Chapter 8
T hey wrapped around the perimeter of Fairytale Land, and Charlotte gushed about her uncle’s work. She’d shoved her annoyance with Gregory aside, putting her unimpeachable ability to compartmentalize to work. Plus, she couldn’t help but get animated when she spoke about the park’s history. The work Uncle Frank had done really was impressive.
“So he left his job as a draftsman for the city to open the park?” Gregory asked.
Charlotte appreciated the confirmation that he had been paying attention. “Mmm-hmm.” She nodded. “He had a dream of creating a place where families could play together—something smaller than DreamUs’s parks, something more intimate and homegrown but still with that level of quality and theming.”
Uncle Frank sketched his ideas in notepad after notepad in the early mornings before he went to work, and the stacks of notepads expanded in his and Aunt Marianne’s basement. Then one day while commuting home from his job in Columbus, he saw a Realtor’s sign advertising land for sale. He drove by the parcel, noting its prime location and plenty of trees for shade. He knew right away that it would be the perfect place to bring his vision to life.
A call to the Realtor, a frantic weekend of turning his sketches and research into a business plan, and many, many meetings with the bank later, and her aunt and uncle owned the land. Three years after that, Lands of Legend opened.
Charlotte had taken on the unofficial role of Lands’s historian as part of a college project. Lands had been open twenty-some years at that point, so she’d had plenty to dig into. She’d conducted hours of interviews with her aunt and uncle and the park employees who’d been there since the beginning, and learned that the park’s early years came with a lot of painful, usually expensive lessons. It grew slowly but surely as word of mouth spread, each rise in attendance leading to new themed areas and rides. Charlotte had documented everything from that time until now in tidy binders with digital backups. She had found and preserved copies of every iteration of the park map, marketing brochures, the original tickets. The project had continued well past college into the present. Charlotte planned to design an exhibit about the park’s history that Marianne and Frank could pitch to local museums for the next milestone anniversary.
All those hours digging into Lands’s past meant Charlotte could call upon her memory to add historical data to her tour. She wasn’t sure if Gregory would pick up on it, but Charlotte worked in the dates and phrases like “my uncle’s long-time dedication” to the park often, just to remind him about its history and all the sweat that made that history possible. Being honest with herself, she didn’t think she was being that sly.
“And this here was the first stone placed in the park—like many others, Uncle Frank placed it with his own hands,” Charlotte explained.
“He must have had incredible patience to build the park so slowly. Especially since he presumably still had to make payments on the land while waiting to open.” She could see Gregory turning over the numbers in his mind.
Charlotte felt a need to . . . she didn’t know, make her uncle and aunt sound fiscally responsible? “Yes, but he had saved money for a while and had a bit of an inheritance to help out, and Aunt Marianne supported the family until the park opened.”
Gregory had a questioning look on his face, but he merely nodded. The nod was just enough to push that one lock of hair out of place again. It fell into his face in defiance of his buttoned-up appearance. Don’t push it back , Charlotte thought, don’t push it . But he couldn’t read her mind and lifted his hand and swept it back into place.
Too bad. The errant piece of hair softened his appearance and made him seem like less of a shark in a kiddie pool.
She walked Gregory to the front of the park in order to show him the guest experience from the entrance. The main gate opened into a clearing paved with smooth bricks. Trees surrounded the area, with wide paths splitting out of the clearing through the forest: one led to Wayfarer’s Path with its gift shops, sit-down restaurant, and occasional street performers; the other paths meandered to each of the themed areas, Fairytale Land, Forgotten Beasts, and Adventurer’s Gate (when Under the Waves opened, guests would access it through Adventurer’s Gate). The hub-and-spoke layout was popular in theme park design because it worked.
Decorated arches framed each of the paths. A creeping sculpted beanstalk with broad leaves wound around the arch to Fairytale Land, the arch to Forgotten Beasts was carved with an intricate dragon-scale pattern, and the final arch looked like it was crafted from rough timber. The name of each land stretched over the arches in different fonts and designs. It had been important to her aunt and uncle to set the tone for each area with the entry points.
Charlotte explained to Gregory that the intent was for the visitor to come through the front gate and experience awe. To feel the excitement of possibility and discovery. Marianne and Frank wanted guests to step out of the real world and into a place of wonder.
Refreshment stands stood along the paths: popcorn—each cart had traditional buttered popcorn and a unique flavor—ice cream sandwiches, and soft pretzels in shapes to go with each themed area. Charlotte particularly loved the dragon-egg pretzels with cheese-filled centers on the path to Forgotten Beasts. The offerings depending on the season: more chilled items like Positively Lemon, a lemon slushy, in the summer and cozier items like small bread bowls in the fall and winter before the park closed for a couple months before spring. Seasonal or limited-menu items always gave them an attendance boost from locals.
Contracting Melanie to help with the food last year had really paid off. She’d offered a lot of insight after the success of boosting Sir Cinna-Swirls. Lands of Legend’s food items often got mentioned in the same articles as DreamUs’s parks, no small feat for a small family-owned theme park in Southeast Ohio.
In the entrance clearing, small coffee kiosks sat to the left and the right for guests who needed caffeine right away; they’d partnered with a local roaster—Marianne and Frank supported other small businesses in town whenever possible. Under a sprawling man-made toadstool sat a large board displaying the day’s events and showtimes. Park employees manned the toadstool all day to answer guest’s questions and provide recommendations to help them have the best possible day. Depending on how long Charlotte was around, she wanted to suggest a Lands of Legend app to further assist guests with information and tips.
Charlotte had worked in positions throughout Lands and greeting guests from the toadstool had been her favorite role. She walked Gregory over. “This is one of the most fun places to work in the park. I spent a few seasons inside the toadstool interacting with guests and telling them about all the best secret places.”
Gregory opened his mouth. Charlotte stopped him, “I know that if I’m telling people about the secret places they are not actually secret.”
“That’s not what I was going to say.”
“No?”
He shrugged. “Okay, it’s not all I was going to say. I was going to ask how hot it got inside there in the summer.” He gestured at the toadstool.
“It’s air-conditioned for the summer, heated for the winter. Another reason why it’s the best place to work.” She continued, “We’re not fully open in the winter since the outdoor attractions can’t operate in the cold and the snow, but we keep as much going as we can and also go all out with holiday decorations. We end up closing for about two months, which are coming up, because the attendance levels don’t justify having folks around.”
“I know. I did do my homework,” Gregory explained. “My family expects nothing less. I would have come for your family’s presentation in person and visited the park sooner if I could have, but I was trying to take the holiday break off for once.
“What kind of attendance do you see in the off-season?” he asked. “It definitely drops off.” Charlotte felt a little like she was in court. Gregory had asked the question innocently enough, but she didn’t know if anything she said would be used against her aunt and uncle. It’s not like she could recite the exact percentages and attendance numbers off the top of her head, but regardless, she decided that wasn’t Gregory’s business. Best to be noncommittal until the deal was inked.
She did want to brag a little so she added, “We’ve seen great success with our fall and holiday celebrations. Especially in the fall—we partner with the Circleville Pumpkin Show, a four-day festival that’s nearby, and they get about four hundred thousand visitors. It always gives us a boost.”
Charlotte led him toward the Adventurer’s Gate path. “We’ll start here and walk around the back of the park to Adventurer’s Gate, go up Wayfarer’s Path, check out Forgotten Beasts, and then head to the offices. Sound good?”
He nodded. Charlotte wanted him to fully absorb the atmosphere, pick up on the things he may not have read on the park’s website or elsewhere on the internet. She guided him over to a bench tucked away from the path. “Sit down and close your eyes.”
A stubborn look washed over Gregory’s face. “I’d rather not, I’ll get my suit dirty.”
Charlotte pressed her lips together to stop herself from snapping and from pointing out his Armani suit burger-food-truck escapades. In exaggerated movements she took an ivory handkerchief from her purse and wiped it along the bench’s surface. She held it up to Gregory so he could see the lack of dirt. “We have an amazing staff here and we all take pride in keeping the park as pristine as possible for our guests. I don’t know what kind of parks you’ve read about, but maybe you shouldn’t make assumptions.”
He sat down without saying another word.
She took a seat on the other end of the bench. Of course he wasn’t going to apologize. Charlotte should have known better. He did at least have the sense to look a little sheepish.
“Great. Now close your eyes.” To her surprise, he did so without protesting.
“Take a deep breath through your nose.”
He interrupted. “What is this, theme park mindfulness?”
“No,” she replied, “but that is a program I’m working on pitching. Now, be quiet and follow my instructions. Take a deep breath through your nose and let it out through your mouth. Tell me what you hear.”
His deep breath sounded more like an exasperated sigh, but she’d let it be. He answered, “I hear the sounds of people walking by and talking. The music—it sounds like it’s coming from behind us somewhere. The wind in the leaves. And maybe the sound of someone filling popcorn bags?”
“You don’t hear any rides, right? No sounds of machinery or vehicles on tracks.” Charlotte asked. His eyelashes were long, brushing the tops of his cheeks. Then there were those shoulders, not broad but still absolutely filling out his suit jacket. She blinked furiously. Gregory was talking and she’d missed it.
“Could you repeat that?” she asked.
“I don’t hear any rides. I think I can hear some faint screaming but that’s it. Can I open my eyes now?”
Charlotte started to nod, realized he couldn’t see her nodding, and said, “Yes, you can open them.”
“What was the point of that exercise?” Gregory asked.
Probably not for Charlotte to fawn over his eyelashes.
“The point was to show you how much thought my aunt and uncle have put into designing the park. It’s not only about what guests see. They’ve considered the sound design for each area, from the music they hired a composer to create, to special sound effects, to how to build the park around the trees to soften the sounds from the rides. Everything you hear in any given place in the park is precisely what they want guests to hear. Every little part of this park is about immersion to fit the theme of whatever area you’re in.”
Gregory took all that in. “I wouldn’t have guessed an amusement park would care so much about details like the sound. It seems like it’s all about the roller coasters and the popcorn. Speaking of, how many roller coasters do you have here?”
It was Charlotte’s turn to close her eyes for a moment. Not because she needed to appreciate the sounds but because she needed to process how he’d taken the lesson in both the exact right and exact wrong ways. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she remembered the relaxing morning she had planned for herself before talking to Marianne and Frank and mourned it before launching into a familiar lecture. Okay, maybe it was a rant.
“It’s the details that can elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary. My aunt and uncle considered everything: the sounds, this bench we’re sitting on, the look of the popcorn cart over there. Each part fits the theme of the land or the park to add to the immersion and wonder,” Charlotte emphasized.
“And yes, some parks do focus on rides and having the tallest or fastest roller coaster. I love those parks. They pack in thrill rides and innovate as they try to outdo each other—and themselves—and they create fun places for families to play. We want people to play too, but we also want them to escape. To experience a world other than the one they live in every day and engage their imagination.”
She paused for dramatic effect. “That’s oversimplified but that’s the where the difference between an amusement park and a theme park comes in. A theme park’s rides and structures are rooted in a central theme, usually with different areas that have their own themes that connect to the overall one. It’s about storytelling. Meanwhile, an amusement park’s attractions are about entertainment. So, to summarize: theme parks are about storytelling and immersion; amusement parks are about entertainment and thrill that don’t connect as part of a story. One isn’t better than the other and neither theme parks nor amusement parks should be dismissed as only being about ‘roller coasters and popcorn.’ ” She emphasized the last part with air quotes.
The last sentence came out as one long word. She’d forgotten to take a breath. As she tried to inhale deeply without being obvious about it, Charlotte glanced over at Gregory to see that he’d pulled a small memo pad from somewhere and was taking notes. Well, she hadn’t expected that. She’d imagined her words flying through the air and right past Gregory’s face. But no, it seemed he was trying to absorb what she said. He looked up from writing and Charlotte redirected her gaze to the ground.
With his pen poised for more action, Gregory said, “So, you’re clearly very into this.”
“I am. When I was a kid, I wanted to spend all of my time at Lands of Legend. And I did get to spend many weekends following my aunt and uncle around, summers with my cousin playing in the park and the employee areas. I have a number of memories from back then that still influence me. Growing up with Lands and seeing how it left, and continues to leave, its mark on those who visit, is what inspired me to pursue a career at DreamUs. I got to take what I learned here and scale it up to even bigger, more amazing experiences.”
“I’ve heard you talk a lot about DreamUs but it sounds like you loved Lands. Why leave?” Gregory asked.
Charlotte scrunched her eyes shut for a moment. “My family wondered that, too—my cousin Emily especially. Sometimes I wonder about it, honestly. But I wanted a bigger canvas. I saw Lands of Legend make an impression on those who passed through its gates and imagined scaling that up with more parks around the world and working with the best of the best in themed entertainment while doing so. And to be honest, it was nice to be part of a place that got global recognition. I had my hands in projects that millions got to enjoy. It was an incredible opportunity and I miss it.
“Even if DreamUs is out of the picture for now, I don’t regret anything about my path. And I want to be able to give others a taste of the magic I’ve experienced over the years,” she continued.
“I’m sorry things didn’t work out at DreamUs,” Gregory said as he closed his notebook and tucked it away. “Sounds like that was really your dream job, pun not intended; I’ve known you for, what, barely a couple hours, I can see that you’re good at what you do and that you love it, which I envy. It’s clearly their loss.”
Huh. Okay. A platitude? Yeah, maybe. But Charlotte didn’t think it was meaningless. His eyes, the green mottled in the partial shade, looked sincere enough, and she could see a flair of the envy he mentioned—envy that must mean he wasn’t head over heels about venture capitalism.
“You know what? It was their loss. But now I get to be here and help my family, plus explore writing about and playing in other theme parks. It worked out. I wish I hadn’t been laid off. But it happened and it’s okay.”
Charlotte found herself believing those words after finally saying them aloud. She carefully left out her secret hope: that she’d go back to DreamUs in the near future. She still felt bitter about losing her DreamUs job, but the sting had lessened, the reality about the company’s regular layoffs more understandable, somehow. Charlotte had thrown herself into freelancing as a reporter and as a consultant for Lands anyway, so that could be throwing a fuzzy blanket over a pile of dirty clothes—the dirty clothes being not processing the layoff, or thinking through if returning to DreamUs would be the right move, should the chance come her way.
“Thank you for explaining the difference between a theme park and amusement park,” Gregory said. “I didn’t come across that in my research.”
“Sounds like maybe your research didn’t tell you a number of things,” Charlotte replied in a flat tone.
He nodded, the corners of his mouth turning up enough to bring back those mesmerizing laugh lines, evidence that someone (God, she hoped it wasn’t someone and also questioned why she hoped that) or something brought out that smile frequently. “You’re right. I hope to learn more from you,” he said.
Huh. Gregory said she was right. Maybe he wasn’t the heartless suit she’d pegged him as. They’d met such a short time ago, after all. He sounded genuine enough. Charlotte would see if that continued on their tour.
Speaking of, they needed to get going if she wanted to get to the offices with enough time to do some work before the meeting. They’d barely even started. She nodded toward the path and they got back on the way to Adventurer’s Gate. The walkway slowly curved into a more open space, green tropical plants with broad leaves becoming denser as they went. Charlotte wondered if she should point out how even the landscaping started to lean into the Adventurer’s Gate theme, exploring the unknown, with its increasingly unusual plants. Maybe that would be best saved for a later tour. She didn’t trust that Gregory would take in that level of detail.
She could also mention how the walkway was a prime place for making out, if their teen guests were any indication. The shaded corners with small alcoves provided some privacy and when the lanterns above the walkway came on at dusk, the setting was a whole mood. Then again, Charlotte did not need to give Gregory any indication she had kissing on her mind. She stretched her peripheral vision to the max, trying to see more of his full lips.
Charlotte shook her head but failed to wipe away the thought of grabbing Gregory’s hand and ducking under the leaves. She had to listen to Melanie and make time for more life, life that included dating. This physical connection—well, she didn’t know if he felt anything—was clearly what came of Charlotte not making any time to romantically interact with others. There couldn’t be any other explanation. Not one she would acknowledge.
The path got broader until it opened into a wide expanse of buildings and rides. Guests wouldn’t know this, but her aunt and uncle had planned the land around existing tall, old trees. Their spreading branches partially obscured the corners of buildings and paths, hiding the scale of them in such a way that it created a mystery—you were never sure how small or big a particular area was until you got close.
A man-made small lake in the middle of Adventurer’s Gate centered the area. They called it Gates Lagoon. Its dark blue water rippled over water plants and past the curving back of a sea beast emerging from the water, as Swings Ahoy moved in a pendulum arc back and forth. Early riders shrieked as they went nearly parallel to the water in the swinging ship. Charlotte thought riding Swings Ahoy first thing in the day was the best approach. Less chance of losing any meals that way.
Home to the spirit of exploration, Adventurer’s Gate featured loose Medieval Scandinavian–inspired architecture and storefronts. Rustic roofs reached into the sky, settled onto their buildings like pointy hats. Between the lake, a log flume ride, and a dark boat ride, the slight smell of chemically treated “seawater” lingered in the area. Charlotte loved the scent, but she knew it wasn’t for everyone, or at least not for a number of theme park YouTubers.
She led Gregory toward the waterside.
“Inhale deeply through your nose again,” she instructed him. She wanted him to see the great and not-so-great about Lands, including this strange smell. Charlotte thought he might protest after the last such exercise, but he surprised her by being a good sport.
“What am I supposed to experience this time?” he asked with a note of sass. Okay, maybe not entirely a good sport.
Charlotte replied, “You tell me.”
“I smell . . . well, it’s not bad but it’s not familiar. It’s like being by the ocean but a little stale?”
Charlotte would give him that. Treating the water meant it wasn’t the pure ocean smell they wanted. She’d been trying to convince her aunt and uncle to expand the piped-in aroma from the Journey of Discovery boat ride into the entire area to add to the atmosphere. She pulled out her phone to note Gregory’s observance and showed him her screen. “I keep a running list of notes about each area of the park that I add to anytime I’m in Lands.”
Gregory nodded his approval and pulled out his own notebook. The man took as many notes as her, and Charlotte could tell from the notebook’s battered cover that he used it often. Glimpsing at the pages showed neatly tilted handwriting with subheadings. Subheadings! She relied on lists and notes to bring structure to her life and to soothe her anxiety; she wondered if he did the same or if it was more to jog his memory. Either way, it was a miracle that Charlotte’s eyes didn’t turn heart-shaped and throb out of her head like she was a damn cartoon. But the thought of him recording a negative note about Lands calmed down the mushy feelings.
“Don’t count the stale water smell against Lands. It’s something we can address,” Charlotte said.
“That’s not what I was writing down.”
Charlotte gave Gregory a questioning look.
“I was noting your attention to detail.”
“Ah. Well that’s okay, then.” Satisfaction crept through Charlotte’s brain for some reason, and it made her skin flush with heat. She did not need to be splotchy in front of this man.
“Where are all the people?” Gregory asked.
That casual, but annoying, question was all it took for the redness to recede. Charlotte quickly considered how forthcoming she should be with Gregory. On one hand, he was going to get all the data he could handle if her family liked his presentation for Ever Fund today, so she could be straight. However, she wanted to use this tour to sell Lands of Legend and all its charms to Ever Fund and show its appeal as is, without a drastic makeover. It wouldn’t hurt to put a positive spin on things, a spin with some realism.
“Well, clearly the stale ocean smell keeps them away,” Charlotte joked. “It is early in the day and it’s the offseason, but you’re right. It’s not as full as the other parts in the park and that’s something we’re working on. Adventurer’s Gate is an area we want to revisit once we open Under the Waves. Since both areas have strong connections to water, we can leverage that to pull more visitors this way.”
Gregory didn’t look convinced.
She added, “I have a list of ideas on how to increase foot traffic in Adventurer’s Gate. I’d be happy to send it to you if everything comes together.” She gave him the fakest smile she could muster.
“ When everything comes together, I would appreciate that,” Gregory answered. “But is there a reason your aunt and uncle haven’t implemented your ideas yet?”
He had to ask. Again, Charlotte didn’t know how much to share. The continual struggle for the park to make large enough profits to do more than maintenance and the occasional new update was part of it, the biggest part of it, but Uncle Frank and Aunt Marianne also had a reluctance to change too much about the park. And to be fair, they often had Emily bringing them terrible suggestions. Emily wanted one thing: for the park to make money, even if her ideas didn’t make sense for the park—ideas like building a conference area in the area behind the park for corporate team-building packages. So Frank and Marianne tended to get defensive anytime change came up, making it clear that they were desperate if they were entertaining Ever Fund.
“Oh you know, they’ve been focusing most of their efforts on securing funding for Under the Waves and building what they can of it for so long, and other updates aren’t as high priority.” There, not a complete lie. But was that too negative? She rushed to add, “Plus Lands requires regular maintenance as part of operations. Nothing out of the ordinary, just standard theme park stuff.”
“Charlotte.”
“Yes?”
“None of this is a test. I’m not going to hold anything you say against you.”
“Is that a joke?” she asked. Charlotte couldn’t read Gregory.
“It was an attempt at one. Okay, a poor attempt,” he said. Those crinkles appeared around his eyes and mouth for a fleeting moment. Charlotte did not inwardly swoon. Nope.
He continued, “But I am looking at a bigger picture than only your comments when it comes to the park.”
“I would hope so. After all, I’m still just the consultant,” Charlotte retorted.
Gregory closed his eyes briefly, his lips forming into an almost smile. “You’re not going to let me forget that, are you?”
“Doesn’t seem likely.” Charlotte smiled. “But it’s okay, I’m giving myself a new title as of right now.”
“And?”
“Vice President of Fun.”
“Vice President, huh? Quite the promotion you just gave yourself.”
Charlotte felt warmth jumping up to her cheeks again, liking this side of Gregory, and covered by kneeling down to pretend to adjust her shoes. With her face down she could let the smile turn into the full grin she was holding back. Teasing Gregory came so easily. She usually only loosened up like this around Melanie or her family—people she’d known for longer than an hour.
“Everything okay down there?” Gregory asked.
Why did she keep fumbling around him? He was the personification of a bag of money that may or may not have the best interests of Lands at heart.
“Yep, all good! A twig, branch, leaf-thing got attached to my laces.” Improvisation was not Charlotte’s best thing.
“Let me help you up.” Gregory’s hand appeared in front of her face. She thought of ignoring him and pulling herself up on her own, but she kind of wanted to touch his hand again.
Charlotte placed her hand in his and it felt so right she almost dropped back down to her heels. His strong grip saved her from the ground. She pictured his biceps flexing as he gracefully brought her upright.
“Thank you,” Charlotte kinda gasped. “Think I got a little bit of a head rush.” A lie. Holding his hand for three seconds had put her out of sorts, and that was going to be a problem.