Liz and Faith were busy in the kitchen, making the final preparations for tonight's celebration, but their thoughts kept straying from the tasks at hand.

"Forget it, Faith. Our imaginations got the best of us." Liz chuckled. "We got a boogie man living here."

"You need to take this seriously, Liz. Do you honestly believe we both imagined a woman waltzing around the pasture in the same white dress?" Still jittery from last night's events, Faith glanced outside past the rose garden. "I know I saw something; I just don't know what."

'We're acting like children. What if Annie should hear?"

With her book tucked under her arm as she approached the kitchen, Annie came to an abrupt stop when she heard Liz mention her name. She tiptoed closer to the kitchen doorway and listened. Sebastian whimpered at her sudden stop expecting a morning walk, but the young girl quickly silenced him.

Was it possible her mother and Liz had seen the woman, too?

"I know I wouldn't want to frighten my child, but I know someone was there."

"If she was, how did she vanish so fast?" Liz continued cracking eggs into her bowl, losing count. "I don't believe in ghosts." She opened a drawer, grabbed a whisk, and began beating the eggs. As her anxiety rose, so did the speed of her spatula, splattering yolk across the countertop.

"Maybe what the town's people say is true. They seem to believe a ghost roams the estate, searching for her murdered children."

"Stop it, Faith. Look at the mess you made me make." Liz grabbed a dish towel and started wiping the counter.

"You think I made you do that? You don't want to admit you are as nervous as I am. We've got to tell—"

Annie and Sebastian rounded the corner and laughed. "Never talk about my cooking, Mom. This kitchen is a mess."

Faith wrapped two muffins in a paper towel and handed them to Annie. "Here, you and Sebastian can eat these. We're too busy to have you under our feet."

"Good idea, but don't go too far." Liz raised her eyes from the counter, glanced at Faith, and added, "Everyone will arrive soon, and I know you can't wait to see them."

 "Yeah, they'll be excited to see you, so stay close by."

 "Come on, Sebastian. Let's go see if we can find a ghost."

 Faith screeched, "Ghosts? Why would you go looking for ghosts?"

 "There's no such thing. You know that, right?" Liz swallowed the strange taste in her mouth. "Don't go believing everything you read in those crazy books."

 "Relax. I was only joking, but can you imagine if there were ghosts?" Grabbing a water bottle from the refrigerator, Annie skipped through the doorway, with Sebastian following behind. They headed to the top of the hill, where Hank and Emmy's house was under construction.

******************

"Sebastian, isn't this the prettiest place you've ever seen?"  Perched on a large flat boulder under a gigantic oak tree, Annie took in the magnificent view of the vineyard, the river, and the two gorgeous mountain ranges, the Vaca Range to the east and the Mayacamas Mountains to the west. "Imagine Emmy and Hank waking up to this every morning. Minus all the construction noise, of course."

A beehive of construction and landscape workers were busy putting the final additions on the couple's new home. The owners were arriving this morning, having helped Garth close the case in Savannah, Georgia, and finalize the sale of their home in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Annie spread the remaining muffin crumbs in her hand. "Here, Sebastian, you can finish them. It's too hot sitting here in the sun, so let's go exploring, and then we can stop to visit grandma. Bet she'll be excited to hear about our ghost." Annie stretched her legs, packed up her things, and headed across the fields, unaware of the woman watching her.

****************************
The first set of travelers arrived within the hour, demanding coffee and of course, a little time to catch up.

"Maybe if you'd slept on the plane instead of playing cards with Tango, you wouldn't be as tired. You seem to forget, the clock's ticking, and you can't keep those late hours anymore." Allie's emerald-green eyes peeked over the rim of her coffee cup. "At least, not without paying the price."  

Liz studied the couple as she listened to their playful banter. In the past year, her best friend's life had been in danger several times, so Liz expected some residual stress. Instead, she'd never seen Allie look so good. Her face glowed when she smiled, and the sparkle in her eyes glittered brighter than any of Tiffany's diamonds. Obviously, her friend was head over heels in "forever" love with her cowboy, and she couldn't be happier.

Garth lowered his head and kissed Allie's cheek. "See the sauce I have to take from this spitfire." He grinned. "Maybe you can help me, Liz."

Liz laughed and shook her head from side to side. "Sorry, Garth. I learned the hard way when it comes to roping Allie in; it takes a better person than me."

"I object!" Allie punched Garth's arm and cocked her head to the side, looking offended as she retorted. "I believe I could tell a few out-of-school stories regarding your stubbornness as well."

"Me, stubborn?" Liz smothered a laugh. "Don't listen to her nonsense, Garth. I love her to death, but she gets into far more tight spots than this girl could ever imagine."

Garth nodded but refused to add any more fuel to the fire. He'd learned to pick his battles, and even then, he wasn't sure he'd win.

His cell rang as he walked toward the kitchen door. Pulling it from his pocket, he answered. "Garth Woodman speaking."

"Dang, boy! Is that some of the southern hospitality you brought back with you?" Sheriff Ortiz chuckled and didn't wait for an answer from Garth. "Glad to have you back home, though I understand you had some rough times in Savannah."

"It's nice to be back home, Diego. Time for a bit of rest and relaxation unless, of course, you've got things stirring around here, my friend."

"We always hope for the best, but I have heard some occasional rumblings. Pencil me in for a chat whenever you can. We can catch up on Savannah and a few other things."

"Do I need to bring the whole team down, Diego? All I have to do is make a quick call to my boss." Garth felt a slight undercurrent in the Sheriff's tone.

"No, that's unnecessary. You take a few days and then we'll talk. You know how people are around here. It could be nothing but gossip."

Garth's brain was already shifting into another gear. If someone else might be considering resurrecting Mason Caldwell's drug ring, he wanted in on the ground floor to stop it.

"I'll be in town later. If I have time, I'll stop in to say hello."

"Love to catch up, Garth, but don't make it a priority call. As I said, it's just rumblings."

"Sure thing. Catch you later, Sheriff." Garth ended the call and placed another one to the FBI Director. He needed to know if anyone on their end had picked up any bad vibes in the area. Having forgotten about the coffee, he headed to the study to have a private conversation with Washington, DC but first, he needed to make an appointment with the local jeweler in town.