Still, he made her laugh, and that was something. Besides, she reasoned, there was nothing else going on in her life. Brian might not be the most exciting guy, but he was a guy, and in a place like Monterey, that was enough, at least for the moment.

She looked at her watch. She had about ninety minutes before she was meeting Brian. That gave her enough time for a shower and maybe a quick lunch before she headed out. She went upstairs, spent her time in the bathroom, and came down again forty minutes later ready for something to eat.

In the kitchen she opened the refrigerator and looked inside, expecting to find it as bare as she had the day before. Instead she found it filled with plastic containers. She opened one, revealing spaghetti. Another held pasta sauce. She realized that she was staring at the remains of the dinner she’d failed to show up for.

She took the food to the table and got a bowl from the cupboard. After spooning pasta into it, she poured some of the sauce on top. Two minutes later, while she waited impatiently by the sink, the microwave on the counter dinged and she took the bowl out. The spaghetti had relaxed, and the sauce coated it in a thick blanket of tomatoes. Caddie located the salt and pepper shakers and sprinkled a little of each onto her food.

She ate quickly. When she was done, she washed the bowl and fork in the sink, dried them, and put them away again. The containers she shook so that the contents appeared untouched, then returned them to the refrigerator. If her father opened them, she thought, he wouldn’t be able to tell if she’d eaten anything or not.

She went upstairs and brushed her teeth, checking them for stray pieces of basil. Her skin looked good, as did her hair. All in all, she was pretty pleased with her appearance. She was wearing jeans and a blue T-shirt. Blue, everyone told her, was her color. She’d read somewhere that wearing blue relaxed people and made them feel they could trust you. That’s probably why Valium is blue, she thought.

That reminded her. She returned to her bedroom and took the bottle of pills from her backpack. Tipping one into her hand, she popped it into her mouth and swallowed, chasing it with some water from the glass on the bedside table. She didn’t feel anxious, but as Sam always said, you could never feel too relaxed.