Page 33 of Sometimes You Stay

Okay, so she didn’t have a plan, but she had a plan to make a plan. That was a step in the right direction. Rolling out of bed, she stepped into the patch of sunlight coming through the gabled window and stretching across the floorboards. Its warmth seeped through the soles of her feet, up her legs, and stopped somewhere in the region of her heart.

She had a lazy smile plastered on her face when she caught her reflection in the antique mirror over the dresser. It disappeared as soon as she saw the wild tangle that had become her hair.

“Shower first. Then we make a plan.”

It didn’t take her more than a minute after stepping out from under the steaming spray to know what her first step needed to be. Clothes. Fresh. Clean. Never before worn.

She’d been tempted to order some things on Finn’s computer the day before, after placing her Apple order. But she hadn’t wanted to pepper his internet history with women’s unmentionables, as her grandmother used to call them.

Yesterday she’d been wearing freshly laundered clothes. Today was a different matter.

She’d clear Finn’s whole search history for a spare pair of underwear. Scratch that. “I’ll buy him a whole new computer,”she mumbled as she yanked a borrowed comb through her hair. Dripping wet, it looked blacker than normal, sleek and unhindered by any color. When it dried without the aid of more than a few products, it would probably be almost as wild as her morning hair, but at least it was clean. And she could always pull it back into a ponytail.

Turning her back on the reflection in the foggy bathroom mirror, she sighed. Clothes. Then ... Her stomach dropped. Her car. She’d been so charmed by Finn’s farm that she’d forgotten to call the rental agency the day before. She needed to either return the car today or extend her agreement. If that was even an option.

Maybe the extra expense wasn’t worth it, though. Especially not after the zeros she’d paid to the Apple store the day before. If she had a camera of any kind, it would be worth it to explore the island. But she could walk anywhere she wanted in North Rustico.

Or ask Finn for a ride.

Her stomach swooped again. For a totally different reason this time. One she refused to analyze.

Okay, maybe Finn was good-looking.

There’s no “maybe” about it, babe.

Fine. He was an objectively attractive man. Who just looked even cuter holding a baby goat or playing with puppies. And, yes, he was kind, helpful. She just did not have time to dwell on his finer qualities. Or how much she had enjoyed spending the day before with him.

As she headed toward the kitchen, young voices singing off-key greeted her. On the last stairstep, she spotted Julia Mae and Jessie sitting at the island, following along to a video on their mom’s phone.

Marie looked up from where she was wiping down the counter next to the stainless-steel stove. “Good morning, Cretia. How’d you sleep?”

“Good.” Really, surprisingly great. Maybe it was the excitement of the last few days or the walk in the sun or playing with puppies the day before. Whatever the cause, she’d fallen asleep almost as soon as she’d crawled beneath that quilt. For the second night in a row.

“What are you up to today?”

Cretia twisted the hem of her blue sweater. “I was thinking I might walk down to Finn’s.”

Marie’s head whipped around, a knowing glow in her blue eyes. “Oh really.”

“To borrow his computer. Maybe do a little more shopping.”

Marie offered only a click of her tongue and a saucy smile in response.

“It’s not like that. At all.”

“Not like what?” Julia Mae chimed in.

“Don’t you worry about it,” Marie said as she circled the kitchen island and ruffled her daughter’s hair. But she didn’t look away, and her smile didn’t dim.

Cretia scrambled for some way to change the topic. “Do you mind?”

Gently arched eyebrows slowly rose up Marie’s forehead, and the sparkle in her eyes turned positively wicked. “Do I mind if you spend time with Finn? Only if you don’t tell me about it later.”

A chuckle caught her off guard, and Cretia choked it out on a cough. “You’re ridiculous. I meant, do you mind if I have a few more things mailed here? I know you said lastnight that it wasn’t a problem for my electronics to come to the inn, but I don’t want to add any stress.”

Marie’s laugh was like sheer curtains blowing in a summer breeze. “You’ll be Jessie’s favorite person if you give her another chance to see Casper the mailman. He always brings her a treat when he stops by.”

Jessie looked up from the screen with round eyes. “’Nack?”

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