Page 35 of A Line in the Sand

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“Somistaken.” Molly’s stomach flipped. She’d always been a terrible liar.

“Agreed.” Max’s jaw clenched. He wasn’t the greatest liar himself, apparently.

She squared her shoulders. “What was it you wanted to order, again?”

Max bent to deposit Ursula onto the floor—finally—and the puppy trotted behind the counter and plopped down on the toe of Molly’s ballerina flat.

He stood and crossed his arms. “A frozen Milky Way latte, but don’t worry about it if it’s too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all. It’s my job now, remember?” She reached into the red and white retro-style refrigerator for the carton of milk and chocolate syrup.

Max looked at her for a long moment while she blended the ingredients for his drink. The laugh lines around his eyes disappeared, and he suddenly looked bone-tired. “Just so you know, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings when I told Nate you weren’t back working at the aquarium. He caught me by surprise, and I—”

“Please stop,” Molly said. Did they really need to talk about what happened? The last thing she wanted to do was re-live it. “Of course you didn’t hurt my feelings. We decided that working together would be a disaster, remember?”

Technically,hehad decided that. But still.

“You don’t still believe that,” Max said, and the earnestness in his tone was just too much for her to take. It made her want things—things she’d given up on after The Tourist.

And how was Max any different from Molly’s recent disaster of a boyfriend? He’d swooped onto the island as if he belonged there, but what did Mollyreallyknow about him? Just because her puppy loved him, he had a way with sea turtles, and he did yoga with senior citizens didn’t mean he was a good person.

Although now that she thought about it, those were just the sort of qualities that did indeed make someone a catch. No wonder she’d wanted to kiss him.

Not anymore, though. They’d had a moment, and that moment had passed. Period.

“Nothing’s changed. I love it here. I have zero desire to work with you—ever.” She gave him a tight smile and turned on the blender so whatever he said next would be drowned out.

It churned to life just as he tried to speak. Stubborn as ever, he commenced with yelling over the racket.

Molly had stopped listening altogether, though. Max’s voice was nothing but a dull roar, because just over his shoulder, Molly could see a couple of new customers headed toward the bookshop. It was a middle-aged couple wearing matching beachy linen pants with pastel-colored sweaters tied around their necks, like they’d just stepped out of the pages of an L.L.Bean catalog. Harmless as could be…

Or not.

Molly’s legs turned to water. Ursula paced in circles and whined, clearly attuned to her sudden state of panic. She swallowed hard.

Mom and Dad.

Chapter 10

What were her parents doing on the island? They weren’t due to arrive until tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow,when Molly could break the news about her mermaid job over pancakes and sand castles. Not while standing behind the counter at Turtle Books, making coffee for the man who‘d let her go from the aquarium.

It couldn’t happen this way. It just couldn’t. She wasn’t ready. News like this needed finessing.

Molly’s gaze flew to Max. “Would youpleasestop talking?”

Miraculously, it worked. He closed his mouth and rolled his eyes. Not ideal behavior, obviously, but it was definitely preferable to her mom and dad finding her working as an argumentative barista when they thought she’d given up a chance at grad school or regular teacher employment to be a mermaid.

She was twenty-seven years old. Being this concerned about her parents’ approval was humiliating—almost as humiliating as continually embarrassing herself in front of Max, but not quite. At least Max couldn’t evict her from her beach cottage. His ability to throw her life into total disarray only extended so far.

Molly yanked at her apron strings, pulled the telltale garment over her head and stuffed it on the shelf beneath the cash register while simultaneously scurrying out from behind the counter to stand beside Max.

He frowned down at her. “What’s happening right now? Where’s my dr—”

“I said stop talking,” Molly hissed. This was going to end in disaster. She could feel it.

But then the bells on the front door chimed and her parents walked inside the bookshop.No turning back.