Mavis leaned over to cover Nibbles’s tiny ears. “How dare you.”
“Oh come on, it’s true and you know it.” Opal sighed. “But it’s possible to have a precious dog that you’re crazy aboutandhave a boyfriend at the same time. You and Max are perfect for each other. What am I going to have to do to make you see that—fake another heart attack?”
“Please don’t.” Molly shook her head. Opal’s last fake cardiac event had shaved at least a year off of her life. “It all worked out for the best. I thought Max had changed, but clearly I was wrong. All he sees when he looks at me is a silly girl in a mermaid costume. I should have gotten the hint when he called me and my dog scientifically insignificant and fired us.”
“That was weeks ago. Max has definitely changed.Everythinghas. The aquarium is fully funded. There’s no reason at all that you can’t go back to being a mermaid. He didn’t fire you this time.” Opal wagged a finger at Molly. “You fired yourself.”
True, sort of. And Molly would have been lying if she said she didn’t miss it. Maybe one day she’d be able to slip back into her fish tail, swallow her pride, and ask for her job back, but today wasnotthat day. Seeing Max again would have killed her.
“Opal, I have to ask—why have you been trying so hard to push Max and me together?” Molly asked. The Charlie’s Angels had been known to dabble in a little matchmaking in the past, but Opal had really seemed to go the extra mile this time.
Opal shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Just tell her,” Ethel said.
Mavis nodded. “You’re not fooling anyone, Opal. She knows something is up.”
“Honestly, you design one half-naked sea god sand sculpture and fake one heart attack and people think you have an agenda.” Opal huffed, but when Molly didn’t say anything and just kept waiting for an answer, she finally relented. “Fine. I felt really bad about what happened with The Tourist. I’m the one who showed you that engagement announcement in the paper. You were so crushed, and I guess I sort of felt responsible.”
“Opal, don’t tell me you’ve been feeling bad about that for a full year? Nothing about my train wreck of a relationship was your fault. In fact, I’m grateful that you uncovered the truth.”
“Are you sure?” Opal said.
Molly nodded. “Absolutely.”
“I’m glad.” Opal blew out a relieved breath. “But that was only part of the reason—the main reason I tried to push you and Max together is because you’re perfect together. You still have feelings for him. Iknowyou do.”
The best thing to do would be to deny it. If she didn’t, the Charlie’s Angels would never give up their shenanigans. But try as she might, Molly couldn’t tell them she didn’t have feelings for Max. The words simply wouldn’t come out of her mouth.
No, no, no.Her heart pounded so hard that she could feel it in her throat.I’m not inlovewith him, am I?
She couldn’t be. She didn’twantto be. But if she wasn’t, then why had she given up everything she cared about most in her life in order to avoid being forced to see him on a daily basis?
“Oh. My. Gosh.” Mavis’s jaw dropped open as she looked at something over Molly’s right shoulder.
Ethel’s eyes went wide. “Well, would you look at that? Speaking of half-naked sea gods…”
Opal’s face lit up like the fireworks that the town always shot off over the boardwalk on the Fourth of July. Her eyes flashed over to Molly. “I think you should turn around, dear.”
Molly’s heart leapt straight to her throat. She wanted to know what all the hubbub was about, but at the same time she was afraid.
It’s Max.She just knew it. Was she ready to see him again, so soon? No…but the rebellious flutter deep in her belly felt an awful lot like hope.
She spun around to face her future. The doors to the senior center swished open, and in walked Max—but not like Molly had ever seen Max before. Not in the flesh, anyway.
He was the real, human Max. The same Max who’d held her hand while they’d watched baby seahorses, who’d dipped her on the dance floor, who’d kissed her silly while her toes sank into the sand and her heart soared to the moon and back. But he didn’t look like that version of Max at all. Gone were the glasses and the buttoned-up oxford. In fact, this Max wasn’t wearing any kind of shirt. His chest was bare, and he had a shiny gold crown on his head decorated with shells and bits of beach glass. There was a trident in one of his hands, and he held a plush baby sea turtle aloft in the other. He was the real Max, dressed as the wild, untamed sand version of himself.
Molly blinked. She might have thought she was experiencing some bizarre lovesickness-induced hallucination if not for the fact that bingo night came to a complete and total standstill when he walked through the door.
Tourists stared. Bingo daubers froze midair. People started snapping photos with their smartphones. Ursula took a flying leap out of Molly’s arms and scrambled toward Max as fast as she could.
Molly’s heart felt like it just might follow.
She tried to keep her composure, but despite her best efforts, she felt her mouth curve into a ridiculous smile as he walked toward her.
“What are youdoing?” she said as he came to a stop right in front of her. The stuffed turtle in his hand had googly eyes glued onto its head.Googly eyes!
Max winked. “It’s Tuesday night. Where else would I be?”