Page 31 of Sometimes You Stay

He clearly hadn’t gotten the memo that computers had become portable. And should be.

“It’ll just take a minute to wake up.”

“To wake up?” She couldn’t keep from parroting him. He couldn’t be serious. No one worked this way. No one lived this way.

Even her mother had had a laptop the last time Cretia was at her house. Nothing fancy. Nothing overly high-tech. Then again, her mom hadn’t had an empty surface large enough to house a computer.

But this was...

“This is your computer?”

Finn crossed his arms and nodded.

“Youronlycomputer?”

He nodded again. “Why?”

“It’s just ... large.”

Giving the setup a quick once-over, Finn shrugged. “It works. Gets me on the internet when I need it. And”—he shot her a glance out of the side of his eye—“at least I don’t have to worry about it ending up in the harbor.”

“It would probably work just as well after a dip in the water.”

Running his fingers over his mouth, he seemed to muffle a snort as he fought to keep a straight face. After a moment, his eyes turned serious, his brows dipping to meet above the bridge of his nose. “Listen, I’d be happy to pay for your new—”

“No.” The word came out a bit harsher than she had intended, so she tried to slap a smile into place. “Thank you. But I’m all right. I’ve got it covered. Insurance and all.”

He chewed on his lip for a long moment—clearly trying to decide if it was worth arguing the point—before finally swinging the wheeled office chair out and motioning for her to sit down. “Have at it.”

“I don’t know.” She plopped down in front of him, his breath stirring the hair on top of her head. His body was warm this close, but goose bumps broke out along her arms, and her whole body was racked by a single shiver. Refusing to think about why she insisted on reacting to him so strongly, she forced a teasing smile into place. “I’m not sure I know how to connect with dial-up.”

He didn’t bother biting back his snort this time. “That was a low blow.”

“But honest.”

“We’re not in the sticks out here. I got a high-speed line a while ago.”

“Uh-huh. A while?”

“Two years.” He shrugged. “It’s high-ish speed.”

She chuckled as she moved the mouse to click on the internet icon. It opened—not exactly quickly, but at least it opened. The screen wasn’t sharp like her laptop—her ruined laptop—but at least she could make her way to the online Apple store.

Finn gave the back of her chair a couple pats. “I’m going to get Joe some water and his treat.” The dog barked on cue, his nails clacking against the hardwood as he raced across the room. “You want anything?”

“I’m good. Thanks.”

Finn and Joe disappeared around the end of the stairs and into the kitchen. The faucet had turned on and off before the store page fully loaded. Then, finally, there they were. Sleek silver laptops. The latest tablets. A brand-new phone—the model she hadn’t even upgraded to yet—in a gorgeous rose gold.

She hadn’t needed upgrades before. But now that she had to start over, she might as well go with the top-of-the-line. Maybe this newer model would even be rated for a dunking in North Rustico Harbour. Though it probably wouldn’t survive being smashed against the edge of the dock like her last one.

She picked her pieces and clicked her preferences, topping out on memory and storage space. All of her stuff was automatically backed up to the cloud, but she’d discovered more than a few corners of the world where she couldn’t get Wi-Fi or bars on her phone.

She couldn’t afford to miss capturing the truly magnificent just because her phone ran out of space. And thanks to 3.2million followers across all of her platforms, she could afford to get the best equipment.

She quickly filled her cart with not only the electronics but also an extra battery pack. And a waterproof case. Even though she could afford it all, the total that popped up on the screen still packed a punch. But she didn’t need a repeat of the day before. Besides, she’d need a new backpack and carry-on too. And the clothes to go in said suitcase.

Looking down at the jeans and fitted blue sweater she wore—the only clothes she owned—she frowned. Her credit cards and cash had been in the bag that ended up in the harbor, had immediately disappeared beneath the surface, and—if Finn was to be believed—were probably washed well into the Atlantic by now. She could shop online in accounts where she’d stored her card numbers or through PayPal. But who knew how long it would take for things to arrive in North Rustico?

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