Chapter 29
“Y ou were not joking about the cookies,” Gregory said, his eyes wide as he approached the island in the Lands of Legend office kitchen, where Charlotte had made a decorative spread of the six almost half-pound cookies she’d brought back in one of her carry-on bags.
“Gregory, I never joke about food. Especially dessert. You should know that by now.” She winked at him and then swiveled her head around the space to make sure no one had seen. They still had to figure out how to act at work.
Gregory raised an eyebrow and came up next to Charlotte, brushing his fingers along the back of her hand. “No one’s here yet. Kind of nice that the office is empty.”
“Oh, hmm, that’s interesting.”
“It is, isn’t it?” He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers, and Charlotte grabbed his tie and pulled him closer. They’d been existing in a content bubble since he’d picked her up at the airport yesterday; he even parked and came into wait at arrivals instead of retrieving her from the curb like a piece of luggage. He gave her what, as far as she could tell, was one of his dearest gifts to share with another person: time.
Their trip to Dreamland had knocked something loose between them, like the last rock that needed to fall in order for the avalanche to sweep down the mountain. It was the sex, yes—dear God, was it the sex—but also another layer of intimacy. Hours of working together, arguing, and talking about their families in the last couple of months had brought them closer than Charlotte realized. It was all so comfortable, so quickly. Gregory smiling at her in the airport. Going with her to The Book Loft and winding through its many small rooms stuffed with books. Then sitting down with her at her second-favorite Stauf’s location, the one in what used to be a church, the colored light filtering through the stained-glass window making his eyes look like green suncatcher crystals.
After a perfect morning of hanging out and holding hands, they’d decided to take the rest of the day off—aside from checking emails a couple of times since the Under the Waves opening was ten weeks away and every little thing needed to be addressed in a timely manner. Gregory dropped Charlotte at home, where she didn’t invite him in because Dad was around and she wasn’t ready for anyone else to know about their change in relationship status. Her parents had met Gregory when they swung by the park one afternoon last month when they’d wrapped up work early. They’d wanted to see how Under the Waves construction was coming along and , Charlotte suspected, they wanted to meet Gregory and see what he was about. Since then, they’d made comments about how he seemed to be a “nice enough young man” more than once—usually the morning after Charlotte and Gregory’s standing weekly visit to The Dragon’s Breath.
So, to avoid too many questions, she’d left Gregory’s car, tossed her bags in her space, given Madmartigan many pets and treats, showered and changed, grabbed her laptop, and headed to Gregory’s place.
The perfect morning turned into a perfect day as they nestled side by side on his plush couch to check emails and discuss business and then moved to his even more plush bed to discuss a different kind of business. Charlotte had eventually left to go home for dinner and Madmartigan snuggles, reluctance dogging her steps.
They hadn’t discussed what to say or do while at work, so when Charlotte now heard the office door open downstairs, she pulled away from the kiss, instead standing on her tiptoes to whisper into Gregory’s ear. “I know all the best, secret places to make out in the park, just saying.”
Gregory chuckled and whispered back. “Yes, but how do you know them?”
Charlotte relaxed her feet and stood flat. She smirked. “I did grow up here as a teenager. Now, pick a cookie before everyone else comes up. I recommend the Eternal Flame, it’s seasonal and the blend of spices is . . .” She blew a chef’s kiss to indicate how exquisite that blend was.
“Sold. I’ll take a quarter of it.”
Charlotte fake-gasped as she walked to the other side of the island for cutlery and plates. “When people bring doughnuts into the office, you cut them in half, don’t you?”
“Charlotte, these are half-pound cookies! My blood vessels will explode if I eat that much sugar at once.” He hesitated. “And yes, I do cut doughnuts in half.”
“I knew it!” Charlotte said.
“Knew what?” Emily asked as she walked into the open space.
“Gregory cuts communal office doughnuts in half,” Charlotte said in an accusatory tone.
Emily rolled her eyes. “Of course he does! He probably uses a fork too, so he doesn’t make a mess. Uh, no offense, Gregory.”
“Why would I take offense at being tidy and not getting flakes of doughnut glaze on my tie?”
“You’re right, we should all aspire to this,” Emily replied. Gregory’s head was down as he cut a triangle of cookie and Emily made a “can you believe this guy?” face at Charlotte, who couldn’t contain a snort. She and her cousin didn’t often joke together as adults, and for a second, it reminded Charlotte of how close they were when they were little, and how much she had looked up to her cousin.
Gregory caught her staring. “What?”
Charlotte pressed her lips together. “Nothing! Hey, Emily, I brought back Divine D’s, please help yourself to more than a quarter of a cookie.”
Cookies made perfect peace offerings, and Emily loved sweets almost as much as Charlotte. “That won’t be a problem. I see a peanut butter crunch and it’s all mine. I love a cookie so giant I can eat it all day long.”
Hey, they still had that one thing in common.
“So, I saw some emails about electric-line shenanigans while we were gone. How’s that going?” Charlotte asked.
Emily put her chosen cookie on a plate and started pushing buttons on the espresso machine. “It’s going. The Manta is going to require a lot of juice so we’re going back and forth about adjustments to the power grid.”
At that, Gregory straightened. Emily saw and held up her hand. “I know you have a million questions popping into your head, Gregory, but I need to have a few calls this morning, and then I can let you know if it’s going to require more time or money.”
He nodded.
“Now,” Emily said, “I want to hear about Dreamland. I’m sure Charlotte was the best possible tour guide. Did you have any epiphanies about theme parks?”
Charlotte wasn’t able to stop the warmth spreading up her neck, probably turning it an incriminating pink hue. Emily couldn’t have known about her and Gregory’s mutual epiphany about each other, but the question felt loaded, so Charlotte leaned into it. “Yeah, Gregory, any particularly memorable moments jump to mind?”
The delight of making Gregory squirm mitigated the blush burning her skin.
“Uh, several.” He busied himself with looking for a mug in the cupboard. “I, uh, was really moved by the fireworks.”
“You know,” Emily commented, “you don’t strike me as a person who would be into fireworks.”
“I’m, uh, not normally. But something about these fireworks were special.”
Charlotte bent her head down and smiled. “We did have the perfect viewing spot,” she added. “That makes a big difference.”
“Okayyy, so you were both really into the fireworks. What else?” Emily asked. If only she knew how into fireworks they were, Charlotte thought.
“Well, I haven’t walked so much in a single day in a while, if ever, and the rides were all impressive—except for the Twisting Teacups.”
“Yeah, I’m still sorry about that,” Charlotte said.
“I recovered eventually. But besides that one, I enjoyed the rides and seeing all the thought put into the story and details. And while that was all enlightening, what I found most educational and wonderful was the guests.”
“How so?” Charlotte asked.
“Everyone at the park was making memories. I could tell they were experiencing the world around them, soaking it in. I was struck by the moments of joy, big and little, happening all around us: The kid crying happy tears hugging that costumed bear character; the group of friends passing a box of popcorn back and forth while laughing; and Charlotte, remember that cute couple we talked to, celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary at the parks because they always had so much fun when they visited? Then there was that mom we met on the bus bringing her baby for the first time and talking about how it transformed the parks for her. Sure, some kids threw temper tantrums and some people were impolite, but the guests are what made it magic.”
Charlotte felt moisture in her eyes. She and Gregory had reviewed his mental notes at his place yesterday and blue-skied about some aspects of Dreamland he thought they could maybe incorporate into Lands of Legend, but he hadn’t told her all of that. She’d lost touch with the most important part of creating a theme park and Gregory had just reminded her that it was always about the guests.
“Wow, you’ve been listening to Charlotte, haven’t you?” And with that comment, Emily pulled Charlotte out of her reverie.
“I can’t take credit for that,” Charlotte said, blinking the tears back into her eyes where they belonged. “Gregory got there all on his own.”
Emily changed the subject, starting in on construction updates, and when Charlotte looked away to top off her coffee, Gregory mouthed to her, “Are you okay?”
Charlotte nodded. She was better than okay.