Daniel tosses an eye roll over his shoulder at me as we follow. But I don’t mind. I like the way she says “underfoot” as if we are no bigger than the twins. I like her take-charge attitude and domestic authority. She reminds me, in ways that make my heart ache, of Moony. Behind us, the front door closes with a slam. Unlike the last time I was here, her living room is empty and quiet today. It’s early yet. The dinner crowd won’t arrive for several hours.

Mawmaw Barb installs us at the dining room table. She takes the colander from Daniel and places it in front of me along with the rest of the beans. “You ever pop beans before?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I tell her. I used to love doing it for Moony.

With a nod she moves into the kitchen and returns with a bag of potatoes, a peeler, and a large plastic bowl. These, she hands to Daniel. He moans. “Why can’t I do the beans?”

She sets him with a glassy stare. “Boy, you know better than to act like that in front of company.”

Begrudgingly, he takes up the peeler and his first potato, stripping the skin in long, steady strides.

Taking her own seat, she turns her attention to the celery she’s chopping over a sunny yellow cutting board. “Now then. What do you want with me?”

Daniel starts slowly. “Cat…has a problem.”

Mawmaw whacks at a celery stalk with her butcher knife. “Honey, we all got problems.”

“Hers is unusual.”

She sighs, exasperated, and sets her knife down. “Child, I wish you’d just spit it out.”

“A stalker, Mawmaw. Or a few of them. Cat thinks they might be ghosts.”

She grunts. “Some would call seeing ghosts a gift, not a problem.”

“They’re not very nice,” I pipe up finally. “They aren’t mean exactly, except for one.” I think of the Magician and shudder.

“Well, that is different. What makes you think they’re ghosts?”

“They’re just…off,” I try to explain. “I mean, I don’t know what they are. They look like people—weird people—but they don’t act normal.”

“No one in New Orleans acts normal.” She is grinning now. “You said you don’t know what they are. But do you know who they are?”

I don’t look at Daniel when I answer. I haven’t told him this part yet. “Yes. I mean, I think so. I think they’re the characters from my tarot deck. Can a ghost haunt more than one place? Like be part of my deck but also in a church or a café?”