Free Small-Town Hearts by Ruth Logan Herne

breaking a conversational thread Danny hadn’t meant to start. She nodded to the proprietor, waved a hand of greeting to the grim-faced elderly woman behind the antique wooden counter, then raked Danny a look, stopped and sized him up. “You’re new here.”
    How she guessed that instead of assuming he was a tourist, Danny had no idea. And wasn’t sure he liked the assessment.
    But her manner intrigued him. He angled his head, and offered his hand. “Daniel Graham.”
    She accepted the hand, but not without a slightly withering look. “You’re staying with Megan Russo.”
    Her tone and choice of words made him want to jump to Megan’s defense. He resisted. “I’m renting an apartment from Miss Russo while I’m in town on business, yes.”
    â€œThat explains a lot.” She sniffed displeasure, stepped back and moved to a rack of old-fashioned tins of cookies that held a shelf life of three years, minimal. Danny hated that kind of cookie. He wasn’t even big on two-day-old cookies. He remembered the scent from Megan’s kitchen, the heady aroma of chocolate chip as her friend rotated trays of big, round cookies onto tiered wire racks for cooling.
    Every one of the cookies he’d consumed last night had turned his imaginings into reality. Megan Russo knew her way around an oven.
    â€œOf course at Megan’s age, a girl’s got to be open to every possible opportunity that comes her way.”
    Tiny hairs of protest snaked a path up Danny’s spine. His hands clenched. His jaw tightened.
    The woman sent him an over-the-shoulder smirk as if privyto things he wasn’t, rolled a shoulder of dismissal and turned back toward the grocer. “John, I need fresh fruit in the house for Brad Junior.”
    The grocer nodded, eager to switch to a more pleasant interchange. “I heard that Brad and his wife were coming to stay with you. Won’t that be nice? It’s been a long time since you had a little boy running around your place, Jacqui.”
    â€œWith all that’s going on at our place, the last thing I need is a little boy running unleashed day in and day out, but it seems I had no choice in the matter. Megan had the only available apartment in the area and she rented it before I called last week.”
    So that was it.
    Danny bit back a grin. Megan hadn’t wanted to rent the apartment to him, that was painfully obvious in her reluctant attitude, the look of pain she’d bestowed on him as if he were the last-ditch effort she needed.
    And all because she didn’t want to rent the available space to an old boyfriend and his pregnant wife. He’d heard enough of her conversation with Hannah last week to realize how little fun there would have been in leasing the adjacent space to an old boyfriend and his family.
    He bit back a smile, then turned when an exuberant voice belted out his name.
    â€œDanny!”
    â€œBen. Hey.” Danny moved across the store to the screened door and stepped outside. He grabbed Ben’s hand and pumped it. “How you doin’, man?”
    â€œGood.” Ben beamed, reached up and adjusted his Yankees baseball cap and gave a half shrug, still grinning. “Are you shopping?”
    Danny was more scoping than shopping, but he nodded anyway. “Yes. How about you?”
    Ben jerked a shoulder to the woman behind him. “Me and Mom had to do some—some—shopping.”
    â€œExcellent.” Danny leaned around Ben to a woman who had to be Megan’s mother, the resemblance a dead giveaway, and extended his hand. “I’m Danny Graham. I’m renting the apartment next to your daughter.”
    Megan’s mother took his hand and offered an appreciative smile. “You’re also the man who bought the fruit Ben toppled last week. I’ve been meaning to stop by and thank you for that. And I’m so glad you were able to rent the apartment. Meg is