“Eighteen? Isn’t that about what we got last time?”
“Yeah. Winter isn’t officially over around here until well into March.” She stuffed her phone into her pocket and grabbed a cart. She waved and nodded to people as we walked around the front of the store, heading for the produce department.
She seemed to know every-damn-one. I gave up on learning names, just nodded awkwardly at them. Elementary school teacher, mechanic, a cashier at something called the Sip and Dip. My head was pounding by the time we got to the tomatoes.
“Do you know everyone?”
She laughed. “I’ve lived here my whole life.”
“The town isn’t that small.”
“It really is. There’s only about four thousand residents.”
“Do you know them all?”
“No, of course not. But I have worked with a lot of them.”
“You still haven’t said what you did.”
She lifted two tomatoes and smelled them, then tucked them into bags in the top part of the cart. “Well, I’ve had a dozen different jobs since I was sixteen, but now I mostly do murals for businesses.” She pointed to a bloom of sunflowers painted on the wall behind a rack of seeds announcing spring was coming soon. “I did that last year.”
My eyebrows shot up. The petals of the flower were as big as her arm. The sunny flowers were a bit cartoony, but full of intricate details in the dark centers to show off the seeds in dozens of colors when you looked closer.
She was like a blur going from fruits to vegetables and making a stack in the cart. I gathered my own mental list ofthings for the stew and a few other meals since I’d be snowed in again.
The cart filled up quickly and I tried to ignore the way heads turned as we walked together.
“Am I going to end up on that Facebook group?”
“Oh, definitely. The only reason you haven’t already is probably because you don’t speak to people.”
“Do you get tourists?”
“Sometimes, but have you seen you?”
I swiped my hand over my beard. “What?”
“You’re not exactly the type who blends in.”
My eyebrow arched.
“You know you’re attractive, Dutch. Don’t play stupid.”
“What’s that got to do with anything? There’re plenty of attractive people in the world.”
“Yes, but you’re newandattractive. Remember, I said small town.” She waved to a woman who was openly staring at us.
The woman looked down at her basket with a blush. “Who’s your friend, Phoebe?”
“Dutch just moved to Haven.”
“Oh, he’s not your boyfriend?” She perked up.
Phoebe gave me a wide smile. “Nope. He’s a free agent.”
“Phoebe,” I growled.
“Oh.” The woman smoothed out the apron she was wearing. “I’m Lainey. I work at the diner. Feel free to come on in. Coffee’s on me.”
