Shelly's Arc

Chapter 8 of 12

Shelly was still counting names on the half-empty staff roster when the phone rang. A reporter from the local news outlet wanted to bring a camera crew for a preview tour tomorrow at ten. She said yes before she thought it through. She hung up, walked to the office window, and looked out at the park. Stacked pallets sat where the ticket line would go. Tarps covered half the wave pool. The big slide rose out of a mess of scaffolding, exposed pipe, and welding carts. Reservations had climbed all week off the commercial. One shaky camera pan across this yard would send them back down. She called George first. He rolled up in twenty minutes, tool belt clacking, floral shirt already dusty. "Chief, tell me what you need pretty by ten and I'll tell you what I can hide before then." They walked the site together. George drew a line on his clipboard down the middle. On one side, what could be finished: the front gate, the cantina patio, the base pool and the two feeder slides. On the other, what had to be screened off: the tower scaffolding, the pump housing, the unfinished lockers. "Give me the night and six of Duke's crew," he said. "I'll get the scaffolding sheathed in printed banners. Looks like decor from ten feet out. Cameras won't know the difference." Ziggy showed up at dusk with a flatbed of potted desert plants from his greenhouse. He climbed down slow and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I heard you needed the yard to look alive," he said. "Plants cover a lot of sins, Shel. Line the walkway, ring the base pool, hide the pump shed behind the tall ones." He worked through the night with two of Duke's men, setting pots along the paths George had cleared. By four in the morning, the front half of the park read like a finished resort. The back half was hidden behind painted banners printed with sun and moon patterns to match the slide tower. George rigged work lights to point away from the seams. The crew arrived at ten sharp. Shelly walked the reporter down the planted path, past the cantina patio, and out to the base of the tower where the twin pools caught the morning light. The camera stayed on the slide, the plants, and Ziggy demonstrating a test drop on the shorter feeder. The reporter asked about opening day. Shelly gave her the date and the reservation numbers. By evening, the segment aired on the six o'clock news, cut tight around the finished pieces. The station's website added a booking link. Reservations jumped again by midnight. Shelly closed her laptop and looked at the roster still tacked to the wall. Eight days. Twice the guests coming. Half a staff to serve them.