"There they are!" Gaia exclaimed as she scanned the diner for Maxine and Salvatore.

"Why were they so insistent we meet them tonight?" Harry asked. "You're so close to having the baby, I really don't want to wander far from home."

"She wanted us to meet someone. She thinks I can help her. I asked her why it was so urgent, and she said Charlotte would explain when we meet."

Gaia nodded her head as Maxine waved. Her petite friend sat beside Salvatore, his armed firmly wrapped around her shoulder as he cuddled her. At the back of the the semicircular table, a woman with silver streaks of silver in her dark blonde hair, sat tapping her fingers nervously. Her eyes darted from side to side, searching each face as people entered.

Gaia slid into the the high backed table, and Harry took the last seat on the outside.

"Gaia, Harry, this is Charlotte Wyndham. Her husband passed away at sea, during the war. She never got a chance to say goodbye, and I thought you might be able to help her," Maxine reached across Salvatore's chest to still her friend's finger and stop the irritating sound. "Tell her, Charlie. She can help."

"How? And if I tell her there's one more person who knows and might be hurt by those who are after me," her voice hitched as she kept her words to a whisper. Glancing around the room once more before she continued, "My brother wants the house, and I'll never sell it to him. He'll destroy the town. Magnolia, Texas is such a charming place. There's no place there for his mass housing or his associate's plans for a huge food packaging operation. Let them build it all in the desert."

"Why are you so against it? Jobs are necessary, with all the men home again," Harry asked.

"My darling Preston left me the house. I can't live there without him, too many memories, but I did promise to preserve it, or if I sold, it would go to people who would do the same. It's old. One of the oldest in Texas, built by his ancestors. I came here to be close to the last place I saw him alive. He shipped out with the Navy on USS Long Island."

"The aircraft carrier?" Harry asked.

"You know?" Charlotte raised and elegantly arched eyebrow.

"Not many know of them. Small but effective, that ship was a great aide in the Battle of the Atlantic," Harry answered.

"My husband was swept overboard by a rogue wave during a winter storm. They searched for him for over a day, but he was declared lost at sea."

Gaia felt her pain as her bell like voice hoarsened with tears threatening to spill down cheeks hollowed with grief.

"I never got to say goodbye. I don't even have a grave where I can visit him."

"He's here, Charlotte." Gaia said. "He's never crossed over."

"Maxine said you could help. But what about my brother?"

"Tell me more about his idea. I'm looking for investment opportunities. And my lovely wife," he paused to nod at Gaia, "wants to live in Texas. We might be able to help you out in more than one way."

Charlotte's sky blue eyes widened. "You say Preston is here?" Her eyes latched onto Gaia's like puppy chewing on his favorite toy."

"He's never far from you. He can't cross over. He's still thinking of you and the promise he made to come home." Gaia's voice was mellow, and completely calm.

"See Charlie!" Maxine exclaimed. "Didn't Salvatore tell you?"

"He did. And so did Harry, when he held my hand in that horrible place. How did I get myself caught up there? I'm a prima ballerina." She shook her head.

"Nobody means to get caught up with the Mafia, my dear lady," Salvatore patted her shoulder. "You did a fine job keeping our daughters and wives alive."

Harry nodded. "I'm sorry you were shot, bravo for recovering so well."

Gaia noted the elegant cane leaning against the wall under the hooks for hats and coats. "May I call you Charlie? Preston does."

"I'm determined to continue teaching." She nodded at Gaia, and continued. "It's a joy."

Harry caught her hand in his, forcing her to look at him. "We'll talk about that after we deal with Preston. Listen to what Gaia tells you." He turned over the paper place mat and handed it to his wife. "Here."

Gaia drew her graphite and colored pencils out of her handbag. "I'm going to draw Preston, so you know he's really here. I can only draw when I'm talking to the spirits."

As often as Harry witnessed the incredible speed of Gaia's sketching, it astounded him anew each time she brought a ghost to life.

Charlotte drank in the emerging portrait with hungry eyes. "That's my sweetheart." Her finger traced along his lips and jaw. "That's him." She yanked her hand away and Gaia filled in his irises. "How did you know his eyes are that golden shade of brown?"

"He's right here. He loves you. He says you need to go back to dancing again. To teaching the young ones, Charlie. Preston said he hit his head on the railing of the ship as a wave carried him away. He knows he drowned, but he never suffered."

"Oh, my darling, I wish I could see you, hold you just once more." Tears glistened, threatening to spill over. Charlotte dabbed at her eyes with the corner of the linen serviette she unfolded.

"Preston wishes the same. But having me here to tell you what he wishes for you, is the next best thing. He's tired Charlie. It's been almost fifteen years." Gaia filled in the dark brown curls of a slightly too long brush cut and pushed the portrait so that the blonde dancer could study it.

"He didn't used to have those wrinkles. Can a spirit age?"

"I think so, at least in Preston's case. This is how he would look if he lived, but he's caught between, Charlie. Let him go." Gaia sat back and waved at the waitress. "Pepsi please. Lots of ice."