Page 16 of A Line in the Sand

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He had a mermaid cupcake in his hand and a scowl on his face, a combination which inexplicably made her feel more attracted to him than ever. Ugh. Something wasseriouslywrong with her.

Ethel Banks peered over the top of her purple bifocals as Max grew closer. “Goodness gracious, that man is even more good-looking dry than he is wet.”

Mavis nodded. “That jawline. And that boyish swagger. He’s like a modern-day Cary Grant.”

Molly wasn’t so sure. Max’s swagger didn’t seem boyish in the slightest. In fact, it oozed irritation—possibly even aggression.

Opal redirected her walker so that she could look Molly directly in the eye. “Are you sure you want to alienate him, dear?”

“I’m not trying to alienate him,” Molly countered. “I’m simply trying to get my job back.”

Was she, though? Was she really?

Molly’s gaze flitted toward Ursula straining at her leash and dressed in her goofy little lobster costume. Okay, perhaps her efforts to let Max Miller know exactly how beloved she and Ursula were by the community at large had gone a tad overboard. Mavis’s Chihuahua was nestled in her walker basket, dressed as a lobster in solidarity. Technically, it was a shrimp costume, but that was the best Molly could do for a teacup-sized dog on such short notice. She’d driven all the way across the bridge to Wilmington in search of shellfish attire for the island’s canine population. She’d managed to score lobster costumes for Violet’s Dalmatian Sprinkles, as well as Sprinkles’s better-behaved counterpart, Cinder, the Dalmatian who belonged to Violet’s fireman boyfriend, Sam Nash. Clover the corgi was also decked out in a red felt “shell” with wonky antennae, as were Hoyt Hooper Jr.’s aging Golden Retriever and the fluffy gray Persian feline companion to Mavis’s boyfriend Larry Sims.

Definitely overboard.Molly’s cheeks went impossibly hot.Too late now. Just go with it.

The automatic doors swished open, and Max walked into the lobby with Nate Harper, one of the sea turtle hospital interns. Molly had been so focused on Max and his swoony swagger that she hadn’t noticed Nate’s presence until just then.

Molly adored Nate. Everyone did. He was the human equivalent of a St. Bernard puppy, with shaggy hair, deep-set brown eyes, and a tendency to trip over his own feet. A total sweetheart.

Still, it stung a little to see him hanging out after hours with her archenemy. Molly was beginning to feel better and better about all the four-legged lobsters currently weaving their way among the bingo tables.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Opal said, grinning from Max to Nate and back again while Ursula strained at her leash in an effort to get to Max.

The Cavalier threw herself at Max’s feet and batted at his shins with her tiny paws, clearly oblivious that this was the man who’d fired the both of them just hours before. Or maybe she knew, and she’d decided to forgive and forget. Either way, it was beyond mortifying.

Molly tugged gently at the puppy’s leash and tried to reel her back in.

“Welcome to bingo.” Mavis peeled a sheet from her pad of bingo card pages and handed one to Nate.

Ethel offered him his choice of ink daubers from the box in her walker basket. Nate took a blue one.

The Charlie’s Angels made up the official welcoming committee for bingo night. No one on the island had the opportunity to yell bingo without first getting past Opal, Ethel, and Mavis.

“Thank you.” Nate scooted past the women and lingered, waiting for Max to gather his bingo-playing accoutrements and join him at one of the tables.

Max, however, seemed momentarily paralyzed. He stood rooted to the spot, staring at Nibbles in his tiny shrimp costume. Then his gaze moved slowly to Skippy the Persian, nestled beside Nibbles in Mavis’s walker basket. The set of Max’s jaw seemed to turn to granite as he took in the cat’s lobster claws while Skippy rolled onto her back and batted at her left antenna.

Sprinkles the Dalmatian suddenly leapt into view, red lobster claws flying anywhere and everywhere, and made a grab for the mermaid cupcake in Max’s hand. It was gone before he could move a muscle.

Opal’s eyes went wide. Mavis clasped a hand over her mouth, and Ethel shook with silent laughter. Even Max’s uncle, who was sitting at one of the tables right up front, let out a snort of amusement. The timing of Sprinkles’s antics had always been impeccable.

Max Miller, hater of dogs, terminator of mermaids, turned toward Molly. An angry muscle flexed in his jaw. The effort to keep his head from exploding must have been monumental. “Can we have a word?”

Here it was. He was going to cave and beg her to come back to the aquarium. Molly knew it.

She was tempted to make him do it right here and now, in front of the Charlie’s Angels, Nate, and the bingo-loving public at large. But that definitely seemed like overkill. Molly had made her point. Max had probably suffered enough.

“Absolutely.” She shot him a triumphant smile. “Shall we?”

She waved toward the far end of the lobby where a set of French double doors led to a deck overlooking the bay.

Max gave her a terse nod.

Everyone in the room, both human and canine alike, watched as Molly and Max walked toward the back porch. Ursula trotted between them at the end of her leash, antennae waving. She kept glancing up at Max with a wide doggy smile on her face. The stars in her eyes reminded Molly of the way she’d felt last summer when she’d dated The Tourist. Poor naive thing.

The sky was ablaze with a late summer sunset, so molten that it looked like the clouds were spilling liquid gold straight into the bay. A row of pelicans glided above the smooth sea, dipping the tips of their wings into the water. It would have been a lovely evening for a romantic stroll along the beach…with someone other than Wilson.