Chapter 35
A desperate desire to get back to Lake Sterling pushed Charlotte to be extra efficient in wrapping up her work in a week. She’d still promised to be available remotely for another week so it was a full two weeks’ notice, but she was ready to go home. In her last week, she tried to take in Paris and enjoy it. The city’s streets still had a hollowness for her, but since she had a plan to get her life back on track, Charlotte felt more like a tourist who could explore temporarily instead of a woman who had left parts of herself in another country and was uncertain if she could get them back.
One afternoon after a stroll by the Seine, she called Marianne at a time they’d both agreed on. It was the day after she’d given notice to DreamUs, and she wanted to see if Marianne and Frank were open to her returning to Lands. Charlotte heard a tinniness on the line that indicated they were on speaker. “Aunt Marianne, hi! How are you? Are you on speaker?”
“Hey, honey. I’m here with your uncle Frank in our office. We’re busy but okay.”
“Well, as long as you’re not pushing yourselves too hard.”
“Charlotte,” Uncle Frank said sternly, “that’s the pot calling the kettle black and you know it.”
She laughed. “You’re not wrong. And that’s kind of why I wanted to talk. I was wrong to come here. I thought this was what I wanted. Needed after everything that happened. It’s beautiful here and the park is going to be amazing, but it’s not home. I’m not at home. I was wondering if . . . you would have me back at Lands? For good this time. Like, in it for the long haul.”
She got silence in response. Then the sound of a door opening and closing.
“Hello? Are you guys still there?”
“Yes, Charlotte, we’re here,” her aunt answered. “Your uncle just brought Emily in to say something to you.”
“Oookay.”
“Charlotte. Hi. I owe you an apology.”
“Emily, let me stop you there. I don’t want an apology only because your parents are making you. That’s—”
“They’re not making me, Charlotte. I’ve been putting it off. Look, I was wrong.” Her cousin sighed, the speakerphone exaggerating the sound. “The more we talked with Peak Fusion, the pushier they got. They wanted us to ink the deal and announce it before Under the Waves opened, and Gregory pushed back on the timing. It turns out it was all a PR move. You can say, ‘I told you so.’ ”
“I already did when I brought all of that to your attention, but I’m not going to rub it in.”
“Hmph. They would have gone through with everything they said, but the date they wanted to announce in a couple of weeks suspiciously coincided with the drop of an article in Ride Report, exposing all of their dirty laundry. They tried to hide that tidbit of information, but Gregory did some digging and told them off in a spectacular fashion. And then told off Ian when Ian still tried to go behind our backs.”
“That’s . . . Wow.” Charlotte didn’t know what to say.
“Beyond that,” Emily continued, “it wasn’t the right fit. I was focused on the profits and not the heart of the park and I pushed Mom and Dad.”
“Now Emily,” Marianne jumped in, “we’re adults capable of making our own decisions. We got so hung up on the idea of building a long future for Lands of Legend that we didn’t take enough time to think about whether it was the right decision. And we definitely should not have kept secrets from you. I know we’ve talked about that, but I want to reiterate that we are sorry. Gregory, too.”
Charlotte closed her eyes and tried to formulate a satisfactory response.
“Charlotte, you still there?” Uncle Frank asked.
“Still here. I’m happy it didn’t work out, but I know you saw that as a viable path forward.”
“Ha ha,” Frank deadpanned. “It’s fine. We have other, better ideas for Lands. The Faery Festival was a success, so there’s a plan to expand that. And Gregory’s contracting some students from Grove Tech to put together a daily puppet show. All sorts of things brewing. And Charlotte?”
“Yes?”
Marianne picked up the thread. “We’d love to have you back to help us with all of it.”
Emotion gripped Charlotte’s throat. “I would like that. Working for DreamUs again was amazing, at first. I had resources again, a team of people, a seven-figure budget, every supplier you can imagine.”
“Point taken, Charlotte,” Emily interrupted.
“No, I wasn’t trying to make a point, only stating facts. And what I was getting to: I had all of that but no magic. No Flossleaf. No information toadstool. No kids wide-eyed, looking for the source of the dragon’s heartbeat on the Wintertide Trail. It hasn’t been right. Dreamland Paris will be special, I know it will, and people will travel from around the world to visit and make memories. But people travel to Lands to make memories and Lands is where I’m meant to be, where I want to be.”
“Then hurry up and come home, Charlotte,” her aunt said. “Lands isn’t going anywhere.”
“And,” Emily added, “maybe we can talk about your role more. I think I’m going to go back to New York for grad school.”
“Oh! I see,” Charlotte said. “I’m overwhelmed with feelings right now, you guys. I can’t wait to see you soon.”
“We love you, Charlotte,” Marianne said. “See you soon.”