Chapter 28 #2
“Good evening, everyone!” Agatha’s voice pulled our attention to the front of the room.
“Thank you all for coming out tonight! We are so excited to host Atticus Connelly. Please, help yourself to refreshments along the back wall! We have lemonade, coffee, tea, and baked goods donated by Tout de Sweets. Atticus is running a little late, but he’ll be here within the next fifteen minutes.
” She gave a warm and welcoming smile, gesturing to the refreshment tables at the back of the room.
“Hungry? Or thirsty?” I asked, gesturing with a tilt of my chin to the refreshment table. Nellie glanced in the direction of the food.
“Mmm, I could probably eat. Let’s be real, I could always probably eat,” she said, letting out a small laugh as she put her hand on the swell of her belly. I covered her hand with my palm.
“Well, you are eating for two right now,” I reminded her lowly, winking at her. “I probably should have taken you out for real food, first.”
Nellie’s cheeks heated, and she smiled. “It’s okay, I did eat dinner, I promise. I’m feeling snacky. That’s nothing new.” I let my hand fall away as we stood up, moving it to the small of her back as we made our way over to the refreshment table.
We both grabbed glasses of lemonade and a small plate of brownie bites to share. I said hello to a few familiar faces, making introductions to Nellie.
Before we could make it back to our seats, Betty, Alice, and Dorothy intercepted us. “Look at the two of you! You make a lovely couple,” Alice cooed.
“The gene pool is going to result in some adorable little ones,” Dorothy giggled in agreement.
Nellie froze, and I could sense her discomfort.
“I thought you three preferred romance books to thrillers?” I asked, changing the subject as abruptly as I could.
“Oh, we do. But we had fun reading this one.” Betty grinned. “Atticus has such an interesting mind, don’t you think?” She directed this question at Nellie.
“I haven’t read it yet,” Nellie admitted. “My genre of choice is romance, too. But I’ve never been to an author signing though, so I thought I’d check it out with Noah.”
“They are fun!” Alice said. “The Loves know how to host a good event. It’s a shame Atticus is running behind, although I’m surprised he agreed to this at all.”
“Yes,” Dorothy nodded. “He’s usually not one for public appearances. We should feel honoured that he chose Hartwood Creek as his first bookstore event.”
“He probably did it to rub it in.” Alice chuckled, not seeming the least bit deterred by that possibility. “When you do read it, I’m sure you’ll be able to spot all of the similarities between Hartwood Creek and Coldwater Bay.”
“Although he’s taken a lot of creative liberties,” Betty said with an arch of her penciled-in brow. “If he weren’t such a captivating storyteller, I might be offended.”
“Writers take creative liberties all the time,” Alice reminded her sister with a wry smile.
Before anyone else could get another word in edgewise, Agatha Love was speaking into the microphone again. “Could I have your attention, please! The event is about to start, please find your seats.”
Atticus Connelly was exactly how Corin described him: a recluse. He appeared put-out by the amount of people in attendance. The woman I’d seen earlier—his assistant—seemed to run the show, directing questions to an unwilling and reserved Atticus.
But after a few moments, he seemed to relax and started to engage a little more willingly with the audience as he explained his writing process and where he drew inspiration from.
Betty raised her hand during the question segment, and when Julie called upon her, she stood up.
“Your writing is very descriptive, Atticus. My sisters and I were deeply impressed with your prose. However, there seems to be a lack of, shall we say, human connection?” Betty’s lips twitched with a smile as Atticus’s expression darkened.
“I’m not sure what you’re asking,” he grumbled into the microphone.
“Well, everyone is either evil or trying to defeat the evil, but there seems to be a lack of deeper relationships and connections between the characters. Was that,” Betty paused here, inserting her flair for dramatics, “intentional?”
“Not every story needs to have a romantic element to it. If you were looking for that, you shouldn’t have picked up a dark paranormal thriller,” Atticus responded gruffly.
Betty didn’t seem put out by his tone or his answer at all. She waved her hand, as if batting away his grumpiness. “Ah, but you see, how can the town truly fight the evil embedded in it without those connections and that drive to fight for their relationships?”
Atticus blinked, as if he’d never truly considered that, then cleared his throat and leaned forward.
“The townsfolk want to defeat the evil witches to be free of their control, and that is their motivation to keep fighting. It’s dangerously distracting for them to form authentic relationships whilst being controlled by evil.
As I said, I don’t write whimsy or romance.
I write about the darker side of humanity—greed, control, possession. ”
“And you do it very well.” Betty nodded in agreement, a mischievous smile on her lips as her gaze darted to the side of the room—seemingly to Arwen Love—and returning her focus to Atticus.
“I just think you’ll find, in time, that love can be the motivation, too.
Often, a stronger motivation to defeat the evils of the world. ”
Atticus smiled, but it wasn’t a warm, inviting one. It was a challenging, defiant one. “We’ll see what happens as the series progresses.”
Another person raised a hand.
“Yes?”
“So, there will be more books in The Witches of Coldwater Bay series?”
“Of course, they may have won the battle, but the war is far from over. The witches of Coldwater Bay will be back,” Atticus answered with a terse nod.
I waited long enough for Atticus to sign my copy of the book, then Nellie and I snuck out when the Hartley triplets seemed intent on cornering Arwen Love at the refreshment table.
“So, it appears the Hartley sisters have a new target,” I murmured once we’d made it to the street. Nellie zipped up her jacket, sending me a questioning look. “Their focus was very much on Atticus tonight.”
“Well, he was the reason for the event. Perhaps they’re interested in his writing and future books?”
I thought back to how the triplets had cornered Arwen, who’d seemed completely off kilter from the moment Atticus walked in.
There was no way the Hartley triplets hadn’t picked up on Arwen’s reaction if I’d picked up on it.
Arwen had always been shy, but she’d seemed outright shaken to her core tonight and that difference hadn’t appeared until Atticus had.
Something was brewing there, and the Hartley triplets had their hands in it. That meant that their focus might veer from us a little, and I wasn’t mad about that.
“We’ll see,” I grinned. “Are you still hungry? We could go to the diner for some food if you’d like.”
“I should probably get home,” Nellie said. “I work tomorrow, and I apparently need a good nine hours of sleep or I’m a walking zombie the next day.”
“Okay.” I nodded, taking her hand as we walked. “Well, thank you for coming out with me tonight.”
“I had a lot of fun,” Nellie admitted.