“Their parts,” said Caddie. “Papillae. Cerata. Clavus.” She read from the book. “Caryophyllidia. Come on. They sound like they need to go to a clinic.”

“Wait ’til you get to the penile stylet,” said Rhodes. “It has a chitinous hook.”

Caddie grimaced. “Ouch,” she said, and they both laughed.

She went back to the picture of the nudibranch. It was pretty, in a weird sea creature kind of way. She looked it up in the book again. There were two other Cadlinas there as well. She would have to ask her father which one was her namesake. She hoped it was the one with black horns and yellow spots. It was the prettiest.

She typed a name for the picture, then went on to the next one. Sometimes there was more than one picture of the same nudibranch, but for the most part every image was of something she’d never seen before. She found herself turning to the guidebook regularly, and from time to time she couldn’t ID one of the creatures at all and had to ask Rhodes for help.

“How’d you end up here?” she asked him after they’d been working in silence for a while.

“My parents gave me a choice between this and baseball camp,” he told her. “How about you?”

“I’m on work release,” said Caddie. Then, remembering that Rhodes was apparently humor challenged, she added quickly, “I’m staying with my dad for the summer.”

“He’s a nice guy,” Rhodes remarked.

“Yeah,” Caddie said after a moment. “He is.”

She worked for another hour, identifying a dozen nudibranchs, until she’d labeled every image on the card. She was reaching for a new one when her father appeared in the doorway. “Ready for lunch?” he asked her.

“Sure,” Caddie answered. She looked at Rhodes. “I’ll see you in a while,” she said.

“Where are we going?” she asked her father as they walked back toward his office.

“I thought we’d meet Hudson at the Bulldog,” he said. “It’s an Irish pub. How’s that sound?”

“Fine,” Caddie said. She was surprised to hear that Hudson would be joining them; she’d assumed they would be having lunch alone. She was even more surprised to find that she was a little annoyed. Let it go, she reminded herself. You’re starting over.

By the time they reached the Bulldog, she was in a better mood. It didn’t matter if Hudson was there or not. Besides, she thought, he’s easy to look at.

Hudson was already there, seated at one of the pub’s few tables. They joined him, Caddie sliding in next to him and her father taking the seat across from them.

“They have the best fish and chips here,” her father announced as they looked at the menus.

“With such a rave recommendation, I guess I’ll have to try it,” Hudson said, shutting his menu.