“Oh! You could do a gallery. Get one of those trendy places in Jackson Square, or something.”

The response that no one started out with a gallery hovered on her tongue, but she shook the words loose and tried for something more positive. More open. “Maybe. I think the first thing I have to do is figure out what my specialty is, and then I’ll know where to go.” She grabbed her now empty mug and headed for the kitchen. “You want some coffee?”

“Nope. None for me. I already had two cups with Sergei this morning before he headed out for meetings.” She followed Cassie to the kitchen and leaned one hip on the counter. “Actually, I was worried you’d be bored out of your mind and was gonna see if you wanted to come with me and Emerson for a lunch thing.”

Waiting for the coffee machine to do its magic, Cassie snagged a granola bar from the pantry. “What kind of lunch thing?”

“An invite from a costume designer. We’ve got a big Mardi Gras charity event planned for the church next year. This bigwig costume designer who does all the parades and events around town called me a few weeks ago and volunteered to donate her time doing the costumes for it, so I’m meeting with her today. I decided I’d take Emerson along because she apparently does superhero costumes, too. Figured I’d take the easy way out this Halloween.”

“Mmm. Livin’ the highlife.”

“Girl, you’re not kidding. Every year, I hold my breath waiting to see what my boy’s gonna come up with for his Halloween plans. This year, I’m like bring it on.” She cocked her head. “So, what do you think? Wanna come along?”

Cassie took a bite of the bar, but her gaze drifted to the boxes and gear scattered through the living room. Now that she’d started, she was too pumped to walk away. Besides, the shower in Aunt Frieda’s suite upstairs had turned on ten minutes before Evette had shown up, and she was kind of eager to get her aunt’s take on where things were headed.

She shook her head. “It sounds like fun, but I think I’ll pass today. I want to dig into my stuff a little more and see if I can’t map out some kind of plan on what to do next.”

Another woman might have pouted or given Cassie a hard time, but Evette smiled huge and pushed away from the counter. “Sounds like a damned fine plan to me.” She pulled Cassie in for a hug.

It was awkward at first, Cassie’s initial response to keep distance between them as she had last week firing hard. But then she let it go, shoved her resistance away and wrapped her arms around Evette in kind. “Thank you. For everything.”

Evette’s smile was still in place when she pulled away, but it was softer and thick with understanding. “No need to thank me. We’re family. It’s what we do.” She turned and offered a backward wave. “I’ll stop by when me and Emerson get home to hear how the plan’s moving along.”