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“It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything’s fine,” she repeated as she slowly made her way through the space. Once on the other side, she opened the door and eased down the long, dark hallway. If she remembered correctly, the switch for the generator was next to the control panel, which was located against the outside wall. Of course, first she had to figure out how to get through the automatic sliding doors which, at the moment, weren’t automatic. There had to be a way to open it manually, right?
“They really should teach us this kind of stuff in school,” she said to no one in particular. Holding the lantern close to the door, she moved it along the parameter. Once she’d found how to unlock it, she used both hands to pull the doors apart from each other. A gust of wind blew in the narrow opening, bringing a spray of cold rain with it. Outside, Molly could hear the flapping of tarps and the crash of the waves against the dock. With the doors opened wide enough, she pulled her hood over her head and plunged outside.
She clung close to the wall as she headed to the control panel on the far end. Rain dripped in her eyes, and she had to wipe it away before she could open the metal door. Labels along the side indicated what each switch controlled. Molly ran her finger down the row until she found the one she was looking for.
“Emergency generator for tanks,” she read aloud. “There you are.”
She flipped it to the left and looked around for some sign that it had worked. There was some sort of motor-ish sound that she felt fairly certain wasn’t there before, but between the wind, rain, and darkness it was hard to tell for sure. The only way she could think of to verify that the generator had turned on was to see if the pumps were working in the tanks. And since she’d come this far, she wasn’t going inside until she was sure the job was done.
On the plus side, the walkways were covered. In theory, she was somewhat protected from the raging lightning storm. On the negative side, the narrow covering seemed to do little, if anything, to shield her from the rain. She pulled her rain jacket tighter as she neared Hope’s tank.
She hurried to it and peered over the edge. Hope was swimming around toward the bottom, not nearly as concerned about the monsoon happening around them as she was. And better than that, Molly could see that the pump was indeed working.
She breathed a sigh of relief. “All’s well that ends well, right, Hope?”
Another crash of thunder reminded her that all hadn’t ended quite yet. Standing outside in the thunderstorm wasn’t smart, but Molly wanted to check one more thing before she headed back to ride out the rest of the storm inside the gift shop.
“Don’t worry, Hope. This should all be over soon.” That comment was probably more for herself than the seemingly unfazed turtle, but she didn’t care. She was putting the positivity into the world.
After blowing Hope a kiss, she scurried down the wet path as fast as she could without slipping on the slick concrete. She needed to check on the hatchlings. Since they were the smallest and had the least amount of water in their tanks, they faced the greatest risk if something went wrong with the water system. The pumps running properly was imperative for all the tanks, but it was even more so for the hatchlings. Plus, she wanted to make sure they were staying safe in the storm.
Rain pelted her face, making it hard to see, and her feet squished in what felt like an inch of water inside her rainboots. Her gear didn’t seem to be any match for the storm. She skidded to a halt on the sidewalk next to the small square tanks.
Unlike Hope, who had more life experience, these two were both hiding in the bottom corner of their tank. Molly’s heart lurched and she wished she could pick them up and comfort them. “Don’t worry, fellas, it should be over soon.”
She held her lantern up to the tanks to assure herself the pumps were working correctly. Relief flowed through her as she noted that all looked good.
“All right, you two, I’ve gotta get outta here. But I’ll come check on you as soon as the storm ends.” She gave the side of their tanks a squeeze, hoping some of the warm embrace would seep down to them. After one last look, she turned to run back to the building.
Although as soon as she turned, she saw something that scared her more than lightning striking all around her. A large hooded figure was coming right for her.
Molly screamed.
Her heart pounded like a kettle drum and the sound of her racing pulse reverberated in her ears, drowning out the sounds of the storm. She wanted to run; in fact, she was pretty sure she told her feet to run, which felt like the safer option here. But as her fight-or-flight reflexes kicked in, she learned that her internal default was to fight, something she’d be sure to consult with herself about later.
But for the moment, she stood there, holding her ground in her soggy rainboots, and grabbed the long-handled net attached to the tanks next to her. “Don’t come any closer! You need to leave this property right now before I call the police.”
The figure didn’t stop. Molly took one bold step forward, using all her strength to slice the pool net through the air the way a samurai would swing a sword.
“Molly!”
At least she thought that was the word that swirled through the wind and rain, which was enough to make her pause. Still holding the pole out in front of her, she tried to blink the rain out of her eyes.
The form reached up and pushed his hood back. Lightning flashed behind them, causing her to jump, but it also gave enough light to see that the hooded figure wasn’t an intruder at all.
“Grant?” She dropped the net to her side as rain dripped off her face. “What are you doing here?” She had to shout to be heard over the storm, adrenaline still pulsing through her veins.
“I could ask you the same thing, Warrior Princess.” He smirked and pointed to the net hanging at her side. “Did you decide you needed to get in a little fencing practice in the middle of a rainstorm?”
Molly stared at the net in her hand as if it would help her put the pieces together. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Tampa?”
“I decided to come home early to beat the storm.” He motioned to the rain falling around them. “I don’t think I made it.”
It was a lame attempt at a joke, but still enough to make her laugh. All the tension she’d been holding onto melted away, and she threw her arms around him. “It’s so good to see you.”
Another crash of thunder hit at almost the exact same moment.
He pulled her in with a protective arm, and even though they were standing in the middle of a raging storm, she finally felt safe. “It’s good to see you too, but how about we take this reunion inside?”
