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Chapter One
Today was not supposed tobe the first day of Molly Lawrence’s new life.
Molly 2.0, the updated, cooler, more glamourous version, was scheduled to start at eight a.m. on Monday morning. She’d written it that way on her calendar and had arranged the rest of her plans accordingly. Today, for example, she was supposed to be unpacking her moving boxes. Tomorrow? Laundry and grocery shopping. But one unexpected call in the middle of the night had changed all of that. So, here she was, launching the revamped version of her life three days early.
She brushed cat hair off her shirt, left over from her last client—a gorgeous twelve-year-old Ragdoll cat named Cupcake in for her yearly checkup—and pulled up her schedule.
Truth be told, she hadn’t expected to need this new life at all. Up until four months ago, she’d been convinced that Molly the Original was pretty perfect, going exactly according to the plan she’d drawn up in her junior high diary with those colorful sparkle gel pens. And yet the entire thing had unraveled in the course of one day.
One really bad day.
But how she’d gotten here wasn’t the point. The point was she was getting the rare chance to reimagine her life. She could go on adventures she’d never even considered before. Take her new gig, for example. Instead of a normal vet who showed up to the same neighborhood clinic day in and day out, she was transitioning to a career as a traveling vet who bounced around from city to interesting city, filling in for those out on short-term leave. And she couldn’t be more excited that her first assignment was a three-month stay in the beautiful Florida panhandle beach town of Emerald Cove.
Of course, that assignment was supposed to start on Monday, but the vet she was replacing had a baby who’d decided to make an early appearance. Maybe that was a good sign. Along with adventure, Molly 2.0 was going to embrace spontaneity. She was going to be one of those people who rolled with the punches and could go with the flow. At least, that was her goal as soon as she got more used to how this whole spontaneity thing worked. At the moment, she wouldn’t have hated having a little more of a heads up so she could’ve washed her brand-new puppy-paw print scrubs before she had to wear them.
But all in all, scratchy scrubs aside, it’d been a pretty great spontaneous first day of her adventurous job. The clients at Gulfview Animal Clinic had a lot to do with that. Putting it simply, they were amazing. Every single one of them had been sweet, accepting, and more than welcoming. Their humans weren’t so bad, either.
Molly pulled up her final appointment of the day and clicked on the name, Chompers. Normally—or what she was calling normal from the vast experience of her eight-hour shift—that double-tap should’ve taken her to the screen where she could access all of the animal’s charts and information. However, this one didn’t go anywhere. The only information connected with this client were the letters ECTRR. Odd.
She jabbed at the screen, trying a couple more tricks she’d picked up during the day, but nothing worked. That was the problem with spontaneity. Things didn’t always go as well as they did when they were carefully planned out. Learning how to navigate an unfamiliar system on the fly without anyone to show her the ropes was a perfect example. Hopefully, Chompers’ owner could fill in the missing details she needed to complete today’s appointment.
She walked from her office through the back entrance of exam room two to make sure it was ready for the patient, then headed out the door on the opposite side that led to the lobby.
“Chompers.” She always used a sing-song voice when she talked to animals. In her experience, it seemed to put the nervous creatures more at ease, even from the very first time she said their name.
Only this time, there weren’t any animals hanging out in the waiting room, nervous or otherwise.
She craned her neck, looking all around the small spaces where fur babies could hide. “Chompers?” she called again, checking her tablet to make sure she had the right name.
“That’s me.” The only other living being in the room stood from his chair and strode toward her.
The first thing she noticed about this particular creature was that he wasn’t a furry, four-legged friend. He was a man. One with warm chestnut eyes and the kind of authentic smile that was contagious. The stubble covering his chiseled jaw seemed to be more a product of his lifestyle than any sort of deliberate fashion choice, which somehow made it more attractive. He looked like someone who’d stopped by after wrapping up some epic adventure. Or maybe he was on his way to start an epic adventure. Or maybe both.
“You’re Chompers?”
He extended his hand. “Actually, it’s pronounced Grant Torres.” His grin widened, producing a set of charming dimples. Of course he had dimples. He was like the poster child for ruggedly handsome. He probably free-climbed rocky cliffs, then stopped traffic at the top to help little old ladies cross the street, too. “It’s a pleasure to meet you…”
“Molly. Dr. Molly Lawrence.” She grasped his hand. Molly had never thought to classify someone’s grip as friendly, but his was. It caused a bubbly feeling in her chest.
“Ahh, the locum vet. Dr. Lacey tells me you’ll be filling in for her while she’s out on maternity leave.”
Molly took her hand back and clutched the tablet against her chest. “That’s right.”
“Welcome to Emerald Cove, the most charming town on 30A.” He leaned closer as if sharing a secret. “At least, that’s the claim according to our visitor information.”
Molly couldn’t help but smile. He had the kind of charm that drew her in. She tucked a fly-away lock of recently highlighted hair that had freed itself from her ponytail behind her ear. “Thanks. I’m looking forward to getting to explore it.” She’d been in town for less than twenty-four hours and so far had seen the inside of the furnished condo and the inside of the vet clinic, but she had big plans for a beach stroll after work to explore her new town.
“You should check out Rock Bluff. They have great food, amazing views, and live music on the weekends.” He grinned again, showing off his dimples and causing another round of bubbles in her chest.
“Sounds great. Thanks for the suggestion.” She made a mental note of it. “But I’m guessing you didn’t come in just to give me dinner recommendations. How can I help you this afternoon?”
Grant slid his hands into his pockets. “Is Dr. Lacey around? I have an appointment with her.”
Molly flashed her best apologetic expression. “No, sorry. She had to start her leave a little early. It’s only me here today.”
A look of compassionate concern crossed his handsome face. “Is she okay?”
“Dr. Lacey gave birth to a healthy baby girl yesterday, and both mom and baby are doing well.” Molly recited the official update she’d been given to pass on to clients, her mind flickering to the adorable image of the scrunchy-faced newborn Dr. Lacey’s husband had texted over that morning. “Is there something I can help you with?”
