Storybook Love: A Storybook Park Romance Read online

  “Why on earth would I do that? You’re not getting Storytown and you know it.”

  “All I know is that you and your charming park are having escalating financial problems. And I can solve them all if you just give me the word.”

  “The word is no. I’m going now.”

  “Looking forward to seeing you again.” He chuckled softly.

  Rebecca groaned and headed back to the office, covering her backside with her hands. Somehow, she knew Eastman tracked her every move. Inside the office, she locked the door and threw her real clothes back on, vowing never to take them off again. Before she set to work again, an unwelcome thought crossed her mind-she liked that Eastman found her attractive. She immediately pushed it away. Anytime a man found her attractive, it only led to one thing: Disaster.

  Chapter 3

  A loud shriek escaped from Rebecca’s lips before she realized the man leaping up at her from the coffin was only an actor. Jim and Ben had kidnapped her from the office for a preview tour of the haunted tunnel the day before Halloween. They’d removed what they could of the Alice in Wonderland sets and substituted scenes of a graveyard, dungeon, and biology lab.

  Jim sounded appropriately sheepish making the introductions. “Rebecca, this is Chris. He’s playing one of the ghosts.”

  “You might want to dial it down a bit for the kids,” Rebecca advised once her heart stopped thumping. Chris winked at her and nodded.

  At the biology lab, at Ben’s suggestion, Rebecca dipped her hands into the tops of two shoeboxes. The contents of one were sticky and wet, meant to simulate blood. She assumed Ben had filled the box with catsup, but he refused to say. The other box approximated the feel of a mixture of eyeballs and guts, but she sincerely hoped it was just cold spaghetti.

  All in all, she was pleased. At a modest fifty cents per ticket, the haunted tunnel would help make the party a resounding success. And a successful event would be ready ammunition against the onslaughts of Jonathan Eastman the Third.

  * * * *

  Rebecca woke on Halloween morning with a vague feeling that something was very wrong. She needed a moment to shake off her grogginess to recall being awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of rain. She reached over to the drapes by her bed, drew a deep breath, and flipped up a corner to look out. Sure enough, it was pouring! She cringed at the sight of a woman across the street battling with an inside-out umbrella.

  Rebecca threw the covers over her head and screwed her eyes shut. Grr. She’d watched the news for the past three days, and never once did the weatherman predict a possibility of rain today. What on earth was she going to do about their mostly outdoor Halloween event? She opened one eye and peeked at the clock. She had nine hours before they opened. Surely, the skies would clear by then. It was California, after all.

  To calm her nerves, she passed the next few hours with an old favorite—The Wizard of Oz. She treasured the memories of Gran reading it to her when she was six and sidelined with the chicken pox. Shortly thereafter, her grandmother took her to Storytown for the first time. Putting aside the book, Rebecca smiled, remembering her first sighting of Storytown’s Emerald City. The palace sparkled and shimmered, just as she’d imagined it would.

  She’d dragged Gran back and forth across Storytown that day, enchanted by the sets, rides, and animals, all representing scenes from the stories and books she loved. Some books she wasn’t yet familiar with, and she begged her grandmother to read those to her as well. From then on, each time Gran took her on an outing, Rebecca asked to return to Storytown—a routine that lasted until she was twelve. Six months after she turned eighteen, she landed a summer job at the park, and she’d worked there ever since. When Gran died and left her a sizable inheritance, Rebecca bought the park so she could run it herself. Until recently, it had been the smartest decision of her life. Now, with all the financial problems and Jonathan Eastman ready to pounce, she questioned her judgment.

  A torrential downpour on the roof jolted her out of her reminiscences. Normally, she loved the sound of rain, but today she bemoaned every pitter-patter. She looked out the window to check for signs of clearing, but an ominous dark sky greeted her. Once again, she called the weather number, but it was still the same forecast—showers with possible clearing in the evening. Sure, it was easy to predict rain now that it was actually raining.

  Rain continued to come down hard at two-thirty when she decided she’d better get to work. She grabbed the clothes and accessories that would pass for her homemade Puss ‘n Boots costume and stuffed them into a plastic bag. She paused for a moment at the memory of Jonathan Eastman’s reaction to the Alice in Wonderland costume. She wasn’t sure if she was embarrassed or pleased. Shaking aside her confusion, she set out to find her umbrella. It hid deep in the back of her closet, dusty from disuse.

  At Storytown, Rebecca unlocked the side gate and sloshed through the puddles toward the office. What a mess. Their promotional signs were torn and smeared, and the Halloween decorations drooped from all the rain. She found a cardboard black cat drowning in a puddle by the shoe. She picked it up and threw it in the nearest trash can.

  Once in the office, she searched for Mittens. He slept in Sara’s chair, blissfully unaware of his caretaker’s troubles. She emptied some dry food into his bowl, but he didn’t budge. How she wished she could curl up on the chair and join him.

  Rebecca walked over to her grandmother’s picture and looked at it mournfully. “Oh, Gran, ten years and the Halloween party has never been rained out. The one year we absolutely can’t afford not to run it.” She collapsed into her chair, already overcome by exhaustion.

  A few minutes later, Sara blew into the office, tore off her raincoat, and dumped her umbrella onto the floor. Water splattered everywhere. “Brr! It’s horrible out there.”

  “I know, I know. What are we going to do?”

  “We’ve still got a few hours….”

  “Even if it clears, everything will still be wet. No one’s going to want to come. Oh, Sara, we’ve just had the worst luck lately.”

  Sara removed her boots and padded over to the answering machine. “Maybe it’s some kind of sign that we should let Jon buy the park.”

  “No! I’m not giving up yet.”

  “Oh, boy. We have fifty-three messages.”

  “It’s probably ticketed customers wondering what’s going to happen tonight. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to call it off now, knowing the weather could clear later. What am I going to tell everyone?”

  As if on cue, the phone rang. Rebecca told Sara to let the machine pick it up. She had a big decision to make.

  * * * *

  Six hours later, the Halloween party came to a sour end. At the last moment, Rebecca decided to go forward with the event, but as she’d expected, the attendance was horrible. Although it didn’t rain, the day stayed cloudy and breezy and generally unpleasant. They had few walk-ins, and less than half the ticketed customers made it. And those that did come didn’t seem to be especially happy.

  They would have to honor the other tickets for regular admission, and Rebecca would still have to pay the staff. It was the worst possible outcome. She should have known things were bad when the fortune teller took one look at her palm and told her she was in for rough times ahead. Of course, the seer had also predicted she would soon find romance, and that was unlikely at best.

  At nine, Rebecca and Sara sat slumped in their chairs, their discarded costumes strewn about the office, neither one speaking. The only sound came from Mittens, curled up in Sara’s lap. Delighted they were in the office so late, he had his purrbox on overdrive.

  Rebecca shoveled a miniature candy bar into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed, but didn’t register how it tasted. She balled up the wrapper and threw it toward the waste can. She missed, and it landed with the half dozen others on the floor.

  She finally found her voice and said, “Sara, let’s get out of here and go somewhere.”

  “Where?”<
br />
  “Consuelo’s. I want a huge plate of enchiladas and an even huger margarita.”

  A short time later, the two women munched on tortilla chips and sipped their drinks at a cramped table inside Consuelo’s. Rebecca looked around. Packed with adults attired in skimpy costumes, the restaurant was obviously the place to be for singles on Halloween night. “Monster Mash” blasted throughout the room, and she and Sara had to shout if they wanted to hear each other. Finally, someone lowered the sound, and the two could speak at regular volume.

  “I forgot to ask how you enjoyed the party last night,” Rebecca said. “I hope it was better than tonight.” For the first time that day, she noticed that Sara’s hair was tinged orange at the ends. She must have been too wrapped up in her worries to see it earlier. At least it wasn’t as jarring as some of Sara’s other dye jobs.

  “The party was good. I hooked up with a pretty cute guy.”

  “Hooked up?”

  “Yeah, you know, I went home with him.”

  Rebecca stared at her. She’d always known she and Sara didn’t see eye to eye on clothes and hair color, but she hadn’t realized her assistant was quite so casual about sex.

  Sara laughed at Rebecca’s reaction. “You’re shocked.”

  “No. Maybe.”

  “We had fun. It’s all I was looking for.”

  Rebecca nodded. Sometimes, she wished she could take life a little less seriously. Her life was so tied up in Storytown that she rarely had time for fun. But she didn’t think she could ever have casual sex. Maybe she could take up a hobby?

  Sara interrupted her thoughts. “Hey, Bec, I’ve always wondered...why do you play down your looks so much? You’re really pretty, and you’ve got a smoking body. It’s like you don’t want men to notice you.”

  Rebecca bit into a chip. In trying to maintain a predominantly professional relationship with Sara, she’d revealed only bits and pieces of her personal life. But Sara was her friend as well as her employee. Maybe it was time to share more.

  She took a deep breath and said, “Maybe I don’t want men to notice me.” She paused, trying to think of how to explain it. “My parents had a terrible marriage. They married when my dad was thirty and my mom was only eighteen. He was a high-powered businessman looking for a trophy wife, but my mom didn’t fit the role. They were totally mismatched. They fought all the time. After they divorced, I was afraid to get involved for the longest time. I didn’t date at all until college. After I graduated, I fell in love with this guy I met at a party. His name was Mark. He was so…I don’t know. Suave. He could make me feel like I was the only woman on earth.” She scooped guacamole onto her chip. “We dated for quite a while, and I was hoping we’d get married. But then all of a sudden he stopped calling, and I couldn’t reach him. I finally found out he’d been two-timing me with the girl who’d had the party. He never loved me. He was just using me.” She paused again. “I guess I’m not over it yet.”

  “I get it, Bec. I just want to see you have a little fun. You know, let your hair down. Wear a sexy outfit. Put on some eyeliner. Go on a date. Forget what I said before about getting married. It doesn’t have to be a lifetime commitment. What about Jon? He sure seems to like you.”

  “If he really liked me, he’d give up trying to take Storytown from me and go back where he came from.”

  “It’s just his job. And I think you like him, too. It’s why you’ve never just told him to go away.”

  “Sara, I’ve told him countless times to go away. He doesn’t listen.”

  Sara fixed Rebecca with her big brown eyes and said, “I think you’re glad he doesn’t listen.”

  Rebecca shook her head and reached across Sara’s arm for the salsa. Her assistant may well be right, but she was only giving up so many secrets today.

  * * * *

  The park had switched to a weekends-only schedule. Rebecca was glad. She had her hands full with the fallout from the Halloween event. She fielded dozens of calls from parents wanting to know if they were getting their money back. Even though the tickets clearly said so, Rebecca patiently explained that they could be traded in for regular admission. Many of the callers were irate, as though she personally had ruined their plans. Of course, the weather was now perfect, clear, and unseasonably warm.

  Around twelve, Sara entered the office, and her uncharacteristic reserve signaled something was wrong. She murmured, “Bec, I was out on the grounds, and a woman was at the gate. She demanded to talk to a supervisor. She’s outside waiting.”

  “Oh, perfect. Is it about Halloween?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Okay, send her in.”

  Rebecca picked up her grandmother’s picture and sighed. “Wish me luck, Gran. I think I’m going to need it.”

  * * * *

  Just after three, Jonathan Eastman appeared at the office door. Rebecca shook her head at him. How much worse could this day get?

  “Rebecca? Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. Please go away.”

  Eastman promptly ignored her request and stepped into the office. Without asking permission, he eased into the chair by her desk. “So, what’s the matter?”

  “I’m fine,” she repeated, but even to her, it sounded unconvincing. Her brain told her to ask him to leave, but her mouth wouldn’t cooperate.

  “I don’t think you’re fine. Try again.”

  “It’s nothing. A customer was upset, that’s all.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it rained on Halloween. It put a damper on the party, no pun intended. Some people didn’t even show up, including Marybeth Williams and her six-year-old son, Trevor. She seemed to think it was my fault that this resulted in the biggest temper tantrum of the century.”

  “Did she yell at you?”

  Rebecca nodded. Marybeth had done worse than yell. The promise of a full refund hadn’t quelled her wrath. She’d threatened to write a letter to the local paper about Rebecca’s poor management skills. As if she should have managed the weather better.

  “You do a wonderful job,” Eastman said. “No one can possibly blame you for the rain. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  “It’s not the first time. Comes with the territory, I guess.”

  “I’ll make sure you’re awarded a management position when ThemeWorld takes over the park. You deserve it. I know you’ll do a good job.”

  Rebecca struggled to grasp the meaning of his words through her muddled brain. Did he say when ThemeWorld takes over the park? Yes, he definitely had. The fog lifted. What was she doing? She couldn’t let on to him that she was having even more problems. She said in measured tones, “But ThemeWorld won’t be getting the park. Could you go away now? I really need to get back to work.”

  “All right. Chin up. You did nothing wrong.” He stood and quietly let himself out.

  Rebecca stared after him, dazed again. She’d been alone for so long that she’d forgotten how nice it was for someone to be solicitous of her feelings. But Mark had seemed to care about her feelings, too, and look where that had gotten her.

  “How’s Jon?” Sara asked even before she’d closed the office door behind her.

  “Sara, did you let him in?”

  “Yeah…are you mad?”

  Was she? “No, it’s fine.”

  “I thought maybe he could help you feel better. Did he?” Sara shot her a sly look.

  “Not the way you mean, but yes, I suppose he did.”

  Sara cocked her head, apparently waiting for further information. Rebecca frowned, and Sara retreated to her desk.

  Rebecca tried to concentrate on her work, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Jonathan Eastman. He was definitely attractive, and they seemed to share a certain chemistry. True, he had made her feel better. If he didn’t honestly care about her, and was only interested in getting her to sell Storytown, he put on quite a believable act. But she’d also been attracted to Mark and believed that he cared, and she’d eventually f
ound out he was a master of deception. She remembered the clients he’d defended even though he knew they had done horrendous things. Yes, Mark had been a skilled liar, and she had a feeling Eastman could be, too.

  Chapter 4

  They scheduled the first annual Storytown Treasure Hunt for the middle of November. By Halloween, they’d sold twenty pairs of adult-child tickets out of their cap of twenty-five, and the remaining five blocks went quickly. Rebecca was relieved. She’d feared that the tickets were priced too high, but Sara had done the accounting and insisted that the fees would just cover their costs and allow for a healthy profit. This time, Rebecca hoped to head off misunderstandings about weather-related refunds by including a disclaimer when they mailed out the tickets. In big, bold letters, she had the printers state, “IN CASE OF RAIN, EVENT WILL STILL BE HELD. NEITHER RAIN CHECKS NOR REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN.”

  Because the hunt was Sara’s brainchild, Rebecca let her assistant take over all the planning. They decided that Rebecca would participate as a regular customer so they could objectively gauge what needed to be changed for next time—or if they should have the event again at all. To that end, Sara only discussed the challenges and clues with Jim and Ben, who would act as guides.

  By the day before the event, Rebecca’s nerves wound around her in a tight knot. They couldn’t afford to have the treasure hunt be a bust. She delicately broached the subject with her assistant. “Sara, don’t you think you should tell me at least some of the clues? What if they’re too hard? You want the kids to feel like they’re participating.”

  Sara shook her head. “Don’t worry, Bec. It’s going to be great.”

  “Well, okay.” But Rebecca was still skeptical. She hoped her assistant would prove her wrong.