Chapter 14
C harlotte chewed her turkey sandwich at record speed while she sat at her desk and got through emails, which still didn’t include any messages from Chad. She kind of hated it, but it looked like she would have to follow up with him and do her best not to sound desperate. No, she couldn’t risk looking desperate to Chad of all people. She’d make her follow-up breezy.
Not that her current schedule gave her a lot of time to overanalyze what Chad might want. Working with Gregory and her family the last few weeks to make a plan to take Under the Waves from a fragmented area with various construction in various states of progress to being open with a massive roller coaster with a water feature by Memorial Day was taking a lot out of her. Thank God they’d had the basic structure and detailed plans ready for the Manta, the land’s star attraction, in place or it would be at least a year before it could open. That empty man-made lake had been an eyesore for a while, but now it was a godsend to have it done.
The accelerated timeline was both thanks to and because of Ever Fund. They were dropping a substantial infusion of cash into Lands of Legend’s accounts, and if the near-constant wrinkle between Gregory’s eyebrows was any indication, they wanted to see some kind of return on said cash sooner rather than later. Gregory had gone over the project milestones with Charlotte in excruciating detail; he had to, she knew it was part of his job, but numbers had never been her favorite part of the job—especially when she had a much larger coffer to pull from at DreamUs. They had budget limits, of course, but at DreamUs, the upper limits were often in the millions. As in, more than two million. Charlotte’s team had also had room to be much more flexible. Much more. They were often running toward opening dates, true, but they had backup vendor after backup vendor in case anything went wrong with layers of contingency plans to set the ship to rights. Here, Gregory, Charlotte, and Emily ensured the trains ran on time, but it came down to them and them alone. Frank and Marianne were busy too, but they were more about polishing the bigger picture than managing the nitty-gritty.
She was exhausted beyond belief, more than at any point in her entire career, but Charlotte couldn’t get over seeing the look in her uncle’s eyes when he saw dozens of contractors on the Under the Waves site within a week of signing the paperwork with Ever Fund. And they were getting shit done. They’d engaged local construction companies too, and Frank enjoyed making the rounds to say hello to people he’d known for decades.
And that, Charlotte thought as she finished her sandwich, was worth eating lunch at her desk. She wouldn’t be running at this breakneck pace forever.
She sent two more emails, one to the municipality board about permits and one to their social media manager to discuss a strategy for rolling out the Under the Waves news. Announcing the land and the Manta Diver would be huge for them and should lead into a spike in ticket sales, but (a) Charlotte wanted to give it more time to ensure they were for sure on track before they shared anything resembling an opening date—backtracking would be embarrassing, and (b) she wanted to make it part of a bigger message about Lands of Legend and how it was always growing and changing and maybe people should consider buying annual passes.
She was toying with the idea of a lifetime pass, too. Really any and all ideas that would bring in guests and money. And the next meeting on her calendar sparked another idea.
While walking toward the kitchen for that meeting with the head pastry chef, about treats they could sell in Under the Waves, Charlotte opened a note of revenue ideas on her phone and to a section labeled “Possible One-Time Events” she added:
· Themed dinner in Adventurer’s Gate, maybe with some performers
Charlotte knew Holly, the pastry chef behind Lands’s perfect cinnamon rolls, would relish the chance to stretch her culinary creativity. It was a bonus that she could have an event like this in her back pocket to offer Holly when Charlotte inevitably had to say no to some fancy and usually expensive ingredient the chef wanted to use in an everyday dessert in the park.
As if to prove her point, Charlotte opened the swinging kitchen door in time to hear Holly arguing with Quinn, the executive chef for the park. Holly had talked Quinn, her wife, into coming onboard after Quinn decided running a restaurant of her own was too aggravating. Quinn preferred running Lands’s food and drink program, which she claimed had all of the benefits of having her own place with none of the hassle.
“We live in Ohio ,” Quinn was saying to Holly in an exasperated tone.
“And?” Holly asked.
Quinn crossed her arms. “Not exactly an abundance of seaweed around, is there?”
“We have to source plenty of ingredients that aren’t grown in the area, Quinn.”
Charlotte tried to step backward through the door instead of lurking while the pair bickered, but her sneakers squeaked and gave her away. Both Quinn’s and Holly’s heads swiveled toward her.
“Ah, Charlotte, right on time. Please explain to Holly that using a seaweed topping on handheld desserts in Under the Waves is not practical.”
“It’s actually a seaweed espuma,” Holly said.
Charlotte held back a smile. She had become accustomed to ending up in the middle of these kinds of discussions and arbitrating, putting her foot down, or throwing her hands up as the situation required.
“What kind of dessert did you have in mind?” she asked Holly.
Holly opened a notebook and pointed to a colored pencil sketch (Quinn said Tom Hovey’s illustrations for The Great British Bake Off had started a whole thing). “Chocolate bouchons with a swirl of the espuma on top. Think dark chocolate cakes—almost like brownies—with a silky, salty topping that tastes of the ocean. The contrasting colors would be gorgeous .”
Charlotte looked at the delicate illustration and the fervent glow in Holly’s eyes. It was never easy to pull back on an idea when Holly was so excited.
“Those do look beautiful and I’m sure they would taste amazing—”
“They do!” Holly interrupted.
“You know, Holly,” Charlotte continued, “you’re so talented at creating memorable desserts for our guests and using your background to put elevated twists on everyday items to get people out of their plain corn dog and ice cream sandwich mindsets. With so many people coming to the park, I know it’s impossible to make everyone happy, but I think you give everyone a lot of choices to go with classics or to try something new.”
Holly was beaming.
“That said, I feel like seaweed in this form might be too adventurous for everyday guests, and Quinn is right in that we do need to be conscious of the costs for standard menu items.”
The pastry chef deflated. “Do most people not know what espuma is?”
“ I don’t know what it is,” Charlotte admitted. “But I do like the idea of incorporating seaweed into the menu in Under the Waves. I defer to both of you, but maybe it could be in the form of a sprinkle or something so it’s more cost effective. Plus, what do you think about having the seaweed and chocolate bouchons be a special item for the grand opening? We’ll definitely be having a party and I know those would impress the guests.”
“I could work with that,” Holly agreed.
“We absolutely can,” Quinn said. “Now, I know you had a couple other things to review with Charlotte, dear. I’ll get out of the way.”
* * *
Charlotte left the kitchen an hour later, having reviewed a list of ideas with Holly. They’d called Melanie halfway through the meeting her for opinion on a Jell-O concoction (Melanie voted absolutely not). Charlotte leaned against a counter after discussing the menu and drafted a brief email to Chad to get it over with. She kept it simple, light. “Hope you’re well. Just seeing what you wanted to run by me.”
There. Done. Painless. She grabbed a banana from a bowl on the counter, swung the kitchen door open, and walked into Gregory with enough force to make them both take a step back.
“Ah, I’m sorry—”
“No, I’m sorry,” Gregory said as he straightened his jacket. Charlotte noticed how the tailoring accentuated his everything; she couldn’t relate to his dedication to business attire but she could appreciate it.
“I was just heading back to the office,” Charlotte said. “What about you?”
“I thought I’d check in with Quinn, see how things are going in general.”
Charlotte didn’t realize Gregory had been checking in with Lands’s employees on his own, not that he wasn’t allowed. “Why?” Charlotte asked, her voice defensive. She was worried the venture capitalist asking people questions about their work might make them nervous. They’d had the all-staff meeting soon after Lands signed the contract with Ever Fund to reassure everyone about Ever Fund’s future and their jobs, but that didn’t mean people weren’t humans who worried.
Gregory responded to the edge in Charlotte’s question with one of his own. His jaw tensed as he said, “I thought it would be nice to get to know the people who work here.”
He had a point.
“But you’re only going to be here what, not even a full year, right?” she asked. Charlotte’s confusion was genuine; at no point had Gregory seemed like the type to attempt bonding with his temporary coworkers.
He bristled. “Would you prefer I not talk to anyone except you, Emily, Marianne, and Frank?”
“No, of course not. I’m surprised you’re interested, is all.”
“Obviously I’m interested in the work everyone here does and any suggestions and thoughts they might have,” Gregory said. “Remember how I can be good at my job?”
Working together so closely meant Charlotte had become aware of Gregory’s skills. He was a competent force of nature in the office and applied his general business knowledge to the world of theme parks with ease. Hearing him talk with the many contractors and suppliers they were working with was as riveting as a true crime podcast. Charlotte would sometimes catch pieces of his conversations and wonder how anyone could say no to that charm, that logic. But then other times, he came across as a business robot and Charlotte hoped that wasn’t the side of Gregory Lands’s employees were seeing. Like she’d done with Holly, like she’d done countless times at DreamUs, Charlotte thought of how to phrase her thoughts without sounding like an asshole.
“You’re right, you should talk with anyone you want.”
“Gee, thanks for the permission.”
Charlotte gritted her teeth. “If I may continue, it’s good for the staff to meet you so they don’t think of Ever Fund as a faceless suit from that one all-hands staff meeting that wants to change the park. In fact, they probably appreciate you introducing yourself and showing interest in their work, as long as we continue to make sure they know their jobs are secure. It can probably be a little scary if the new investor is popping up and ‘checking in’ without context, you know?”
The creak of the kitchen door opening prompted them both to step out of the entryway and into an alcove that Holly used as storage. Gregory chewed his lip, a habit that always grabbed Charlotte’s focus both because it wasn’t in step with tidy, confident way Gregory presented himself and because it made her curious about the texture of his lips.
“Casual communication isn’t always my strength,” Gregory admitted, the wrinkle between his eyebrows a deep trench. “I don’t think I’ve been freaking anyone out—it wasn’t my intention—but I know I don’t always come across the way I mean to. What about instead you introduce me to everyone when we make our rounds in the park? Then I have you as a buffer; they know you and that should make it less weird. You can set up that I’m eager to meet people and learn as much as I can about them and the park.”
He met Charlotte’s eyes and added, “That’s truly been my goal with talking to folks these last few weeks.”
She took in what he said, feeling the slightest warmth when he mentioned their rounds. After they visited the Under the Waves construction site in the mornings, they’d taken to walking through different areas of the park. Gregory had asked one morning his first week there and it had become a habit; sometimes he posed questions, other times they went through the biggest to-dos on the park’s lists and exchanged ideas—Gregory’s observations had become more insightful as the days passed—and occasionally they walked in companionable silence. And every day, Charlotte reminded him about his agreement to try one new thing. The other day that new thing had been one of the stuffed dragon-egg pretzels; Gregory’s moan of joy was still crystal clear in Charlotte’s memory.
If Charlotte was being honest with herself, morning rounds with Gregory were her favorite part of the day. She loved showing Lands of Legend to him beyond their brief tour—its history, its many loving touches, its rides drove home how much she loved the park, how special it continued to be. How generations of families had come through the gates her uncle had built with his hands and that her aunt had helped paint. None of the sprawling theme parks she’d been in or worked in compared. And she could see Gregory was starting to get it.
“I know you care about your work, and I can see you’re starting to care about Lands. So yeah, I think that’s a solid plan for getting to know people. We can start on our walk tomorrow.”
“Excellent,” Gregory said. “I do think you could give me more credit.”
“Oh yeah?” she teased.
“Yes. Like this much more.” He bent his hand and put his index finger about inch over his thumb.
Charlotte reached over and pushed his thumb and finger together so they were almost touching. “Let’s start with that much and see where we get.”