that way.

She wrapped her arms around herself defensively, as if the gesture would somehow extend to her family and Lands of Legend. “It’s been nice to be back, especially since Aunt Marianne and Uncle Frank want to retire soon. And they’ve been so receptive to my feedback and so welcoming. I’ve loved getting back to my roots.”

Charlotte would not point out the park’s lackluster performance this season or the previous year’s abysmal attendance or the laundry list of improvements she’d recommended that the owners, her aunt and uncle, simply didn’t have the budget to address. Never mind the ones her cousin Emily, the park’s day-to-day manager, straight up ignored. All facts not relevant to this conversation.

“Of course they’re listening to you. With your experience how could they not? I can’t wait to see your fingerprints on the park,” Chad said. As if he would ever visit Lands on his own. She had to drag him to the park during the single time he visited Lake Sterling, and then he proceeded to embarrass her all day with not-so-veiled cutting remarks about, well, everything .

“How are you?” Charlotte practically screamed, wondering the whole time why those words came out of her mouth. She wanted to change the subject, but why did she ask that? Stupid Midwestern politeness.

“Fantastic! I got that promotion so I’m leading the new themed area development at our new Paris location. I’ll be leaving soon and spending most of my time in France for at least the next few years.”

Well , the part about him being out of the country was a plus, even if rage and envy clawed at Charlotte’s lungs. She’d desperately wanted to work on the Paris project. The chance to break ground on a new DreamUs park and be involved from the beginning? It was everything a theme park designer could want. Charlotte had daydreamed about possible storytelling and experiences for Paris that would give her a theme park legacy, a place in the hallowed halls of visionary Dream Mechanics who everyone in the industry knew and admired. The difference she could make in creating other worlds for the park guests and be recognized for it! At least she’d have a strong connection there in Chad.

She swallowed her jealousy. “Congratulations. Any particular ride you’re excited about?”

Chad smirked, his mouth covering up his perfect, straight teeth. That asshole actually smirked. “Now you know I can’t tell you any secrets, especially since you’re a theme park reporter these days,” he said, condescension oozing through his words.

The time to end this punishing conversation had more than passed. She should have pretended she needed to go to the bathroom as soon as she saw him and ran past. Instincts were worth listening to sometimes. Who knew?

“Yeah, of course. Totally understand.” Charlotte nodded. “Best of luck on the project. And speaking of my reporting, I’m sorry to cut this short but I have an interview to get to.”

“I loved seeing you. Stay in touch? Who knows, maybe next time you’ll be reporting on a ride I worked on and interviewing me about it!” Chad chuckled while he adjusted his tie. “Speaking of, I’ll keep you in mind if anything opens up for my team in Paris. Wouldn’t want to lose your talent to Lands of Legend forever.”

Charlotte hated the feeling of hope that made her stomach leap—working on Dreamland Paris would be huge. She would not appear desperate. “I’d appreciate that. You know how to get in touch.”

She nodded and gave Chad a tight smile and speed-walked to the lockers, rolling her eyes as soon as she turned her back. When Charlotte said best of luck, what she really meant was she’d be okay with him falling into a ditch and remaining there indefinitely. Who would miss him? He could have survival supplies—she wasn’t a total monster. However, never having to worry about seeing him again would be a relief. But if it meant returning to DreamUs, especially in Paris, she’d swallow her pride and loathing.

She arrived at the lockers by the ride’s exit, punched in her number, pressed her fingerprint to the keypad, and stepped over to the now opened locker. After pulling out her backpack with a touch of unnecessary aggression, Charlotte uncapped her water bottle and drank. As the cool water slid down her throat, she rested her back against the wall of lockers and squished her eyes shut as if to press that entire run-in out of her memory. Scrunching her nose, Charlotte thought of what her best friend, Melanie, would say. She breathed deeply and whispered to herself, “Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t give one more tear to that asshole.”

Especially not now. Not when she had work to do. Professional, respectable, paying work. But seeing Chad reminded her of everything she’d lost six months ago.

After years of work at DreamUs, she was just let go. Layoffs, they’d said, citing a variety of economic and cost-cutting reasons. She knew layoffs weren’t uncommon in the Dream Mechanics division; she’d seen it happen to colleagues. Sometimes temporary, sometimes not. Still, she thought she was too valuable an employee to be susceptible to those waves of layoffs and had asked her boss, Jeni, over and over again, why me? She thought Jeni might give her an actual answer beyond the corporate spiel. But she refused to give her one, legally probably couldn’t, and when Charlotte had tried to pull the “hey, we’re friends” card a couple of weeks after the layoffs, Jeni still ignored her.

That silence hurt as much as losing her dream job; Charlotte had thought she and Jeni were actual friends. And on top of it all, her boyfriend Chad, who hadn’t been at the company as long as her, kept his position and didn’t seem to understand Charlotte’s hurt emotions.

“Charlotte, it’s not like they made a decision to personally attack you and, in your words, ‘ruin your life.’ It’s a business. They had to cut some fat,” Chad had told her, somehow missing the part where he equated her with being “some fat.” “You know these waves of layoffs happen from time to time and they rehire when they have new projects. Anyway, it’s their loss. A competitor will scoop you up in no time and you can probably leverage all your experience at DreamUs for a more senior title and better pay.”

His words had briefly comforted her, until she discovered no one across themed entertainment seemed to be hiring. Charlotte had hit up every one of her contacts in Los Angeles and in other theme park hubs like Orlando the week after she got let go. Two months later, nothing had changed. Everyone she spoke with respected her and loved her work, knew she was a gem, but sorry, they didn’t have a place for her. Dejected after yet another lunch that ended in, “I wish I could help, but I just don’t have anything right now,” Charlotte abandoned her list of errands—Chad thought her unemployment left time for her to handle every household-related matter for their small bungalow in Burbank and she hadn’t corrected him—and headed home.

Walking through the door early was one of Charlotte’s best and worst decisions.

Chad wasn’t clothed and he wasn’t alone; Jeni was with him. Yes, former boss/friend Jeni. Which explained a lot of things, really.

Charlotte turned on her heel and left without saying a word, despite Chad chasing after her. Mostly she remembered how he caught his foot in a pillowcase—the pillowcase for her favorite, squishiest-in-all-the-right-ways pillow—as he ran toward her. He didn’t fall, because of course he didn’t, but he somehow pulled the pillowcase off with his foot and it dragged behind him as he staggered toward Charlotte. The end of three years represented by a seafoam-green pillowcase wrapped around Chad’s foot, sliding inelegantly across the floor.

She moved out as quickly as she could and did the only thing that felt right: coming back home. A thirty-three-year-old running back to what she knew. To Ohio. Back to Lands of Legend. For now.