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And to make it even worse, that someone else also happened to be her maid of honor.
“The thing is, relationships and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms at the moment.”
“Ahhh.” Hadley nodded as if she knew what that felt like. “I’ve been there before.”
“I’m sorry, honey.” Ellyn leaned as far over as she could and squeezed Molly’s hand, offering her a sympathetic smile. “And we promise not to try to set you up with anyone else in Emerald Cove, don’t we, Hadley?”
Hadley held up a hand, defensively. “It is never my intention to set anyone up. I can’t help it if I naturally see connections everyone else misses.”
Hadley and Molly looked at each other and giggled, breaking some of the tension.
“Luckily for you, Ms. Matchmaker, there’s no connection between me and Grant other than working at the same place.” And as far as she was concerned, there wouldn’t be any connections ever. She was officially out of the game.
It was strange to compare her situation to a turtle’s, but she and Hope actually had a lot in common. They’d both shown up in this town with broken pieces and a life that’d taken a strange detour.
If only broken hearts were like turtle shells, and all it took to heal them was a little bit of honey.
Chapter Five
Two hours later, Grant wassitting at his desk filling out the admission paperwork when Molly walked into his office. Her hair was still damp from her impromptu swim and she looked a little windblown, but she’d swapped out her dripping wet T-shirt and life jacket for a dry Turtle Rehab logo T-shirt he recognized from the gift shop. For the first time all day, she looked relaxed, which Grant took as a good sign.
“So what’s the prognosis, doc?”
“Good. The prognosis is very, very good.” Molly dropped into the chair in front of him, letting out a contented sigh. “Her injuries—and we did confirm the turtle’s a she—were mostly cuts and minor soft tissue damage. We cleaned them, I gave her an antibiotic shot, and Claire told me to cover them with…honey?” She arched her eyebrows at the last word, an intrigued look lighting up her face.
“Yeah, it sounds weird, but we use it a lot in the turtle world. It’s a natural antiseptic and poses no risk to the turtle if they happen to ingest it. Win-win.”
“It’s brilliant. I totally learned a new trick today that is about to become one of my go-to treatments.” Molly shifted in her chair. “Anyway, we’re keeping the water low in the tank for now to give her a chance to rest and get her strength up, but she gobbled up the shrimp and squid she was fed, which is a great sign.”
“Good. How about the X-rays?”
“Everything looks normal. I’ll have Dr. Lacey take a second look when I talk to her this week, but I don’t see any reason why this turtle won’t be able to make a full recovery.”
The news brightened the already sunny day. “That’s good to hear.” Grant knew the turtle wasn’t out of the woods yet, but it sounded like this story was on its way to a happy ending.
“I know. This turtle is such a sweetheart. She deserves the best.”
“Agreed. But in the meantime, she needs a name. Usually we let the people who found her name her. The kids from the boat wanted to name her Lucky after their boat,Lucky Day.”
“Cute.”
“It would be, but that name is a little superstitious for those of us in the turtle rehab world. In our experience, turtles named Lucky tend to not live up to their name.”
“We don’t want that. Are you going to call them back and ask for a second choice?”
“Actually, I thought you could have the honor. After all, you played a key part in her rescue.”
“Me?” Molly looked surprised.
“Sure. You’re the hero of the day.”
“Heroes wear capes and, in case you didn’t notice, I was wearing a lifejacket. I’m pretty sure that’s the opposite of a cape.” There was a hint of joking in her voice as she dismissed the compliment.
“I happen to see it a different way. For starters, you sailed the boat that we used to rescue her.” He held up a finger as if ticking off his detailed list.
Molly rolled her eyes. “For about five minutes before we even knew about the rescue.”
“Yes. But you were headed in the right direction, so it still counts.” He held up a second finger. “Two, you physically got into the water to rescue her.”
