Epilogue
Six months later
Oh, cher,” Genevieve said to Callie, who led her into the final suite in the newly renovated St. Ignatius Library Bed and Breakfast on Petite C?te Island.
“I so wish Khaki could have been here to see all the changes you and Trey have made to this place. She never mentioned turning it into a B&B but I just know she’d have loved it.
Especially because the two of you have done it as a labor of love. ”
In the months since Frank Barbier had been stripped of his role as mayor and had been spending time in a New Orleans hospital awaiting a verdict on his fitness to stand trial for his crimes, Callie and Trey had been putting all their energy into turning Khaki’s beloved library into a place where book lovers and beachgoers alike would feel happy to get away from it all.
Callie and Trey had decided to name each room after a different fiction genre.
And each one was decorated in a style that meshed with the genre.
The Romance Suite (which was also the Honeymoon Suite) was decorated in gorgeous deep reds and pinks, with a four-poster bed draped in gauzy netting and the kind of lush accents that made it feel like something out of a Lisa Kleypas novel.
And the Sci-Fi Room was sleek with the kind of futuristic details that were retro, but also illustrated the kind of details that were once exactly what people had imagined the future would look like.
So, there was a lot of chrome and midcentury modern details and even a robot that served as a clothes tree tucked away in the corner.
But Callie’s favorite room might be the Mystery Room, where she and Trey had gone all out with the kind of touches one might see on the cover of one of the covers of her friend Tara Lush’s books.
There was a permanent “chalk” outline of a body on the floor, and a stuffy modeled after Stella herself—because every cozy mystery needed a pet sidekick.
And in honor of the teen sleuth who’d been the one to get Callie started on her mystery reading journey, there was even a dressmaker’s dummy wearing a powder-blue twinset and a matching skirt with a pair of pumps on the floor beside it, in honor of the oh-so sensible Nancy Drew.
Since she and Trey had fallen in love while solving a cozy mystery of their own, this was the room for which Callie held the most fondness.
“Khaki would have loved everything the two of you have done here,” Genevieve told Callie before giving her a tight hug. “I’m so sorry she isn’t here to see it and to see how you and Trey have found each other.”
At the mention of Khaki, Callie gave her benefactor’s best friend a grin. “I know Khaki wasn’t into ghosts or anything like that,” she said with a smile. “And I’m not either. But I feel like she wouldn’t mind me telling you about this little bit of witchcraft she worked out for us.”
Genevieve’s eyes widened. “You better spill it, or I’m going to bust with curiosity. And I can assure you Tricia will not be pleased with you since I’m her favorite grandmother.”
“Oh hush,” Callie said with a laugh. “You’re her only grandmother.”
Leading her back out into the main hallway, she led the older woman upstairs to the floor that used to hold the main reading room and the stacks.
While the stacks were still there, the cage that had been the site of so many “hauntings” included, taking up about one third of the wide expanse of space, Trey had spent the last few months turning the rest of the square footage on that floor into a completely updated one-story apartment for them.
It was like the kind of posh loft that could be found in New Orleans, or Houston, or any big city.
But with the kind of homey touches and comfortable appointments that Callie most loved in a home, like built-ins and an enormous kitchen and a bedroom looking out over the bay.
And considering exactly where they lived, Trey had built in the kind of hurricane proofing that any builder with sense would add to a place in the middle of the gulf.
As she and Genevieve stepped into the foyer of the apartment, Callie could hear him in the other room talking to Bobby who was there to—yet again—help Trey with some heavy lifting.
At this point, she thought they should be paying the man a salary, but Bobby said that wasn’t how things were between them. So Callie had stopped mentioning it.
When she and Genevieve walked into the kitchen, she saw Tricia and Bobby and Trey all sitting around the table. Since the other two had seen the B&B about a million times at this point, they’d stayed up here while Callie showed the finished product to Genevieve.
“I was just about to tell her about Khaki’s long game,” Callie said as she crossed to the counter and poured two tall glasses of sweet tea. “I still can’t believe how she guessed.”
As she stepped over to the table and let Trey wrap his arm around her waist and pull her close, she handed one of the glasses to Genevieve.
“Clearly she knew both of us really well,” he said as he lifted Callie’s hand—which sported a princess-cut diamond in a platinum setting on the fourth finger—and kissed it.
“Are you telling me Khaki set up the two of you from beyond the grave?” Genevieve asked with a skeptical look.
“Nothing so woo-woo, Ginny,” said Tricia with a wink. To Callie, she said, “Tell her about the letter.”
“I’ll do you better than that,” Callie said as she stepped over to the repurposed card catalog, which they now used to store various kitchen items. “I’ll show you the letter.”
Pulling out an envelope from one of the top drawers, she handed it to Genevieve.
Putting on her reading glasses, Genevieve took out the single sheet of paper from the envelope that had been addressed to Callie and Trey at this address, written in Khaki’s familiar neat cursive.
My loves. If you’re reading this, it means that I am no longer on this earth.
I’m with my beloved Remy now, so I am content.
I’m also certain that thanks to my will, the two of you will have met and you will have either fallen madly in love or come to fisticuffs.
Because I have faith in my ability to spot a good match when I see one, I’m hoping it’s the former.
In fact, I know it is. Because about love, I am never wrong.