Page 60 of A Line in the Sand

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Molly’s gaze didn’t waver. Her eyes remained glued to him, and somewhere in their sapphire depths, he saw a hint of vulnerability. She cared what he thought about her and Ursula. She might not want to, but she did.

“Hello?” Opal waved her pompons in Max’s periphery. “Can you two even hear me?”

Mavis snorted. “Maybe they need hearing aids.”

Ethel shrugged. “If so, I know a good doctor.”

“They don’t need a doctor. They need to get a room, if you catch my drift,” Mavis said under her breath.

“All of you,” Opal yelled. She pointed toward Max’s feet with a mighty shake of her pompons. “Look!”

Molly glanced down and gasped. Her hand fluttered to her throat. “Oh, no. Not again.”

Max was almost afraid to look. His jaw clenched preemptively as he dragged his gaze to the sand where, for once in her life, Ursula sat serenely at his feet…

With a turtle egg nestled in her tiny jaws.

Chapter 15

To Molly’s horror, the egg was real this time—a genuine, rare, unhatched sea turtle egg. Not a Ping-Pong ball, a model egg, or a dog toy, but the real deal.

Molly had only seen a handful of actual sea turtle eggs before, but if there’d been any doubt in her mind as to its authenticity, the look on Max’s face would have cleared that right up. He seemed even more shellshocked than he’d been when he’d first seen his sand sculpture at SandFest. One of these days, Molly really was going to have to resuscitate him.

“No one move,” Max said.

Molly and the Charlie’s Angels went still as stone. Ursula blinked, but otherwise remained remarkably calm.

Max crouched down and placed his hand in front of her mouth, and the puppy gently set the egg down in his palm. It was round and white, just like the model egg she’d stolen from the display at the aquarium. But without even touching it, Molly could tell that this egg was far more delicate. Its shell seemed almost translucent.

Ursula wagged her tail, clearly proud of herself, as Max studied the egg, eyes shining with wonder.

“I don’t understand.” Molly shook her head. She didn’t want to think about what would have happened if Ursula had bit down and cracked the egg. Thank goodness she hadn’t. “Where did it come from?”

“She must have dug it up,” Max said.

His gaze flew to Molly’s, and her heart felt like it might pound right out of her chest. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as their little group turned to examine the spot where Ursula had been digging moments before.

And there it was…a nest full of eggs, just like the one in Max’s hand. Seventy, eighty, maybe even one hundred of them! Definitely too many to count at first glance.

The eggs were piled on top of one another at the bottom of the hole Ursula had been digging, deep enough that the sand was damp and darker beige than the fine powdered sand at the surface. Molly couldn’t believe her little dog had dug a hole that big. Had she somehow known that there was a clutch of eggs buried in that spot?

No, that was impossible. Ursula was just a puppy.

Elated to be the center of attention, the little Cavalier wiggled her entire body as she pranced around the perimeter of the nest. Her tiny black nose was frosted with sand.

“That’s right, you found the turtle eggs.” Molly gathered Ursula into her arms. The dog didn’t seem like she was about to remove another egg, but Molly didn’t want to take any chances. “You’re a caninegenius.”

Max bent over to inspect the nest. He kept shaking his head, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

With great care, Max placed the egg in his hand back inside the hole. Then he stood and ruffled the fur on Ursula’s head. “Good girl, Ursula. Now we know there’s a nest here, and we can take care of it. You’re a good dog.”

Molly’s throat clogged with emotion. She wasn’t even sure why. Hadn’t she been trying to tell Max that Ursula was good this entire time?

Still, it did something strange to her insides to see him beaming at her dog like that. She felt a little woozy, like she’d been out in the sun too long.

Max jammed a hand through his hair, leaving it disheveled. His absentminded professor vibe was strong today. Molly definitely didn’t hate it. “We’re going to need to re-bury the eggs. Then we can mark the nest and surround it with stakes and caution tape to protect it. Nate and I can run back to the aquarium and get the supplies.”

“We’ll stay here and babysit the nest while you’re gone,” Molly said.