“Sure,” Adelie said, fighting the sinking in her chest. “And what do you mean, a different offer?”
He slid a look to Mr. Hawthorne, who inclined his head with insistence.
“Wonderland’s brand is ready for a new look,” Mr. Hatter said. “And I think it’s you.”
“What’s me?”
“For the rebrand. New logo. New signs for every ride. New brochures, new maps. I need a girl to be the face for that. It’s you. I need you to be my Alice.”
“Your—Alice?”
Suzie’s feet drummed on the carpet.
Adelie’s brows crunched. “Why? I mean, why me?”
“I need investors to keep the park’s momentum going,” Mr. Hatter said. “After you found Pierre, my friend, Duncan, here saw you talking to the news crew. He pulled me aside and agreed with me. It has to be you.”
“It’s true,” Duncan said. “With your face, your innocent demeanor and your hesitation to accept any attention, you’re the perfect candidate.”
A tingling swept up the back of her neck. Heat bombarded her cheeks. How could he be that perceptive? “What do you mean the perfect candidate?”
Mr. Hatter reached for something on the desk behind him and held it toward her. Enlarged to at least fourteen by twenty in size, matted on black foam board, was what appeared to be an image from the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It was a penciled sketch of a young girl staring straight forward, wearing a dress and pinafore, with tall grass and hollyhocks around her and carrying a pig in her arms.
The girl’s face was innocent. Youthful and reticent, her forehead wide, her lips pouty giving her a sort of who, me? expression.
“I see it,” Suzie said, perking up, glancing from the sketch to Adelie and back again. Her mouth widened in amazement. “It’s so you. You could totally pull that off.”
Adelie was at a total loss for words. Mr. Hatter propped the image up alongside the lamp on his desk and continued.
“When I first launched Wonderland, I hired an artist to recreate my mother’s impressions of a book she loved for the signs for every ride, the entrance, even the directions throughout the parking lot. He did a great job for what it was, but the park has become campy. Everything is too exaggerated, too over-emphasized. Too cartoonish.
“I want it to become more real to those who arrive, and the way to do that is to redecorate. Rebrand. Ramp up the rides, the entire Wonderland experience.”
“We believe a live actor would be the best way to handle that,” Duncan said, stepping forward as if ready to enter the conversation. “Especially someone with your youthful, innocent demeanor. You capture the innocence of Alice, the curiosity mentioned multiple times throughout the book.”
“’Curiouser and curiouser,’” Suzie mumbled.
Adelie’s pulse clamored in her ears and a sudden coldness struck her to the center. Having an actual actor for the images was all well and good, but her? “I—I can’t do that,” she said in shock.
Mr. Hatter gave her a disarming smile. “I know it’s coming out of nowhere for you. But we’ve been thinking about this for quite some time. If you really aren’t interested at all, I’ll send you off with your winnings and wish you the best. But I’m willing to add to your fifty-thousand-dollar reward.”
Adelie’s throat was dry enough to crack. “Add to it?”
“Of course. Models are always paid for their image. It’s clear the chance for fame isn’t appealing enough to you,” Mr. Hatter said with a laugh. “To have your picture seen all over town, on brochures, our website, and even commercials—”
“You’re talking about taking pictures of me?” Adelie wasn’t sure why she hadn’t grasped that to begin with. Her mind was a step behind. He couldn’t be serious. She was no model. She’d loathed picture day growing up and begrudgingly had one senior picture taken because it’d been obligatory.
“Yes. It would involve a photo shoot. And I’m afraid money is all I have to offer. What might entice you to say yes? How does two-hundred and fifty-thousand sound?”
If Adelie had been holding something she would have dropped it. “Are you—?” She couldn’t manage to finish.
No way. No way had she ever thought she’d even sniff that much money, let alone touch it. Let alone hold it and have it to use. Along with a rush of breathlessness, other ideas flurried through her mind.
She could do so much with it. She could pay off their mortgage outright. She could pay the rest of Suzie’s medical bills.
But photographs? Billboards? Adelie had witnessed the sheer number of attendants in the park today. Having that many people stare at her face, not only here but across the valley? Not to mention wherever else he would decide to advertise.
“Yes,” Suzie blurted. “She’ll do it.”
Adelie’s mouth gaped. “What? No, she won’t do it.”
“Miss Carroll,” Mr. Hatter said, clearing his throat. “I’m not sure you understand—”
She stood, refusing to be simpered at. “No. Look, I’m really flattered, but this just isn’t me. You could find a thousand other girls who would be better suited for this. They’d have experience; they’d have a…a desire for this. I don’t want it.”
She’d never been one to take center stage. She’d been on the light crew, on the sidelines feeding actors their lines. She’d never played a front role, and she had no interest in doing so now. That unnerving interview with the news crew was all the attention she ever wanted.
Suzie’s face was a mashup of panic, disbelief, and desperation. She stood and shuffled forward; hands outstretched before her as though trying to hit the finish line first. She elbowed her way between Adelie and Mr. Hatter and linked her arm with Adelie’s.
Suzie flashed an apologetic smile at Mr. Hatter. “Can you give us just a second?”
“What are you doing?” Adelie said through her teeth.
Suzie shushed her and guided her to the far corner, beyond the bar with a microwave and sink, to where a tall plant stood guard. She shot a look behind her shoulder before pinning her fiercest sisterly scowl on Adelie.
“Are you crazy?” she mumbled under her breath. “Just say yes.”
Adelie worked to keep her voice low yet loud enough for only her sister to hear. “You can’t accept for me. It’s my face, not yours, that’s going all over the place.”
“Come on, why not? You are perfect. You found the rabbit. You’ve already been on the news. It would be even bigger for Wonderland, and that reward? Holy cow, Adelie, that would save Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We wouldn’t get foreclosed on.”
Adelie couldn’t deny the same thoughts had crossed her mind, but she’d stamped them out quick, like a dropped match in a forest. They could find some other way to save their home. She’d find a legitimate job, something that wouldn’t require her to be so…out there.
“It’s just a few pictures,” Suzie went on, her tone turning corrective. “You heard what he said, you’ll be all made up and Alice-y. No one will even recognize you otherwise.” She threw out her hands and added a cheesy, encouraging smile.