Page 31 of Lily

She jerked her attention to him. A surprise?

“Let me get this coffee going, and then I’ll show you.”

She watched, feeling helpless as he started the coffee. It was so weird having a man prepare his own coffee, especially while she watched.

As it percolated, he patted her thigh. “Be right back.”

He grabbed his satchel from the kitchen table and carried it over. Her surprise was inside his satchel…?

He reached his hand in and then looked at her. “Okay, this feels a bit anticlimactic. It’s not that exciting. It’s not like I bought this for you, but I want you to have it. I’ll get you a new one as soon as possible, but for now, you can have mine.”

She furrowed her brows. “Stefano, what is it?”

He pulled out a tablet and handed it to her.

She took it, confused. “A tablet?”

“We can load it with whatever books your heart desires.”

Her heart stopped as she realized what this was. She’d seen people using them, but she’d never had one. She hadn’t even had a cell phone. She pulled it close to her body and hugged it, fighting back tears.

Stefano lifted her chin. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“I’m sorry.” She dashed them away with her free hand.

“Don’t be sorry, sweetheart. Cry all you want. I just hate being the cause. Does the tablet bring back a bad memory?”

She shook her head, struggling for words. “It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever given me.”

“A used tablet?”

She pursed her lips and tipped the tablet back. “Does it really hold any book I want?” she whispered.

“Anything your heart desires. As many books as you want.”

“How many?” She lifted her gaze. She really didn’t know that much about eReaders.

“Thousands, sweetheart. I don’t think there’s a limit. They hover in a cloud until you want them.”

She knew about computers. Even though she hadn’t owned one, she’d used them at school. She’d been lucky enough to have an advisor who’d seen potential in her and had helped her get supplies and things she’d needed.

Roselia’s mother hadn’t gone past the third grade, and she’d not been particularly supportive of Roselia’s education, so Roselia hadn’t wanted to ask her to purchase supplies. She’d made do with whatever she could.

Mr. Edmonson, her advisor, had let her come to his office after school every day and do her assignments on his laptop. He’d offered to let her take it home dozens of times, but she hadn’t wanted to risk dropping it, so she’d turned him down.

“So, it’s like a small computer?” she asked.

“Yes. It can do most of the same things.” He pushed a button on the side. It came to life. Then he leaned over her and tapped the screen several times. Suddenly, a list of books popped up. “I’m sure most of these won’t interest you, but you can use this search bar to find what you want to read and download it.”

“But they cost money.”

“Not much, sweetheart. A few dollars.” He stroked her cheek. “I can afford ebooks, Rose.”

“But it’s linked to a credit card, right? You don’t want me to use a credit card.”

He stepped closer to her, as if that was possible, and settled his hands on her hips. “I don’t want to use credit cards to pay for the cabin or the groceries so that no one can see my name. It will be fine to use it for books, sweetheart.”

“Oh, right. Okay.” She ran a finger along the edge of the device. “I haven’t read a book in a long time,” she whispered.

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