A Line in the Sand by Teri Wilson

Author:Teri Wilson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2022-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

“So you’re sure you’re not mad?” Molly winced at Caroline as she sipped her frozen Milky Way latte at Turtle Books the following morning.

Molly was situated on the customer side of the counter, back where she belonged, with Ursula curled into a ball in her lap. The aquarium didn’t open until noon on Sundays and her parents had already headed back to Philadelphia bright and early this morning, so Molly had a few hours to kill. She thought it best to break the news of her newly reinstated mermaid status to Caroline in person, especially since she was giving her friend zero days’ notice that she’d no longer be working as her barista.

“I’m not mad in the slightest. I’m thrilled for you.” Caroline pulled a face. “No offense, but you’re a much better mermaid than you are a barista.”

“No offense taken,” Molly said, scowling a little at the espresso machine. She’d miss seeing Caroline for hours a day, but that stainless steel monster…not so much.

Ursula plopped her chin on the counter, and Caroline reached across the counter to give her a pat. “Also, during your last shift I went to go shelve some books and when I came back up here, I found you pretending not to work here. So again, not a huge loss.”

Right. Molly had forgotten about that. A lot had happened over the past few days. “Ugh, I’m sorry. That was bad.”

“It’s fine. I get it. You always get a little nutty around your parents.”

“I do, don’t I?” During the past twenty-four hours, she’d pretended she’d never lost her job and she’d let them believe she and Max were in a relationship. She’d tried to correct that last one, though. It wasn’t her fault that they hadn’t believed her. “I’ve just always wanted to make them proud, but also stay true to myself.”

Caroline’s eyebrows crept up to her hairline. “Staying true to yourself by pretending everything is okay when it isn’t?”

“Believe me, I see the irony.” Molly finished off her drink and set her cup down on the counter with a determined thud. “But today’s a new day. I’ve already scheduled a meeting with the Turtle Team this afternoon so we can get to work on fundraising. I finally have my life back and I want to make sure I keep it.”

“And what about Max?” Caroline said.

Molly focused intently on the back of Ursula’s furry little head. “What about him?”

“How does he fit into your reclaimed life?”

“He doesn’t.” Molly did her best to feign indifference, but it was a tall order. She’d been so surprised when Max had told her he wanted her to come back to the aquarium. So deliriously happy. Then when she’d realized it hadn’t been Max’s idea, she’d felt exactly like she had when he’d fired her to begin with—like a joke. Unnecessary. How had Max put it, exactly?

Scientifically insignificant.

Molly’s chest tightened. She buried her hands in Ursula’s soft fur.

This was exactly why she’d sworn off dating. After her messy breakup with

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