Page 14 of A Line in the Sand
Nate’s eyes widened. “Dude.”
Max nodded. “The dog, too.”
“Dude.” Nate shook his head. “Not cool.”
The wet vac stuttered to a stop, as if even the machinery around here was so appalled by Max’s behavior that it refused to cooperate.
Would this day ever end?
“What are you going to do?” Nate tipped his head toward the wet vac.
“We—” Max gestured back and forth between them. “—are going to find some towels and clean up this mess. And then I’m going to find our mermaid and get her back.”
“The dog too?” Nate asked.
“We’ll see.”
Max still wasn’t sold on the puppy. He was officially back to his old, logical self. And logic still dictated that a dog had no place in an aquarium. Max also wasn’t buying into the fact that Molly was Ursula’s emotional support human. But admittedly, he wasn’t exactly in a position to argue.
Nate strode to a utility shelf on the far side of the room, flip-flops slapping against the damp floor as he went. He gathered a stack of towels and went to work sopping up water without further commentary on Max’s canine hiring practices. Somehow his silence on the matter made Max feel even worse.
The aquarium closed its doors at four o’clock. Max made it through the rest of the afternoon without any further major disasters, not counting the fact that they were still teetering on the brink of financial collapse, or that Nate was the only member of the staff who seemed to be speaking to him after word got out that he’d fired Molly and Ursula.
Everything would be better tomorrow. All he needed to do was calmly and rationally explain to Molly that he’d made an error in judgment and ask her to return to work.
Luckily, since this was a Tuesday in Turtle Beach, he knew just where to find her.
Chapter 5
The senior center already appeared to be a hive of activity by the time Max chugged to a stop in the Jeep. Flags emblazoned with the word BINGO flapped in the breeze at each corner of the building. The parking lot was packed, and tourists poured into the senior center’s lobby, their faces pink and hair salty from a day at the beach. A silver Airstream trailer topped with a huge spinning cupcake sat in the parking lot, and a line snaked from the order window all the way to the gravel sidewalk that ran alongside Seashell Drive.
“That’s new,” Max said as he shifted the Jeep into park.
“What’s new?” Nate said, surveying the bingo night landscape.
The intern had stayed past closing, helping Max with a juvenile Kemp’s Ridley that had been brought in by a fisherman who’d found the sea turtle tangled in his net. Fortunately, the little guy had minimal injuries and was in his new tank happily munching on squid when Max headed out for bingo. Nate had been going too, of course, and when Max realized the intern intended to skateboard from one end of the island to the other, he’d offered him a ride.
“The cupcake truck.” Max directed his gaze toward the Airstream.
“Sweetness on Wheels is always here on bingo nights. Violet makes special themed cupcakes every week. It’s a whole thing. She sells them out here before bingo starts and then runs the concession stand inside for the rest of the night,” Nate said.
Max’s stomach grumbled. He’d been so busy putting out fires all day that he hadn’t eaten a thing. A cupcake didn’t sound half bad. “Let’s get some. My treat.”
“Oh. Wow.” Nate grinned. “Thanks.”
The kid didn’t have to look so surprised. Max did possess some redeeming qualities.
You fire one mermaid and suddenly you’re a super-villain.
He slammed the door of the Jeep and headed toward the Airstream. Nate jammed his hands in his pockets and walked alongside.
Back in Baltimore, Max had never cultivated friendships at work. It was generally considered unprofessional, and the scientists and interns never mixed outside the aquarium. Island life was different, though. Max knew this. At least that’s what he told himself when, again, his old analytical self was hinting otherwise.
Professionalism and methodology aside, Max could use a friend. His life in Turtle Beach had gotten off to a rocky start.
He and Nate fell in line behind the crowd of beachgoers and senior citizens. Either Max was imagining things, or a few hostile stares were aimed his way. Happy chatter and conversation seemed to grind to a halt.
Max shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Beside him, Nate cleared his throat and took a nearly imperceptible sidestep, putting a sliver of space between them.
