Page 75 of A Line in the Sand

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As instincts went, it was spot on. Maybe that’s what Molly needed to do from here on out. Or at least keep moving. She’d spent far too long doing her best to stay still.

Chapter 19

Molly spent the entire day of the Under the Sea Ball with the Turtle Team at the senior center, transforming the gymnasium into a magical underwater oasis.

Hoyt Hooper Jr. and Sr. manned the helium tank, blowing up balloon after balloon and stringing them together in vertical clusters that stretched from floor to ceiling so they looked like bubbles rising to the top of an aquarium. The Charlie’s Angels raided the senior center’s kitchen and emerged with a dozen big glass bowls they’d filled with blue Jell-O and gummy fish candies so that the table centerpieces looked like whimsical fish tanks. Opal still had the old projector she’d used in her classroom when she taught art at Turtle Beach High. She dragged it out of the back of her closet and used it to project luminous underwater images onto the walls and ceiling—ethereal jellyfish, wavy seaweed, and angelfish with huge wing-like fins. Ursula chased them back and forth as they slow-danced across the ceiling.

Caroline, Violet, and Molly spent most of the afternoon on ladders, unscrewing the industrial fluorescent lighting and replacing it with bulbs tinted light blue and lavender. Violet brought boxes and boxes of cupcakes in special ocean-themed flavors. Day at the Beach, which had been frosted, rolled in graham cracker crumbs, and topped with a tiny umbrella to look like a shady spot on a sandy shore. Clamshell Cupcakes, topped with icing and vanilla sandwich cookies that had been propped open on one side to hold a tiny white edible pearl. And—Molly’s personal favorite—Shark Attack, with blue frosting piped into tiny peaks to resemble waves, topped off with gray fondant shark fins and filled with a fresh strawberry jam center. A bit gory, but definitely in keeping with the theme.

The transformation took hours, but all the work had definitely been worth it. The gymnasium was flat-out unrecognizable.

“This place looks beyond dreamy.” Violet sighed. “I can’t wait for everyone to see it.”

Caroline pressed a hand to her heart. “I feel like I’m in the lost city of Atlantis.”

“Is that a real place or a myth?” Violet’s forehead puckered. “I forget.”

It was definitely a myth. In fact, those dreaded words—scientifically insignificant—danced on the tip of Molly’s tongue. But she swallowed them down. What was the harm in dreaming on a night like tonight?

Wait a minute.Molly’s gaze flitted toward the windows, where the lavender sunset sky was deepening to a rich velvety blue.Why is it getting dark already?

She took her phone out of the back pocket of her skinny jeans and checked the time. Six o’clock? Max was supposed to pick her up in just an hour and she still needed to go home, feed Ursula, and get cleaned up. The sparkling tulle dress she’d splurged on from her favorite boutique in Wilmington was hanging on the outside of her closet door, ready and waiting.

“I totally lost track of the time. We’ve got to go.” Molly fished Ursula’s leash out of her handbag and clipped it onto the puppy’s collar. “See you all in just a little bit.”

As she zipped home to the beach cottage on her Vespa, she couldn’t help but notice how calm the ocean was tonight, reflecting the star-swept sky like a glass mirror so that everything—land, sea, sky—glittered like diamonds. She’d spent so much time hiding from romance, fromlove, that she’d forgotten that sometimes life really did look and feel just like a fairy tale. Or maybe even a long-lost utopian city under the sea.

So it seemed fitting that when Max knocked on her door an hour later, he looked like an altogether dreamy combination of sea god meets Prince Charming. He wore a deep-blue tuxedo with smooth black satin lapels and a bow tie that made his eyes sparkle like sapphires.

“Molly.” He clutched his chest. “You look…”

His voice drifted off as he took in the sight of her. Once she’d put her new floor-length dress on, she’d worried it might have been too much. After years of dressing as a mermaid, she’d gone in the total opposite direction and chosen a gown for the ball that was airy and light, crafted from miles of diaphanous powder-blue tulle. The bodice was covered in shimmering beaded embellishment and had a deep v-neckline overlaid with a wisp-thin layer of pale-blue netting.

“You don’t think it’s too princess-y, do you?” she asked.

“Not at all. It suits you,” he said, voice thick in a way that made Molly’s heart pound hard in her chest. “You don’t look like a princess. You look like a queen—queen of the mermaids.”

His gaze swept slowly over the pearl headband holding back her hair in a loose, tousled updo. A shiver made its way up and down her spine. They hadn’t even gone anywhere yet, and this already felt like the best date Molly had ever been on, hands down.

Max reached for her hand, brought it to his mouth and brushed his lips against her skin. Gently…reverently. Why had she waited so long to let herself have feelings for this man?

He smiled, eyes crinkling in the corners. “Where’s our chaperone?”

Molly blinked, and then realized he was talking about Ursula. “Actually, she’s staying home tonight. I’ve got her all situated in a puppy pen in my bedroom with a plush dog bed and a Kong toy stuffed with peanut butter. I left Netflix on for her, so by the time we get back, she should know how to bake a proper Bakewell tart.”

Molly was babbling. She couldn’t help it. She saw Max every single day, but not like this. There was something so raw and open about the way he looked at her. Things between them would be different after tonight. Shewantedthem to be different, and perhaps that’s what made her most nervous of all.

“You’re sure about this?” Max’s smile turned soft, tender. “I wouldn’t want her to feel anxious or vulnerable on her own.”

Molly felt the corners of her mouth turn up. They weren’t talking about Ursula anymore, were they? “She’ll be fine. She’s ready for this.”

More than ready.

“Okay, then.” He waved toward the deck and the cool night air with a flourish. “We have a ball to get to. Shall we?”

To Molly’s delight, Max was rendered speechless when he got his first glimpse of the makeshift ballroom. He looked around for a full minute, taking in the balloon bubbles, the Jell-O fish tanks, and the moving pictures on the cool blue and violet walls, and then turned to Molly and shook his head. “Are you absolutely sure we’re in the senior center’s gym right now? Because this looks nothing like the place where I play volleyball on Thursday nights.”

“You play in the senior center’s wheelchair balloon volleyball league?” How did she not know this?