Free Sleeping with the Frenemy by KT Grant Page B

woman's wife. The case was still open as authorities searched the river for a body. There was no mention of Genevieve anywhere in the article. But then again, Genevieve knew people in positions of power and could pay them off to keep her name out of the paper.
    When the time began to blink at the bottom of the screen, she walked away. Since she only had a few dollars left in her pocket and didn't want to use her bank card without stopping at the bank first, she left to happy farewells from the café staff. She was becoming accustomed to the cheerful townspeople, she thought, as she went the short distance to the bank.
    The same type of welcome waited for her there even though she was only using the ATM. Brushing aside the help of one of the representatives, she went over to a vacant ATM and slid her card into the slot. When her balance came up, her eyes went wide, still in disbelief at how much was in her account. She took out one lump sum to carry her over for the next few weeks.
    With her cash in tow, she mentally checked off the next item on her list: finding a place to stay. She asked one of the bank tellers for a reputable real-estate agent in town. The assistant manager was more than willing to advise her to go to Woodberry Reality, run by the mayor's sister. Deborah couldn't help but wonder if Woodberry Creek was so small that everyone was related to one another.
    As she walked toward the three-story brick building around the corner, she suddenly felt very lonely, wishing her mother could be here with her. Her mom would have gotten a kick out of looking at homes with her.
    By the time Deborah reached the building with the Woodberry Realty sign in big gold lettering above the door, she'd lost all her excitement and wanted to go back to bed for the rest of the day. Before she could do just that, a woman wearing a striking white suit and matching heels, holding a binder and a cell phone up to her ear, got out of a silver Lexus she parked in front of the building.
    “Thanks, Todd, I see her now.” She finished the call and smiled brightly at her. “Why, hello! You must be the young lady interested in buying something in the area. I can help you with that.”
    “Actually, rent,” Deborah replied automatically and hugged herself, confused that this professional-looking woman knew about her situation. “How did you know I was on my way over here?”
    “You were just at First National asking about real-estate agents in the area, correct? The manager you talked to is one of my cousins.”
    “Are you all related to one another here?” Deborah asked, not caring if she sounded rude or not.
    The woman didn't seem to notice, or care, as she nodded. “All it takes is to bump into one of the natives here and they'll tell you they're so-and-so's brother, cousin, uncle, and so forth.”
    “How…nice,” Deborah replied with a weak smile and did her best not to be taken aback by the woman's loud, almost obnoxious laugh.
    “You're definitely in for a culture shock, since Woodberry Creek is the type of place to welcome anyone and treat them like family. You must come from a big city where everyone is in a rush and don't have time to even say good morning or ask how your day was.”
    Deborah shrugged and pulled on the back of her hair. “Maybe this isn't a good idea. I just arrived in town and I'm—”
    “Dear, if I let you go, you'll just go back to your hotel room or wherever you're staying and sit there all alone watching bad Pay-Per-View movies and ordering takeout. Why not come inside with me where we can chat?”
    Deborah flinched from hearing “dear”—that word she hoped she'd never hear someone call her again—and from the way this woman knew what Deborah planned to do if she walked away.
    “Are you sure you're just a housing agent and not a psychiatrist?” Deborah asked half jokingly, half seriously. The woman responded with a loud laugh again.
    “You'd be surprised by how insightful I can be after twenty