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Layla offers her a quick thank you, then dashes off toward The Village. I take a bite of my hot dog to avoid having to talk. It’s kind of ridiculous, though. We live together, we ride into work together, and we kissed already. But Elle has a magic quality that makes being around her extra special and I don’t want to mess things up between us.

“Did you have a nice morning?” she asks.

I nod. “Yeah, lots of smiling and posing for pictures.”

“Ah, the life of a famous Prince Charming.”

I let out a laugh. “I wouldn’t use the word famous. This is just a small amusement park. I doubt anyone who doesn’t live within a twenty-mile radius has ever heard about me.”

“Really?” she asks with a frown. “Then why is there an article about you in the New York Times?”

I almost choke on my hot dog. “There is?”

“Here, I’ll show you.” She gets her phone out from under the counter and swipes it open. Then she turns the screen toward me, showing me a picture of a donkey with the word gotcha written over it.

I roll my eyes at her, even though I can hardly suppress a laugh. “Aren’t you funny.”

“Either you’re into lame jokes, or you’re not.”

My phone buzzes with a text and I check the device to see who it’s from. Frank and my sister have both texted me, their messages only seconds apart. “Maggie wants to go out tonight. Just us three and a few others. What do you think?”

“Sounds good.”

I fire off a quick okay before sliding my phone back into my pocket. I finish my hot dog and throw the napkin in one of the park’s bins. “I’ve gotta run. Frank wants to see me. I’ll meet you at the parking lot after your shift.”

She nods enthusiastically. “See you then.”

I give her what I hope is a heart-stopping smile and saunter off toward Frank’s office. I wonder what he needs from me. It’s probably nothing serious, but being called into his office always leaves me a bit nervous. I bump into Layla on my way there.

“Oh, hi, Colton. I was just returning from my break. How’s Elle?”

“She’s doing good. She’s got amazing hot dog-making skills.” I raise one of my eyebrows at her and cross my arms over my chest while giving her a friendly smile. “I can’t say the same about your matchmaking skills, though.”

Layla bites her lip. Guilt is written all over her face. “Oh, did she tell you what happened with Zeke?”

“The questionnaire? Or the food cutting? Or do you mean the stories about his dental health?” I say with a laugh.

She leans in closer and speaks in hushed tones, as if even one of the guests passing by cares about a blind date she set her colleague up with. “I didn’t know he was going to do this. Ever since he got dumped by that girl who cheated on him last year, he’s gone a bit off the rails. Nothing serious, but… He told me he needs the questionnaires to make sure the girl he’s dating is The One.”

I suck in a breath of air. “Wow. That’s not going to get him far. If anything, he’s scaring girls away left and right.”

“I know,” she says with a shrug of the shoulder. “But there’s no reasoning with him. Anyway, I’ve got to run. Why don’t you take Elle out on a date once? Make her forget all about what happened with Zeke.”

She grins at me, then rushes off toward her section of the park before I can think of a witty reply.

A couple of minutes later, I knock on Frank’s office door and let myself in.

“Hey, Colton, take a seat,” he says as he shoves his glasses further up his nose. “I’ll be right with you.”

He’s typing on his computer, using only two fingers, and his brow is creased. Every now and then, he needs to push his glasses back up as they keep sliding down. When he’s finished, I can hear the familiar sound of an email being sent.

He shoves a stack of papers out of his way and puts his folded hands on the desk. “Do you know how many people it takes to run an amusement park, son?”

I frown. “Uhm, quite a few. I can’t give you an exact number, though.”

He nods slowly. “Quite a few, that’s for sure. A lot would be even more accurate. So much so, in fact, that’s it’s getting harder for me to keep on top of managing this place. I’m not getting any younger either. Then there’s my sweet Irene, who is begging me to retire. She wants to go on a cruise with me, but I can’t leave the park for weeks, so a trip like that is out of the question for us.”

“Okay,” I say, wondering where he’s going with this.