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“I’m still happy for you. And whatever happens, I hope you get what you want.” She took her stick and started fixing her hotdog.
“Thanks.” If only what he wanted could coincide with what he needed to do. “Anyway, I haven’t told anyone about it. I don’t want to cause a stir if I don’t have to. You know how it is.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.” She clamped her lips together and mimed locking it with a key.
She had just finished throwing away her imaginary key when Claire joined them. “Sorry about that. I hope you both got enough to eat.”
“The hot dogs are perfect.” Molly smiled up at her and took a big bite as if to illustrate her point.
“We’ll have to plan a do-over,” Claire said, sitting next to Molly and holding her own stick over the firepit. “Lance is looking for a chance to redeem his grilling skills.”
“Sounds great,” Molly agreed. She’d been here just over a week, but she already seemed to fit right in with his family. “I’ll bring the brownies.”
She was only going to be here for a few months, Grant reminded himself. On top of that, she was simply a coworker. Did he enjoy spending time with her? Sure. Who wouldn’t? But her temporary presence in his life made her a safe choice to share his secret with. She wasn’t a factor in his decision to stay or go.
Although, he had to admit, now that she was here, it was hard to imagine a life without her in it.
Chapter Eight
Grant was about ready tocall it a day on Wednesday when Mateo came into his office and dropped a file on his desk.
“The babies are all set up. Molly did a quick initial exam and put them on a feed-and-grow treatment plan. But she said she wanted to wait to do the comprehensive exam until they had some time to rest.”
“Molly’s here?” That probably shouldn’t have been his take-away. The important part of the report was the update on the two turtle hatchlings that’d been brought in that morning, but for some reason, he couldn’t get past Molly. “She’s only supposed to come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” He tried his best to sound nonchalant about it.
Mateo shrugged. “Either she doesn’t know that or she doesn’t care, because she showed up about forty-five minutes ago.”
“Huh.” And she hadn’t stopped by his office? A ripple of something that felt a whole lot like disappointment floated through him, but he tried to push it away. She was well oriented with the facility now, and most of her day-to-day dealings were with the turtle caretakers and not him. Still, he hated missing any chance to see her.
“Regardless, it’s nice she was here and those little guys got their exam already,” Mateo said.
“Right. Exactly.” Because she wasn’t here to visit him. She was here to do her job, like the amazing, talented professional she was. “Sounds like they’re all set up.”
Mateo studied him for a second, then jerked his thumb at the door. “You know, she’s still out there by their tanks.”
The news seemed to fill his office with sunshine, and Grant’s pulse kicked it up a gear. “Great. I have a question I was going to call her about. But since she’s here…” His voice might’ve had a tad more excitement in it than he’d intended.
His cousin, who’d also been his best friend since birth, gave him the accusatory look of someone who could actually see his nose growing as he talked. “Right. Anyway, I’m outta here. You go ask Molly your question, and I’ll see ya in the morning.”
Grant followed Mateo out of his office, but while Mateo turned right to head out to the parking lot, Grant headed toward the Turtle Zone.
Sure enough, there was Molly, standing at the small square tanks midway between the Care Floor and the Discovery Lagoon, in a part of their facility that was officially called Head Start.
He strolled toward her, admiring the look of wonder on her face as she peered over one of the tanks. When he got closer, she turned in his direction.
“Grant! We’ve got babies!” She clasped her hands together in front of her chest, and he could almost see little cartoon hearts floating out of her head, which made him smile. Her passion for animals was endearing and left him feeling…hopeful. In fact, the whole world felt a little brighter when she was around.
“I heard.” He’d actually been the one who’d taken the call from the wildlife rescue center that’d found the hatchlings. They’d been spotted only a couple of feet apart but more than two hundred yards from their suspected nest, which was rather uncommon. Occasionally a new hatchling would get disoriented and wander in the wrong direction, but they didn’t usually go off in pairs. Their best guess was that a greedy bird had tried to snatch what he’d thought would be a big meal, but couldn’t hold onto both.
He stepped up next to her and looked down at the tiny green turtles. They were smaller than the palm of his hand. Each of their tanks had been portioned off to make it a more suitable size, but they still looked tiny in comparison.
“They’re the most adorable things I’ve seen in a long time. I can’t make myself walk away,” Molly said.
“The good news is, they might be sticking around for a while.” He watched the tiny hatchling on the left lift his head out of the water for a breath. They were the kind of precious that forced a smile even on the gloomiest of days, and he found himself wanting to wrap his arm around Molly’s shoulders and pull her close as they experienced this moment together.
“Longer than it’ll take them to get their strength up?” She looked up at him with her bright, caring eyes, only intensifying whatever feelings were already stirring in his chest.
But since they were only colleagues, he shoved his hands in his pockets instead. “It appears so. I just got off a call with Florida Parks and Wildlife, and they think these two little adventurers would be perfect candidates for the head start program.”
