“Nope,” Ben said, and Hudson looked at him, not understanding. “You just lost me a dollar,” said Ben.

Stella walked over as Ben fished a buck from his wallet and held it up. The waitress took it and stuffed it into her shirt pocket. As she walked away, Hudson looked at Ben, bewildered.

“It’s amazing what you can do with Photoshop,” said Ben.

Hudson’s mouth fell open. “You set me up!” he cried.

“Stella’s been running that racket for forty years,” said Ben. “I fell for it myself when I first came here. I figured I could earn my dollar back.”

Hudson shook his head. “And I thought you were a good guy,” he said. “Bastard.”

Ben chuckled and drank some more of his beer. He looked at Hudson and chuckled some more. Hudson held out for about a minute, and then he too started to laugh. When they both had wrung as much as they could from the moment, Hudson said, “I’m really glad I ran into you that day.”

Ben looked at his beer, then up at Hudson. He nodded. “I am too,” he said.

CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 30

“Hey,” said the voice on the phone. “What’s up?”

“Bree,” Caddie said happily. “It’s me. How—”

“I’m not here, so leave a message,” interrupted Bree’s voice.

Fuck, Caddie thought as she hung up the phone. She’d forgotten about Bree’s message. She thought it was funny when people assumed they were talking to her and started to talk. Caddie thought it was funny too. At least, she had. Now it just annoyed her. She picked up the phone and dialed again.

“Yeah?” said a sleepy voice.

“Sam,” said Caddie. “It’s me.”

“Me who?” Sam sounded groggy and confused.

He’s high, Caddie thought, irritated.

“It’s Caddie, Sam,” she said. “Caddie. Remember? It hasn’t been that long, dude.”

“Caddie,” Sam said. He sounded pleased, but she knew it was mostly the pot. He’d be pleased if she’d said she was calling to conduct a poll on his opinions on applesauce. “Where are you?” he asked.

“Still in Monterey,” Caddie answered.

“Monterey,” Sam repeated. “Cool.”

Caddie rolled her eyes, although no one was there to see her. “What have you guys been up to?” she asked.

Sam was quiet for a minute. She heard rustling, as if he were trying to extricate himself from a big sheet of plastic wrap. He was still in bed, she realized, probably sleeping off his first high of the day. She heard a mumble of voices, and then a female voice came on. “Cad?” said Bree.

“So that’s where you are,” Caddie said. “I tried your cell.”

“I turned it off,” Bree said. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were going to call. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Caddie joked. “So what’s the deal, are you and Sam a thing now?”