Page 66 of New Day at the Beach House

He smiled. “So do I. It’s like being on vacation.”

She laughed. “I was just thinking that.” She looked at her menu. “What’s good here?”

“I like everything I’ve tried,” he said. “But the coconut shrimp is sort of their specialty. They’re really good. That’s just an appetizer usually, but you can get them as a dinner, too.”

“I’ve heard of coconut shrimp, but I’ve never had them,” Trina confessed. “Isn’t coconut more for dessert?”

“I guess so, but it works with the shrimp. And they give you this sweet pineapple chili sauce to dip them in, which is sweet, obviously, but also spicy.” He laughed. “I think I just talked myself into an order.”

“Can we share them?” Trina asked. “I’m not sure I’ll like them.”

“Yeah, of course,” he said. “But I bet you’ll love them.”

“I can’t wait to try them. I think I’ll get the chicken sandwich for my dinner.”

“I’m getting the grouper sandwich.”

Trina looked across the table. “Kat, what are you getting?”

Kat glanced at her menu. “I’m getting the Coconuts salad. And we’re getting an order of coconut shrimp.”

“So are we,” Trina said.

Miles pointed at a server going by with a tray of food. “There’s the coconut shrimp now.”

Trina lifted up in her seat to see better. The shrimp were fat and bumpy with a golden-brown crust. They looked really good. She still wasn’t sure she’d like the taste, but she was willing to try them. “They look nice.”

“They taste better,” Miles said.

“What are you getting, Alex?”

He grinned. “Fish tacos with tater tots.”

“What?” Trina said. “You can get tater tots instead of fries?” She looked at her menu again to check the list of sides.

Alex laughed. “It’s one of the main reasons we come here.”

“I am totally getting them, too.”

“Same,” Miles said. He looked at her again. “Hey, you want to come over and see a movie at my place sometime?”

“Sure,” Trina said. Then she shook her head. “You know what? You should really come to my place soon. Meet my mom and my grandmother. They would love to meet you.”

“Yeah?” He smiled. “You think they’ll like me?”

“I think they’ll love you.” If they liked Miles half as much as Trina did, he had nothing to worry about and she had no reason to think that wouldn’t be the case.

“Okay. Cool.”

“I’ll text you with some dates after I get home. Make sure there’s nothing else going on that interferes.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Their server came back with their drinks. The boys had gotten beers. Trina had ordered a peach daquiri and Kat had gotten a mango one. They put their food orders in and handed over their menus to their server.

“The sun will be going down in about an hour or so,” Miles said. “Sunset should be pretty nice. Maybe we can go for a walk after dinner.”

“I’d like that,” Trina said. She was happy to do just about anything with him.

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