Hahah, I used to be in that situation, too. I lived and taught school in a very small town. My house was on the corner of two of the "main" streets, so almost everyone in town drove past my house at least twice a day. And of course, in such a small town, people love to gossip.<...>
I'm not sure I'd like to live in a small town where everone knew your business.
My brother and sister-in-law came to visit (and bring a television I had bought) and since the drive back to where they lived was 175 miles, I said "just stay the night. We'll go rent a couple of movies, have a few beers, and you can drive back tomorrow". That was Friday evening. My brother, already with beer in hand, said "you and Karen go get the movie, I'll stay here and drink my beer." So, we went and got a couple of movies. They stayed, and left early Saturday morning.
When I got to work Monday morning, the librarian and the media center director were already "chatting" in the lounge area. After about two minutes, they just couldn't stand it any more. One of them said "We want to know whose black Camaro was parked at your house this weekend."
I figured someone had seen me with "the mystery woman" at the video store, so I figured I would just throw fuel on the flames. I told her
"I can't tell you her name... but if her husband comes around asking questions, don't tell him you saw her there."
I refused to elaborate or answer any more questions. Another couple of situations like that happened. They finally figured out that gossip just didn't work with me, and they left me alone.