Page 2 of The Tides Between Us

I tilted my head to the side as I tried to read her lips, but quickly realized how terrible I was at it. Realization struck her and her face faltered slightly. She shook her head apologetically and picked up a notepad beside her. Her hand moved quickly as she wrote on the paper.

Where is the turtle? How badly is it injured?

I looked at the paper and went to reach for it to write back to her. Her bright blue eyes met mine as she shook her head again and wrote something else down.

I can read lips.

I nodded. “It’s over here,” I motioned to the side of me. “There’s wire wrapped around its flipper and it was bleeding on the beach. I know we’re supposed to call stuff like this in, but I couldn’t just leave it on the beach to potentially bleed out.”

She followed me around to the front of the desk area and crouched down as she inspected the turtle. Silence settled between us, although there was some sense of comfort in it. She held her finger up to me before she scooped the turtle up and rushed through one of the doors behind the desk.

Curiosity got the better of me. I followed after her, stepping back into the hospital area of the facility. She was a few strides ahead of me and I watched her as she ducked into another room. I stopped just inside the doorway as she set the turtle down on a metal table. Two people in scrubs were instantly looking at it, signing questions to her, and she signed back to answer.

The one guy who was looking at the turtle’s flipper caught sight of me and lifted his gaze to mine. He nodded his head and the woman spun on her heel to face me. I watched as she signed something to the other staff members once more before marching toward me. Her palm was soft and her hand was small as she wrapped it around my wrist. She walked past me, turning me around with her as she led me back toward the lobby.

I couldn’t fight the smile on my lips.

She didn’t stop until we reached the front desk and she was grabbing for the notepad and pen again.

You can’t be back there. It’s for staff only.

I shrugged with indifference. “What about the turtle? Will you guys be able to help it?”

She nodded before scribbling another note on the piece of paper.

We won’t know for sure, but it definitely could have been worse. That turtle is lucky you found her when you did.

“Pop-Tart,” I said abruptly, which had her giving me a quizzical look. “Her name is Pop-Tart.”

You named her?

I shrugged again. “It felt like she needed a name instead of just referring to her as ‘that turtle’. Don’t you guys name the animals anyways?”

She smiled brightly and nodded.

We do. Pop-Tart sounds like the perfect name for her.

“When will you know more about what will happen with her?”

I watched her delicate hand as she began to write something again. I was officially invested in this turtle’s recovery and I wanted an excuse to see her again.

Check back in a few days. We should have more concrete information then.

“Perfect, I’ll check back in then.” I smiled back at her. “I didn’t get your name.”

She raised an eyebrow and wrote it down.

Giana.

“Declan.” I held my hand out to her. “Have a good rest of your day, Giana.”

My eyes lingered on her face a moment longer and silence settled between us as she offered me a smile and a nod. I loved the way her name felt rolling off my tongue. I left her without another word.

I was a patient man.

I could wait a few days before seeing Giana again.

CHAPTERTWO