“Then I wouldn’t worry about it. This is crazy busy though.”

  “It is sometimes, but it’s also good.” And she was humming along quite cheerfully. “Hard to argue against the improved sales.”

  He realized just how much she could benefit from somebody helping her out financially. With the energy work she did, it wasn’t like anybody would pay her for the energy, her time, or the risks she took. There was absolutely no monetary assistance for her. “These people should be helping you.”

  “What people?” she asked, with a laugh. “The dead ones?”

  He sighed. “Can’t Thomas or Elena or any of the ghosts around here help you out so that you’re not so cash tight?”

  “I think, if they could, they would,” she noted, “but what do I know?”

  At that, Gage nodded. “I’m hungry. I’ll go grab food.”

  And, with that, he disappeared.

  Chapter 16

  Skylar watched Gage leave and smiled at Thomas, standing by her side and watching the exchange.

  “He’s learning. And you’ve never asked us before,” he noted. “I don’t know if there’s anything we can do or not, but Gage’s right. So many souls benefit from you, and yet they don’t pay you.”

  “And there’s nothing to pay me for,” she argued. “And it’s not as if you guys have money.”

  “No, no money,” Elena replied, stepping up to join them.

  Skylar was surprised, as Elena almost always stayed upstairs.

  Elena added, “I wish there was something we could do.”

  The ghosts looked at each other and faded away.

  Skylar shrugged, not sure what she was supposed to do with their assistance, but added, “Thanks for the thought, guys.”

  When Gage returned, he had several muffulettas. She tucked into hers, without even thinking.

  He ate his, as he silently watched her finish it all and then nodded. “That energy of yours is one of the reasons why you eat so much?”

  She nodded.

  “And again we’re back to the fact that there’s a cost for you doing what you’re doing.”

  “But not everything has a monetary value,” she argued, right back at him.

  He smiled. “Let me think about it.”

  “No, don’t worry about it,” she said. “This is my world.”

  “I would like it to be my world too, if you will let me.”

  She looked at him and then frowned. “Seriously?”

  “Yes, seriously. I’m thinking about moving here.” He smiled. “I really love the energy.”

  She laughed. “That’s actually why I moved to New Orleans, for the energy. Besides, I could hide here.”

  “I needed to be here obviously,” he said, with a wave of his arms. “Have you ever lived anywhere else?”

  “I was in San Francisco for a while.”

  “Oh, right.” He stopped, winced, and asked, “Don’t tell me that you did the same thing there?”

  She nodded. “Until I got caught.”

  “Oh, crap,” he said. “How bad was that?”

  “It was pretty bad,” she replied cheerfully. “I got away on a technicality, but my lawyer also told me that I better scram and not come back. They figured I was desecrating graves.”

  “But, of course, you weren’t.”

  She shook her head. “No, a lot of people needed help there to cross over. I also spent some time in Japan and various other parts of the world.”

  “Oh, boy.” He frowned. “So, if you were to stay here, any idea how long before you actually transferred over all the stuck souls?”

  “Decades,” she murmured. “And the stronger that my presence becomes in one location, the more spirits can come to me to work from this space.”

  “So, if you actually set up this as a home base, you could stay here?”

  She nodded. “That’s the hope, at least.”

  “Wow. We don’t even think about things like that, do we?”

  “Not normally, not unless you’re in this crazy business.”

  He shook his head. “And the store is right up your alley.”

  “Well, it seems that people are attracted to the energy,” she noted. “And I desperately try not to do anything to encourage them to buy things. That would be unethical.”

  He nodded. “That obviously bothers you, as you have mentioned that several times now. I think, because you are working solo, that you question that part too much, that you are too critical of yourself and question your own handling of your gifts. You don’t need to do that. Like you told me, as long as you are coming from the heart, your motivation is pure.” When she remained silent, Gage added, “And I bet, if you asked Stefan and Dr. Maddy, that they would agree with me too.” He paused. “You really are in a place now where you are accepted. Believe that. Stop worrying about your motives. You have been very generous with me and these ghosts in your shop and the poor souls in the cemeteries.” He stared at her for a long moment. “Okay?”

  She hesitated, then nodded. “Thank you. … I should let that worry go. I found out very quickly that I don’t need to do anything because that energy is what they’re really buying.”

  “Of course they are,” he agreed. “And, for some of them, it’s probably incredibly healing too.”

  “Considering that some of the healing energy is still around, I would say that is true.”

  “Is it still around?” he asked. “Even after all this time?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Wow.”

  She shrugged. “You get used to it after a while, but the buzz from the last night is still there.”

  He looked at her, and his eyes gleamed.

  She laughed, seeing his instant interest. “I still have the store open.”

  “But if you had an assistant …” He waggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

  She smiled. “Oh, yes, thank you for stepping up and being my assistant this morning,” she teased. “You took to that very well,” she noted, with sincere admiration.

  He grinned. “I wasn’t always a successful businessman, you know?” he added, turning serious. “I started doing summer jobs as a cashier in local grocery stores,” he murmured. “It actually brought back a lot of memories.”

  “Good, I hope they were good ones.”

  “They were … and also reminded me of my beginnings.”

  “That’s not a bad thing,” she said gently. “Sometimes we forget all about where we’ve been because we’re so anxious to get to where we think we’re going.”

  He stared at her, and his gaze darkened, and then he nodded. “You know what? That’s very prophetic. I did talk to both my brother and my lawyer this morning.”

  “Oh? How did that go?” She moved about, cleaning up the remains of their meal and then the store, as they talked. Something about having a large rush of people come through always seemed to leave it dirty. She also had to cleanse the energy out in preparation for the next tourist wave. As she busied herself, she listened to him talk.

  “It does feel like my brother deliberately tried to affect the outcome of the sale.”

  “But he didn’t, right?”

  “Well, we’re still waiting to see. It is possible that he did some damage, though my attorney may have headed it off. Certainly the trust factor has shifted though.”

  “Well, trust you can repair it, or at least maybe help them with it,” she suggested, looking over at him. “Making sure that your brother has nothing to do with it, of course.”

  “I had planned to recommend that they hire him and keep him on for a few months.”

  “Interesting. Why?”

  “Just for ease of transition.”

  She nodded. “They won’t want him now, will they?”

  “Not at all,” he stated. “And that’s too bad because my brother generally would have been good for the job. I honestly don’t know what he was thinking.”

  She looked at him, smiled, and said, “Fear. That’s all it was, fear. Afraid that you wouldn’t need him anymore, that he wouldn’t get the interim job, that he wouldn’t have any future income, and just generic fears of the future and the inevitable changes. So many people sabotage themselves and those around them because they can’t handle even the idea of change.”

  He stared at her. “You are a very wise soul.”

  “I’ve just seen a lot,” she replied, shooting him a brilliant smile.

  He nodded. “Well, if the deal goes through, I should hear about it today.”

  “And if it doesn’t?”

  “I’ll instruct my attorney to sell it anyway, even if for a lower price.” He shrugged, while shaking his head. “Obviously my world has shifted, and I didn’t really realize how much, until you brought it up.”

  “It’s a paradigm shift,” she noted, “and, once it’s happened, it’s almost impossible to reverse.”

  He nodded. “I’m not sure I want to reverse anything at this point.”

  “No, of course not,” she agreed. “you’ve experienced something so different, something that most people will never get to see in their life.”

  He nodded. “And it’s fascinating. I want to know and to see so much more.”

  “And you’ll get to,” she confirmed. “Every day you’re learning more and more.”

  “Only because of you.” He shook his head. “It’s unbelievable how much you really do know about this stuff.”

  “It’s not even that I know about this stuff, as you call it,” she explained. “It’s not so much about knowing as I’ve been living it. Meanwhile, in comparison, you’ve been living under a rock.”

  “Apparently.” He laughed. When his phone rang, he pulled it from his pocket and looked at the screen. “Well, this is my lawyer. Wish me luck.”

  She smiled and said, “It’ll all be just fine.”

  As more tourists walked into her store, Gage stepped outside for a minute. She watched his energy as he answered, and then he turned to look at her, a beaming smile on his face. She grinned back and knew it would all be okay for Gage.

  His brother might have some challenges ahead, but the sale of Gage’s company would go through. And, for that, she was happy for Gage. At least he would have the freedom to do what he wanted with his life, and that was something most people never had a chance to experience, so he truly was blessed.

  Then she focused on everybody around her, as the store filled once again.

  *

  Putting away his phone, Gage stared up at the sky, leaning against the front of her store, and he felt like a weight had literally come off his shoulders. The deal was done, signed and sealed. There would be days of transition paperwork, legal stuff that his lawyer was thoroughly excited about, but then Charlie also stood to make a couple million off this deal. And Gage was more than happy to share. His lawyer had been a godsend throughout these last few years.

  Gage now had to tell his brother, and that was a phone call Gage didn’t really want to make. He pulled out his phone and called, but, when it went to voice mail, he frowned, as he left a message, asking his brother to call him, then put away his phone.

  Seeing that Skylar was at the tail end of a lineup that he couldn’t help any faster, he headed down to the river. He felt so much better. Just as he reached the water, the detective called him.

  “Your uncle’s body can be released now.”

  “Perfect. Thanks.”

  Now he had to make arrangements for Jonesy’s body. Gage still didn’t understand anything about the tarot card business that his uncle had been so focused on. But, after what Gage had seen in the wee morning hours at the cemetery, he wasn’t even sure that mattered anymore. Slowly he drifted back toward the store. Seeing just a couple people were left, he stepped inside and went to the back room and made coffee.

  When it was done, he grabbed two cups of coffee. He came back out, sipping his brew, feeling more at home in her store than he had felt in his own company this whole last year. When the last person left, he smiled at her and handed her a cup. “Well, the merger went through.”

  “That’s wonderful. Congratulations.”

  “And my uncle’s body has been released.”

  “Even more wonderful,” she said, with a gentle smile. Then she turned and stopped. “Wait. I forgot to tell you something. Well, I mentioned part of it, but life has been crazy since.”

  He faced her. “Now what?”

  “Somebody put the tarot cards in my store,” she whispered. “I haven’t had a chance to check my emails to see if anybody answered my questions about them.”

  He stared at her. “The tarot cards my uncle was after?”

  She nodded. “I’ve got them hidden right now.”

  “Is it possible?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m wondering …” She hesitated. “I’m wondering if your uncle may have found them and then worried about his life and hid them in my shop.”

  “But … that would mean he knew he was in danger.”

  “Then you kind of knew that anyway, didn’t you?”

  “Well, I knew he was here, and I knew he was worried about something,” Gage noted, “but I didn’t know what.”

  “But who would be after him? What were the tarot cards for?”

  “His collection,” he said instantly. “I don’t know that he actually believed any of rumors surrounding it, but the deck was for his collection.”

  “And other than that?”

  “I don’t know.” Gage frowned. “That’s not something I have the slightest idea what to do about.”

  She nodded. “I know, just from touching them, that they’re very high energy. I just don’t know whether they’re dangerous or not. Somebody …” She hesitated and then continued. “I’m also not necessarily sure that Jonesy wasn’t murdered.”

  He grimaced, shaking his head. “There was no sign of injury to his body. The detective said it was his heart.”

  She nodded. “And I get that. I really do. I’m just not sure what we’re supposed to do with that.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  She shrugged. “He wasn’t at the graveyard last night.”

  “And did you expect him to be?”

  “I wondered if he would be,” she noted. “I just wasn’t sure.”

  “And he wasn’t. So what does that mean?”

  “Maybe nothing,” she admitted. “I just know that it’s something I still don’t understand and that it troubles me.”

  “Okay.” He raised both hands. “When you figure it out, do you want to clue me in?”

  She burst out laughing. “Of course I will. I’m just not sure that I’ll have all the answers.”

  He stared at her and sighed. “It would make sense, him hiding both that bone and that tarot deck here, as we have video proof that he was here. Did you say he was at your shop at the end of the day?”

  “The detective did, but I remembered him, after seeing his photo.” She nodded. “So there is a good chance Jonesy may have been killed not long afterward. And then I had a break-in at my place after Jonesy’s body was found.”

  “And the intruder didn’t find the cards, did they?”

  She shook her head. “No, they didn’t, but, at that point, I didn’t even know the deck was here. I also don’t know who my intruder was.”

  “And it had to have been someone who knew Jonesy had been here.”

  “If somebody was following him, they would have known.”

  “What are the tarot cards worth?” he asked.

  She guessed at what they might sell for, and Gage’s expression reflected his surprise. “One-half-million dollars?”

  She nodded. “Thereabouts. So, yes, anybody who’s looking for money could be a suspect—or someone who is after them for what they can supposedly do.”

  “Which is what?”

  “To live again,” she shared, with a doubtful shrug. “The rumors talk about them being used to forecast several murders. Then maybe were used in rituals to bring the same people back to life again. I don’t know the true story. I think it’s all just legend, but given what I do …”

  “Perhaps a legend, but legend matters,” Gage stated. “I don’t know who else Jonesy might have spoken to. No telling who he might have had something to do with.”

  “I know,” she agreed.

  “It’s likely just a matter of whether he triggered somebody here in town with his questions.”

  “And that could very well be, and maybe this person hasn’t been back because of the energy of the store.”

  He looked at her sharply, and she shrugged. “I was unsettled for a couple days, and I was doing constant cleansing, but obviously I wasn’t necessarily doing a good enough job since that intruder got in. But, since the full moon, it’s hard to walk into my store if you’re full of negatively.”

  “More for me to learn,” he muttered, in an almost absentminded way.

  She smiled. “You’ll get there.”

  He realized for the first time in a long time that he probably would get there. And, best of all, Skylar would be with him, by his side. “First, we have to figure out what’s going on with these cards.”

  “With your uncle’s death, what happens to all his property?”

  “I didn’t want anything to do with his collection, so I think that goes to my brother,” he guessed, “but honestly, I haven’t spoken to my lawyer about that.”

  “Is it the same lawyer for you and Jonesy?”

  He nodded. “It is.” He pulled out his phone. “Hey, Charlie. I’ve been allowed to get my uncle’s body back, so I’ll be making arrangements. Have you pulled out the will yet?”

  “I haven’t actually. I need to do a read-through and then bring in you and your brother.”

  “Okay,” Gage said. “Is anybody else in his will?”

  “I think a few bequests were made, but I’m not sure there’s very much. The bulk of the estate goes to you and your brother. But Jonesy did make a few changes recently. And I have that letter here for you. I can put it into an email for you.”

  “Sure. Thanks for that. At least Terrence shouldn’t mind the actual sale of the company then, as he still gains through Jonesy’s estate.”