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the island. There wasn’t a beach, just black rocks crusted with purple starfish and clumps of mussels at low tide leading into the water. Without a sandy beach it didn’t attract tourists. There was no place to lie out in a three-hundred-dollar swimsuit that shouldn’t be exposed to salt water. The only living creatures I ever saw out at the cove were the otters, who liked to lie in the sunshine on the rocks, and Mr. Chin, who liked to come out after a big storm looking for glass Japanese floaters that may have washed up onto the shore.
    I pulled off my shoes and socks and scrambled down the rocks to the water. Brendan was standing at the edge, skipping stones over the waves. His shirt was off and I could see the muscles in his back. I wanted to kick myself for noticing. I never used to pay attention to how he looked. I stopped to roll upthe cuffs of the black dress pants I’d worn to work. I’d already peeled off my white blouse, leaving only the white tank top I had on underneath. I wished I had thought to bring something to change into after work. I hated that he looked good while I looked sweaty and smelled like kitchen grease.
    Brendan crouched down and pulled two cans of Diet Coke out of the cold water. He held one out to me.
    “Wow. If you’d brought food, you’d have thought of everything,” I said.
    “Oh, ye of little faith, of course I thought of everything.” Brendan pulled a Kit Kat bar out of his pocket and tossed it over. “Now, what’s up?”
    I opened the can and sat down on a rock. I put my feet in the water and hissed. The water was so cold that it felt hot at first, but then my feet went slightly numb. It felt good after running all afternoon around the banquet hall. I took a deep breath. I wondered if saying the truth aloud would make it any better than the way I remembered it. “My mom took all my college money. All of it. She said she needed it for bills and my dad’s lawyer, and that was more important than what I wanted.”
    Brendan whistled and sat down next to me. I could feel the heat from his skin. “You must have freaked out.”
    “Understatement.” I snapped off part of the Kit Kat and offered it to Brendan. “If I don’t come up with a minimum of four grand by August first, I’m going to lose my place at Berkeley. So much for getting out of here.”
    Brendan was quiet and we watched the waves. About fifteen feet from shore, a fish jumped out of the water, its silver scales flashing in the light before it dropped back in. I wondered if it was trying to escape the ocean. Most likely it was about to be eaten by something larger than it.
    Brendan tossed a rock into the water. “You know you can still sign up at one of the community colleges. Heck, maybe it’ll even motivate me to take a class or two if I know you’ll be there to watch out for me.”
    I felt a flash of anger. Everyone seemed to think I should settle. “I’m not going to community college.”
    “So you’ve got a plan to come up with four large?”
    My anger evaporated. “That’s why I called you. I need your help.”
    “I’ve got maybe a couple hundred I can lend you. I could try hocking my stereo in Seattle, but I’m not sure it’s going to bring in much. Those places always rip you off.”
    I touched his arm. “I didn’t mean I want your money. I have an idea. If there’s a way to pull it off, then there will be plenty of money.”
    Brendan raised an eyebrow. I pulled the MISSING poster out of my pocket, unfolding it before passing it over. I found myself holding my breath. Maybe my resemblance to the age-enhanced photo wasn’t that great and the whole plan was a bust. Not that I had much of a plan at this point.
    Brendan looked down at the poster with his eyebrows drawntogether for a second and then a smile spread across his face. He looked up at me, then back down at the poster. “Well, look at that. If you aren’t a long-lost missing heiress.”
    “You think it looks like me too?” I felt