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care.
    Sophie took the cup of coffee Mavis held out to her. “I would guess they have some powerful publicists, who’ve worked diligently to keep their clients’ names from making headlines. It’s too damn bad that prosecutor learned about his sick fetish. Otherwise, your name might not have made headlines. It sure as hell clashes with your OCD, I’ll say that. Maybe Oprah will come knocking on your door. She likes exploiting anyone and anything that makes the news. She had a show on the other day about people who hoard everything. They say that’s a sickness, too. Call it hoarding. This woman found a carcass of a poor little kitten in all of her junk. It looked like it’d been stuffed. I felt sorry for the cat.”
    â€œThat’s terrible! I couldn’t imagine not knowing where Coco is, or having so much stuff that I couldn’t find her. Poor woman. She needs help,” Mavis said. She cut four slices of pie and placed them around the table. Sophie took two plates, handing one to Toots.
    â€œOnce Patel is sentenced and shipped off to prison, maybe Oprah’s hoarder will hook up with the panty sniffer via snail mail. They could end up on that new show, Prison Wives. That would truly be a case of ‘it’s a small world,’ ” Sophie said.
    â€œWhere in the world do you come up with such nonsense?” Ida asked. “Maybe you should consider writing a novel.”
    â€œNot my style. I was never good at spelling. Abby’s the writer in the family.”
    â€œTrue. Well, it was just a passing thought,” Ida said idly as she stared out toward the Pacific.
    For the next few minutes, all four women sipped their coffee, and enjoyed the sweetness of the sugar and cinnamon in their apple pie. They were lost in the moment, with thoughts known only to themselves.
    Bubbles of creamy waves gushed onshore; the sky had darkened to a deep shade of blue. Tiny stars, small pinpricks of distant light, twinkled one by one as they made their first appearance in the evening sky.
    â€œI miss Charleston,” Toots said out of the blue.
    â€œI miss Maine, too. Phyllis, my neighbor, assures me that her kids and grandchildren are taking very good care of my home. I’m glad it’s not sitting there empty, just gathering dust.”
    â€œWell, I wouldn’t take that stink hole condo I shared with Walter all those years if you handed it to me on a gold platter. I’m glad I sold it. Maybe someone else can make good memories there, because I sure as hell never had any. I should’ve pushed Walter down the stairs while I was still young. Maybe I would’ve met someone and had a family of my own. I always wanted kids, but I guess it worked out for the best. I could’ve ended up with a clone of Walter.”
    â€œGood Lord, Sophie, what has gotten into you this evening? Is there something going on that I don’t know about?” Toots asked.
    Ida and Mavis remained silent as they observed the interchange between their two longtime friends.
    â€œNo, I was just thinking about last night, that’s all. Walter, Thomas. Maybe tonight one of your husbands’ ghosts will make an appearance. That’s the only strangeness going on that I know about.”
    â€œIt is odd, no doubt about it,” Toots chimed in. “Isn’t it about time to start another séance? You said we needed to duplicate last night’s scenario. I’m ready if you all are.”
    â€œThen what are we waiting for?” Sophie asked. “I’ve got everything set up. All we need to do is put on the same clothes we wore last night. You never know.”
    â€œI refuse to wear dirty clothes,” Ida said.
    Mavis adjusted Coco on the usual spot on her lap. “I can change, but most of my clothes are the same. I don’t know that this will matter, but if you insist, I’ll go upstairs and change now.”
    â€œOkay, I’ll do the