Nora pressed him further, but Cal turned away and asked after Maggie instead, as if a change of subject might sweep away the conversation. It did not. Nora walked off angrily. Yet beneath the anger sat a colder feeling. Cal had not looked annoyed. Had he looked—afraid?
That afternoon, Nora wandered through the village, hoping loose talk might reveal something more concrete. Instead, she found the same old split she remembered: the truly frightened, and the ones who enjoyed the fear too much. In Blackwater Cove, dread and commerce joined hands against common sense and truth.