He probably should apologize to both of them. But he wouldn’t.

Burl sent a gif of Judge Judy rolling her eyes and, despite the situation, Grady cracked a smile as he shoved his phone back in his pocket. Somewhere behind him, he heard the sound of a car engine firing to life with a couple of sickly splutters and, a few seconds later, he was watching the dust kicked up by Suzanne’s god-awful van as she left the property.

Grady perked up at the thought that maybe she’d decided her temporary landlord was too much of an asshole and to get out while the going was good. But he dismissed it quickly.

He’d never been that lucky.

…

Suzanne grimaced at the strong, bitter coffee a woman called Annie had just poured. It wasn’t the sort she was used to; in fact, Suzanne probably hadn’t ever ingested drip-filter coffee. Annie grinned and said, “Good for the digestion.”

Winona introduced the women, and Suzanne blushed as her friend raved to Annie about Suzanne’s talent with a paintbrush. “A painter, huh?” Annie glanced around at the beige walls that boasted some food advertising posters that looked as if they’d been there for a couple of decades and some framed black and white photographs of what she presumed was Credence town center back in the day.

“I’d always had a hankering for paintings on my walls. Just never got around to it.”

“You’ve got a lot of places to hang art here,” Suzanne said as she took note of the wall space. In her opinion, there wasn’t a wall in existence that couldn’t be improved by adding art.

Annie nodded absently. “You take commissions?”

“I do, but…” She doubted Annie could afford her fee. “I do reproduction stuff, nothing original.” Hopefully that would all change during her time in Credence. “But I can definitely recommend someone to you if you’d like?”

“Ain’t got a lot of money.”

“That’s fine. I know where all the bargains are to be had, too.”

Annie beamed. “Thanks, I might just take you up on that. Pie’s on the house,” she added and shuffled off to her next customer.

Winona quirked an eyebrow at Suzanne. “Look at you go, babe. Already fitting in here.”

Suzanne laughed and rolled her eyes before taking another sip of coffee and remembering she wasn’t in New York anymore. “This stuff’ll put hairs on your chest.” Her voice cracked a little as the coffee coated her vocal cords on the way down.

Winona grinned across at her. “There’s better coffee at Déjà Brew—that’s Jenny Carter’s new place down a bit farther. But the pie makes up for it.”

Oh hell yes it did. This pecan pie was one of the best things she’d ever put in her mouth—just as Winona had promised. Suzanne shut her eyes and moaned as the warm savory ooze of melted butter mixed with the sweet hint of maple syrup and the crunch of nuts slid over her tongue. Actually freaking moaned. She’d never tasted pecan pie like this, certainly never had it served with melted butter puddling on top of it, but holy taste buds, Batman, it was divine.