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“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said. “Whatever exactly happened, I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself and happy it all turned outokay.”
Lilac felt her stomach turn sour, though the subject didn’t make her quite as dizzy as it once had. “Thanks.”
“I don’t know if I’d have been brave enough to do what you did,” saidPembroke.
“You would be if you turned to your friends, Pem,” said Lilac. “If you ever need to talk to someone—or if you just want to go kick a man in the junk, I’m yourgal.”
Pembroke broke into laughter at that and they said theirgoodbyes.
“Lunch is here,” called Aunt Frankie from inside the house. Lilac stood and grabbed her iced tea from the table on the patio. Frankie had ordered them someThai.
And though her stomach was still spinning—largely because of the countdown to her first official date since she and Nolan had decided to start over—Lilac felt entirely happy and at home as she sat down to eat with Aunt Frankie. It was a feeling she thought she might never experience again, but it was there, and though the shadow of her pain would never entirely leave her, she felt like she’d managed to banish it to some dark corner of herself, a dark corner almost obliterated by the rays of sunshine from those who cared about her themost.
* * *
“You can’t wantto go on the Tildy Whirl for a third time,” said Nolan. His legs were genuinely shaking as they exited theride.
Still, Lilac tugged him back toward the growing line. “I always rode the Tildy Whirl three times,” said Lilac. “Then Tildy’s Cavern Adventure twice and if I had time, Tildy’s Never-Ending World about four or fivetimes.”
“And you thought a date at Tildy World would be boring,” said Nolan with a sheepish grin as he stepped back in line withher.
“No,” she said. “That could never be the case.” She draped her arms over his shoulders and leaned up for a quick kiss. “I’d just… Forgotten what it looked like on this side of things. Without the Tildy Scouts and the cramped hallways and the hidden doors behind themurals.”
Lilac let her gaze wander around the park at the employees. She actually didn’t know that many out here in the park proper because she’d been so caught up in the rather small worlds of Tent Tildy and Queen Animaliao’s Ballroom. Most of the employees still wore Tildy Scout outfits out here since camping was an important enough theme in Tildy Tapir cartoons, though some wore costumes more thematically tied to the specific attractions where they worked. Like the Tildy Scouts—they still had that name for employees, regardless of what they wore—at Tildy Whirl wore clownoutfits.
That had made Nolan shudder almost as much as the rocking and rolling whirling carts themselves. “Well, I’m just glad we’re going on these rides before dinner,” hesaid.
“You’re being awfully coy about dinner,” said Lilac. “How much time do we have left before we should getgoing?”
Someone cleared her throat as the line moved and Lilac spun around, taking Nolan’s hand in hers as they moved to fill in the gap that had appeared. “We won’t have to go far,” said Nolan. “And dinner is at eight, so if we hop on a shuttle by about 7:30, we should make it with plenty of time tospare.”
“A shuttle?” askedLilac.
“Of course,” said Nolan. “You don’t honestly think I’d take you on a Tildy World date and not treat you to a meal at Queen Animaliao’s Ballroom, doyou?”
Queen Animaliao’s Ballroom—he had to mean the Royal Dining Hall.Thefinest dining spot in all the theme park. There was only room for five parties a night and they booked up months in advance. Her parents could have easily afforded it but certainly hadn’t cared enough to bother. Besides, they’d told her, that place was for grownups. Kids ate downstairs at the PalaceKitchens.
“How…?” asked Lilac, her jaw hungopen.
Nolan bumped his arm into hers as they took another few steps forward. “I have friends in high places,” he said. “Furry friends. And the queenherself.”
A thought made Lilac’s stomach drop. “But I’ll pay,” she said. “It can’t becheap—”
“Hush,” said Nolan, laying a finger across her mouth. “Don’t ruin the magic. Since when does Tildy discussfinances?”
“There was that one cartoon where she almost lost her cabin because of the queen’s new tax,” said Lilac. “Her Majesty was under the influence of the dark shadow,” sheadded.
Chuckling, Nolan wrapped an arm around her as he leaned closer to her ear and Lilac shivered from head to toe. “Okay, Ms. Tapir’s personal archivist. But no dark shadow helped or hindered me. I get an employee discount.” He kissed her temple then and Lilac about melted intogoo.
By the time they staggered off their third turn at the Tildy Whirl, she took advantage of Nolan’s need to regain his land legs by stepping aside and making a phone call to arrange a little employee benefit of herown.
* * *
Nolan had gottenthemthebest-positioned table at the finest restaurant at the best theme park in the world. Apparently, there’d been a cancellation and sometimes Tent Tildy threw that out to its staff to see if they wanted the chance to pick it up before they made it available to the public, but even so—Lilac was going to believe it was all a little Tildy Tapir magic that had aligned everything so perfectlytogether.
They sat nearest the window that overlooked all of the park and she could see everything from the peak of the mountain hiding Tildy’s Cavern to the cabin in Tildy Town where Tildy Tapir supposedly hung her hat each night. The evening had settled in and there was a thin line of amber glow retreating over thehorizon.
“To Tildy,” said Nolan, holding up his champagneglass.
