Storybook Love: A Storybook Park Romance

by Carol E. Ayer

  They exited their car, and Eastman led her to the arcade. A trivia game booth stood near the entrance. Rebecca challenged him to a round.

  “Okay, here we go,” he said. “First question. American history for three hundred points. ‘Who was the only President who never married?’“

  “I think it’s James Buchanan.”

  He typed it in, and a cacophony of bells and whistles heralded their correct answer. “You’re ready for something harder. You should be good at British literature. For six hundred points, ‘What author used the pseudonym Currer Bell?’ Who in the devil would know that?”

  “Charlotte Bronte,” Rebecca answered without hesitation. Bells and whistles blared again, and he looked at her with obvious admiration.

  “Well done. Beautiful and smart.”

  “He said begrudgingly.”

  He laughed. “No, not at all. I’m impressed. Do you have any faults whatsoever? Other than that whole stubborn thing you’ve got going, that is.”

  Rebecca crossed her eyes at him and pointed to the game. “Next.”

  “Geography is more my speed. For five hundred, ‘Which state besides Alaska has the northernmost point in the United States?’ I know this one. Minnesota.”

  Once more, the machine rewarded them with a commotion of sounds.

  “Well done,” she said. “Handsome and smart.”

  “So you admit it. You think I’m handsome.”

  Heat rushed into Rebecca’s cheeks. “No, I didn’t say that. I was only mimicking you.”

  “Right,” he said and looked into her eyes. Her blush intensified. “We seem to have mastered this attraction. Ready to go?”

  She nodded, glad of the change in subject.

  They left the arcade and walked on.

  “You game for the log ride?” he asked.

  Rebecca grinned. “I am if you are.”

  They stopped for popcorn on the way and took their place in line. While they waited, a pretty woman wearing a halter top and short shorts walked by. Eastman gave her a quick glance, but turned back to Rebecca. She was surprised. Mark would have watched the woman until she was out of sight. He’d always been good at giving her his full attention if they were alone, but add other women, and it was a very different story. And she’d learned the hard way it wasn’t always harmless fun.

  “Having a good time?” Eastman asked.

  Rebecca reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bag in his hand. “Yeah, I really am.”

  Again, she expected an “I told you so,” but he only nodded.

  “You realize we’re probably going to get soaked,” he said. “See those people leaving over there? They’re sopping wet. We aren’t wearing very much.” His gaze landed on the shorts and tee shirt she’d changed into earlier. She blushed again. Did she catch a touch of appreciation in his glance?

  She finished her last bite of popcorn and donned the sun visor they’d bought from one of the gift shops. She nodded firmly. “I’m ready.”

  Their boat arrived, and Eastman directed Rebecca to get in first. He scooted in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. His touch triggered a rash of goosebumps on her arms and legs. She was so aware of him that she barely noticed the first soaking they received, minor compared to the ones to come.

  By the end of the ride, they dripped from head to toe. Rebecca took off her wilted hat and passed it to Eastman. He shook it to remove some of the water and flicked it into a trash can. Laughing, they headed to the nearest restaurant. They chose a table in the sun and sank down.

  Rebecca wrung out one of her curls and giggled. “You should see your face. You look…soggy.”

  “Look who’s talking. Your curls are all over the place.” He reached over and flipped a curl away from her right eye. She froze at his touch.

  “Rebecca…,” Eastman began, but his voice trailed off as the waitress approached.

  A few minutes later, Rebecca took a large bite of her hot dog. “This is so good. I was getting tired of having turkey all the time. My sister gave me a huge platter to take home.”

  He nodded and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention your parents. Do they live near you?”

  “My father does. He and my mother divorced when I was ten. She lives in Florida now. When Dad remarried a few years ago, we tried the whole enlightened one big happy family thing, but it was too awkward. So mostly, we go our own ways. I usually celebrate the holidays with my sister and her family. Sometimes, my mother flies in to join us.” She paused. “What about you? Do you see your family much?”

  His face clouded over, and she looked at him closely. He didn’t answer right away, but then said, “I see my parents often.”

  Rebecca waited for him to say something more, but he only picked up his cup and drained the rest of his soda.

  “I’m still hungry,” he said a while later. “I’ll be right back.”

  He stepped inside, came back with a brownie, and broke the treat in half. He handed the slightly bigger portion to Rebecca.

  “How did you know that’s exactly what I was craving?” she asked.

  “A little known talent of mine. I read minds.”

  Rebecca hoped that wasn’t true. She didn’t want to admit—yet—that her feelings for him were steadily growing.

  “Ready to take off?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I think we’ve covered everything.”

  He glanced at his watch. “I just have to stop by the management office for a few minutes. Then would you like to tour the ThemeWorld Hotel before our flight?”

  She nodded. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he came over to her chair and offered her his hand. They left the park and headed for the management office, fingers entwined.

  * * * *

  That night, Rebecca had a lot to think about. First of all, she had to consider what was happening between her and Jonathan Eastman. He obviously liked her, and it was time to acknowledge she had feelings for him. And just before they left for the airport, they’d had a definite moment. The hotel manager had called them “Mr. and Mrs. Eastman” and asked if they were staying over and if they wanted a room. Eastman had hesitated for a beat too long, and when he explained they were heading back up north, he’d sounded regretful.

  She was almost convinced that the best course of action was to sell Storytown to him, and she’d said as much to him on the plane ride home. As he’d pointed out, she could try to find someone willing to buy the park and keep it as is, but who would want a place that lost money? He was right—storybook parks were old-fashioned, and everyone but Rebecca knew it. And ThemeWorld really was fun. An added bonus would be that he might stick around to see the new park into its planning stages.

  But all night she dreamt about Storytown. In one dream, Emily looked directly into her eyes and said, “I love Storytown, Rebecca. Please don’t sell it.” Another dream featured Rebecca’s tenth birthday party, one of the happiest days of her life. The merry-go-round had just been completed, and Rebecca and her friends were given the inaugural ride. Just as she had done in real life, she rode on Toto, leaning over and hugging his fur the entire time.

  On emerging from her dream state, Rebecca had a vision of her grandmother in front of her bed, whispering to her not to give up. She woke teary-eyed and confused, her resolve greatly weakened.

  She headed for the office, determined to check the finances again. Unfortunately, they hadn’t changed since she’d last pored over them, and they remained as dismal as ever. Even if she raised gate prices by a dollar, she probably couldn’t turn things around. Meanwhile, she could hardly cut the employees’ pay, which was barely above minimum wage. She briefly considered canceling the fundraising party in January and using the money from the account elsewhere. But she quickly nixed the idea. The fundraisers in past years had been relatively successful.

  The phone rang just before twelve, and her heart rate picked up. Maybe she was about to receive a lunch invitation..

&nbs
p; “Hello,” she answered. “Storytown,” she added as an afterthought.

  “Beccca?” a woman’s voice hiccuped.

  “Leslie?” Rebecca only half recognized her sister’s voice through the tears.

  “Yesss….”

  “Sweetie, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  “Dave…Dave left me.”

  “What? No, honey, he wouldn’t do that. Did you have a fight?”

  “He’s…there’s…he’s in love with somebody else. Can you come over?”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Stunned, Rebecca hung up the phone. She couldn’t believe it. Leslie and Dave had seemed rock solid after nine years of marriage. In fact, although Rebecca had never fully acknowledged it, their playful relationship had always given her a glimmer of hope that she could get over Mark and settle down. It may well have been part of the reason she’d been allowing Eastman to get closer to her.

  She thought back to Thanksgiving and realized there had been a slight chill between her sister and brother-in-law—at least on Dave’s part. He had snapped at his wife for not including chestnuts in the stuffing. He’d complained that the mashed potatoes were lumpy. And when they’d taken turns naming the things they were thankful for, he’d neglected to mention Leslie. At the time, Rebecca had passed off his insensitivity on work stress, but now the incidents took on greater proportions.

  But Leslie had been the perfect wife, hadn’t she? She’d quit her accounting job because Dave didn’t want her to work. She’d cooked for him, cleaned the house, and raised their son. Hours at the gym kept her fit, and she always wore makeup and nice clothes. She even ironed Dave’s shirts. Rebecca shook her head in disgust. Men! They were never happy.

  She passed Cinderella’s Castle on the way out of Storytown and wondered: Did anyone live “happily ever after”? She could have believed it about Leslie and Dave. But if they couldn’t make it, who could?

  She was letting herself out the side gate when she heard Eastman call to her. He stepped from the black BMW he’d parked along the service road and waved. In light of the call from Leslie, her old misgivings about him returned. He was just like every other man on the planet. Sure, he was all over her now, but what happened when he grew tired of her, when other women commanded his attention? Wasn’t it likely he would leave her for another woman if given half the chance? Like Mark had left her? Like Dave had left Leslie?

  He walked over to her and reached for her hands. She immediately stuffed them into the pockets of her cardigan and looked away.

  “Rebecca?”

  “What? I’m in a hurry.”

  “I was hoping I could take you to lunch.”

  “I have to go see my sister.”

  “You’re upset. I’ll drive you.”

  “No. I have to go now.” And she brushed by him to go to her car. She only caught a glimpse of his wounded expression.

  Chapter 7

  That Friday, Rebecca was late getting to work for the first time in months. She’d met Leslie for breakfast, and her sister had bent her ear for longer than expected. Leslie asked Rebecca again and again where she had gone wrong, and Rebecca reassured her over and over that it wasn’t her fault. Rebecca wasn’t used to her big sister showing her vulnerable side. It disconcerted her since she’d always considered Leslie the stronger of the two. Her sister had always been the one to comfort her after their parents had a fight or she’d had problems at school.

  Sara waited at the gate when Rebecca finally drove up to Storytown.

  “Becca!”

  Rebecca gathered up her things and locked the car. Sara flung the gate open to let her in. Raindrops pelted Rebecca’s hair, and she covered her head with her purse.

  “What, Sara? Is it bad news? Can I at least get settled first?” Rebecca walked toward the office, mentally going through the possibilities. A leaky roof? A disgruntled customer? A broken ride? Was it at all possible it could be good news for once? Like some generous benefactor had anonymously given them a million dollars?

  They reached the office, and Rebecca put away her things and sat down. She grabbed a tissue and dabbed her wet hair. Sara remained standing, waiting expectantly.

  “Okay. What is it?” Despite her intentions, Rebecca failed to control the weariness in her voice.

  “It’s the train. It keeps stopping by Rapunzel’s Castle. I think it must be some kind of problem with the track.”

  Rebecca stared at her. Jack and Jill’s Train was one of their most popular attractions, and she couldn’t afford to have it down, even for a day. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “It’s true. Sorry, Bec.”

  “I can’t imagine how much this is going to cost us.” She hesitated. Was there any way around it? Could they cut the ride short and not pass by Rapunzel’s Castle? No, there was nothing to be done except get the track fixed. “Okay. Can you do me a favor and find the repair guy’s number?”

  Once Rebecca had made the call and gotten a commitment for a repairman for early the next day, she and Sara began working on the holiday schedule. But both women had lost their initial enthusiasm. Every so often, Sara stopped what she was doing and breathed out a wistful sigh.

  “Hey, Sara,” Rebecca said after yet another exhale.

  “Yeah?”

  “Here we are alone in an amusement park. What say we go amuse ourselves? The rain’s letting up.”

  Sara gave her a questioning half-smile that soon broke into a wide grin. They stood abruptly, frightening Mittens. He retreated from his position on Rebecca’s desk to take cover in the open cupboard under the sink.

  Rebecca threw open the office door and grabbed Sara’s hand. They hurried across Gretel’s Courtyard toward the shoe. The two women looked around, and then at each other.

  “Where first?” Rebecca asked.

  “The tunnel,” Sara cried, and they broke into a sprint. Rebecca flashed on a memory of herself and Leslie running from set to set and ride to ride twenty years earlier. She’d spent very little time immersing herself in Storytown since she’d reached adulthood, caught up as she was in the behind-the-scenes operation. It was about time.

  In the Alice tunnel, they preened in front of their too-tall reflections in the distortion mirror and reclined in the oversized chairs at the tea table.

  “No room, no room,” Rebecca joked, quoting from the tea party scene in the book.

  Sara giggled and took up the challenge. “There’s plenty of room.”

  Back outside, they slid down the Princess Slide and climbed to the top of Rapunzel’s Castle.

  “Can you imagine having hair as long as Rapunzel’s?” Sara asked.

  “Yours is getting longer. A few more months, and you’ll have men clamoring to climb up it.”

  Sara appeared to be considering this, and Rebecca gulped. Would that be the next change in hairstyle—a mane several feet long?

  They chased each other through the Alice maze, and Sara dragged Rebecca over to the Wizard Wheel. They took turns at the controls while the other rode. At the Jack Sprat Restaurant, they unlocked the kitchen and helped themselves to chocolate ice cream cones. At the Tinman Stage, they performed a soft shoe routine, laughing until they cried.

  Visiting the Three Billy Goats Gruff, Sara said to Rebecca, “Remember when we had to take Pierpont to the vet?”

  Rebecca laughed. “Yeah, the other customers were more than a little shocked to be sharing the waiting room with a goat.”

  Sara rubbed Pierpont’s ears. “But you’re okay now, aren’t you, buddy?”

  They headed over to Jack and Jill’s Hill, where they got down on the ground and rolled down several times until their clothes were covered in mud.

  At the Hispaniola, they pretended they were pirates and had a mock duel on the deck.

  Finally exhausted, they retreated to the top of Robinson Crusoe’s Treehouse. Breathing hard, they sank down onto a bench.

  “That was fun,” Rebecca said. Almost as fun as being with Jonathan Eastman, b
ut she didn’t say it out loud.

  “Let’s do this every day,” Sara said, her eyes gleaming.

  “Okay.”

  Sara grew sober. “What will you do if we can’t save the park? Work for ThemeWorld?”

  The question startled Rebecca. For the last two months, she’d been so intent on her goal of saving the park that she hadn’t given much thought to what she’d do if she failed. She remembered Eastman saying he would make sure she’d be granted a management position if ThemeWorld took over. But working for ThemeWorld would be much different than being her own boss. She imagined the bureaucratic tangles she’d have to work through. Would she be able to not work and live off the money she’d make from the sale? Probably, especially given her new diet of cups of noodles and macaroni and cheese. But she couldn’t imagine not working.

  “Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do,” she told Sara. “The owner of LitLand offered me a job once, but I don’t know if I’d want to leave my sister and nephew. Besides, who knows how long they’ll stay in business?” She took Sara’s hand. “You’ve been an excellent assistant to me. I’m going to give you a glowing recommendation if we have to close up. What do you think you would do? Work for ThemeWorld?”

  Sara shook her head.

  “I thought you were okay with ThemeWorld. You know, the rides, the rush?”

  “I guess this place has grown on me…and there’s something I haven’t told you.”

  “What?”

  “You know that guy from the Halloween party? His name’s Joey. We’ve been seeing each other.”

  “That’s great.”

  “That’s not all. We...well, we might be moving. He proposed to me at Rapunzel’s Castle while you were away at ThemeWorld. We’re getting married.”

  * * * *

  Later at home, Rebecca couldn’t sit still or concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes at a time. She opened the refrigerator a half dozen times, but couldn’t decide what she wanted to eat for dinner. At last, she threw open the freezer door, stuck her tongue out at the array of diet dinners, and grabbed a low-fat lasagna. She removed the box and tossed the tray into the microwave.