Page 101 of The Shop on Royal Street

“Who else would it be? He knew the neighbors would call me if they saw a light on in the house, because that’s what they’ve done twice before already. He must be wanting to talk to me alone.”

“No,” Beau said, standing. “You’re not going alone.”

I bristled. “I’m not asking for you to come. I can do this on my own.”

“I know you can. But I want to help. I won’t even make you ask. I think it’s time to see if I can live up to Mimi’s faith in my abilities.”He turned to his grandmother. “Will you be okay alone for a little bit? I promise to come back as soon as I can. I’ll set the alarm when I leave.”

Mimi managed a small smile. “I’ll be fine. I think I’ll watch a little television in my bedroom and then turn in. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Beau bent to kiss her cheek. To me he said, “You ready?”

I said good-bye to Mimi with a squeeze of her hand, then followed Beau out of the house. We rode in silence on our way to Dauphine Street, both of us sporadically snapping the rubber bands on our wrists in a primal rhythm meant to scatter the restless spirits that haunted more than just buildings.

CHAPTER 32

When we pulled up in front of my house, there was no sign of Ernest, Bob, or Belle across the street, but their outside lights glinted off the Christmas trees beginning their transition from Labor Day to Halloween in their front yard. Small white laminated paper ghosts hung from branches, fluttering like moths and creating a strobe-light effect.

I recognized the handful of cars lined up against the curb as belonging to my neighbors, with no sign of Michael’s car. We climbed out of the truck, the unmistakable scent of pipe tobacco drifting over to us.

“Do you see your grandfather?” I whispered.

“No. Not yet. Or Jeanne.”

“She might put up a fight. Melanie said Jeanne wanted to keep things hidden. Maybe we just need to tell her that we know everything and she can move on.”

“Yeah. If you believe in that kind of thing.”

I rolled my eyes. “I think that horse left the stable long ago.”

He smiled, but it wobbled.

“Are you nervous?” I asked.

I couldn’t say for sure since the light was dim, but I thought he might have rolled his eyes. “Are you?” he asked.

“Touché.”

We both looked up at the darkened windows. Just as I took a step forward, a beam of light in an upstairs dormer shone through the glass.

“Your guess,” Beau said. “Charles, Jeanne, or...”

“Michael,” we finished together.

“It might not be him,” Beau said quietly. “Because Michael is weaselly enough to send someone else.”

“It’s him.” I didn’t need to explain that the feelings I’d felt between Michael and me had been real. I knew that, just as much as I knew it was Michael in the house. Softly, I asked, “Are you ready?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“We always have a choice, Beau.”

He nodded slowly. “We know why Jeanne’s still here—she thinks she still needs to hide her secret. That should be easy, then, right? Just tell her we know and then that’s it.”

I sighed. “According to Melanie, ghosts are all different and never easy. Mostly, I think you need to understand her motivation for staying, and explain that it doesn’t need to hold her back anymore.”

“So what’s her motivation?”

“It might be the oldest motivation in the world.”