“Eight even.”

Caddie counted out the money and slid it across the counter to him. As he picked it up, she let her fingers touch his. “What’s your name?”

“Nick,” he said. “You?”

“Caddie,” she replied.

“Like the car,” said Nick.

Caddie laughed. “Just like,” she said, as Nick grinned at his own cleverness.

“Nice to meet you, Caddie,” he said.

Caddie retreated to one of the small tables. As she ate her pizza and drank her beer, she watched Nick. He was stupid, that was for sure, but he was kind of hot. No one she would ever date back home. Definitely not. But for Monterey, he was probably as good as it got. A couple of times Nick looked back at her, flashed his grin, and nodded.

She finished her dinner and stood up. As she deposited her trash in the basket near the counter, Nick came over to her. “How long you here for?” he asked her.

“Depends,” she said.

Nick looked confused. “On what?”

Caddie leaned toward him. “On whether or not I find anything interesting,” she said.

Nick nodded. “Got you,” he said. “So, I’m just about done for the night. I thought maybe you might want to, I don’t know, take a walk or something.”

Caddie looked at him. She loved this moment—the guy waiting for her answer, both of them knowing that she could totally break him by saying no. That was one thing men had in common no matter where they were from.

“Why not?” she said, seeing relief relax Nick’s tensed shoulders.

“Great,” he said. “Let me go clean up.”

She went outside to wait for him. The beer had lightened her mood. She’d forgotten all about her father. And now the promise of distraction offered by Nick made her forget how unhappy she was. When Nick emerged a minute later, she took his hand as if they’d known one another for more than half an hour.

“Where shall we go?” she said.

“How about the beach?” Nick suggested.

Caddie, not really caring where they went, nodded, and they began to walk. Nick led her down a side street, away from the lights, until they came to what seemed to be a small park. In front of them, beyond a swatch of grass, was the ocean. It gleamed blackly beneath the stars, and the waves fell softly against the sand.

“They call this the Breakwater,” Nick explained as they walked along a narrow sidewalk toward a wharf that stretched out into the water. “The navy built it back in World War II or sometime around then.”

A low stone wall ran along the ocean side of the Breakwater. On the other was a parking lot edged with a boat supply store, a small dive shop, and what appeared to be a little grocery store with a restaurant situated atop it. Nick walked halfway down the wharf and stopped. Climbing onto the wall, he helped Caddie stand beside him.

“I like to sit here at night,” he said as he lowered himself to the wall.