Sylvia perched on the corner of Chelsie’s cluttered desk and grinned at her.

“I just…decided…that it would be…good for Leilani to see me dance.” Chelsie said awkwardly.

“It was Gev, wasn’t it? He got you to do it. I so glad you two are getting together!”

“Sylvia, why are you playing matchmaker?” Chelsie stared across the desk to her fellow teacher. “Have I ever said I need someone to fall in love with?”

“No.” Sylvia mused. “But it would do you a world of good. Remember the other day? You went out to dinner with Gev and you looked so beautiful, and you were nervous, and excited…”

Chelsie laughed. “It wasn’t because of Gev.”

Sylvia laughed right back. “It certainly was! So…what did he do?”

Chelsie leaned back and picked at her fingernails. What was she going to do? Tell Sylvia her dead fiancée made her read his journal and told her he wanted her to dance again after he spent the night with her? That would get her a quick trip to the psych ward.

“Nothing. He just asked and I thought about it. That’s it.”

“You mean, that’s all you’re going to tell me.”

“That’s all I’m going to tell you.” Chelsie locked her top drawer and pushed herself away from the desk. “And now, I have to meet with him to discuss the small fry ballroom kids, if you don’t mind.”

“Have fun!” Sylvia waved as they left the small office. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gev greeted Chelsie with a warm hug and ushered her into the office, showing her to a seat over by a large window. He fixed two large mugs of coffee and offered one to Chelsie before settling in the chair across from her.

“I’m so happy you decided to dance.”

“It wasn’t all me, but, yeah, I’m going to dance.”

“Was it Mark? Did you figure out what he wanted?” Gev touched her hand gently.

“I…yes…I think so. I found his journal and his Ipod. Those two things and a pretty funky dream lead me to calling you this morning.” Chelsie took a slow sip from her coffee, savouring the warmth that coursed down her throat. “You haven’t told anybody, have you, Gev?”

“Told them what?”

“About Mark…visiting us, I guess is what it’s called.”

“Of course not. People would think I’m crazy.” Gev laughed and then became serious. “That’s strictly between you and me. No one else needs to know. Now…do you have any idea what you are going to dance?”

“I do, but I’d rather not say yet. It could be a disaster.”

Gev shook his head. “Never. It will be beautiful, no matter what you do.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence.” Chelsie smiled and wished she felt that sure of her abilities.

“Anytime. Now, what all do you have on your agenda for the show?” Gev set his coffee aside and shuffled some papers.

“I have the small fry ballroom group, the small fry latin group, I’m helping with the music for Leilani’s beginner group and then there’s Kimmy and Richard’s routine, plus mine.” Chelsie ticked the dances off on her fingers.

“Okay, I just don’t want you to be bogged down with too much.” Gev made some marks on his papers and then raised his eyes to gaze at Chelsie. “And, of course, I’d still like you to do a number with me.”

“Oh Gev.” Chelsie blushed and began picking at her nails for the second time that morning. “I don’t know.”

Gev placed his hand on her shoulder. “It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. We can do one of the dances from the show.”

“Sure, nothing fancy there.” Chelsie giggled nervously. “Piece of cake.”

“Meet me tomorrow night. We’ll have dinner and then come back here and see if these old bodies can remember how to move.”

“I don’t know.” Chelsie fiddled with her silver pinkie ring. “I’ve got Leilani remember.”

“Call your mother, or Sylvia.”

Chelsie sat and continued twirling the ring on her finger. Mark wanted her to move on. Surely he wouldn’t object to her dancing with Gev, or going out to dinner, or…anything else? She pinched herself to stop her train of thought that was quickly running off the rails.

“Okay, but only if I can get someone to watch Lani. And if it feels weird, I’m out. This is all so…crazy.” Chelsie sighed. “I must be insane.”

“Not insane.” Gev lifted her chin with his fingers. “Just normal. It’s hard to start over, even five years later.”

“Thank you. It’s just…”

“Shush.” Gev moved his fingers to her mouth. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Bye!” Chelsie got up quickly and almost ran to the doorway. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Oh Chelsie?” Gev called out to her in the hallway. She turned and looked back at him expectantly.

“Mark would be so proud of you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mommy, you better make sure I get to see you dance in the show.” Leilani pronounced as she shaped a raw peanut butter cookie form with a fork. “Becky told me you are dancing right before us so I won’t see you.”

Chelsie leaned on the counter and looked at her daughter quizzically. “How does Becky know I’m dancing in the show?”

“I think her mommy told her. Or Aunt Sylvia. She was helping with my group today. She’s funny.” Leilani continued shaping her cookies, turning the pan to make sure she flattened them all and then pushed the tray over to her mother.

“Lani baby. I don’t care when you are dancing in the show, you will be allowed to watch me if you want to.”

“I do.” Leilani said, simply. “You must be a million times better than on TV.”

Chelsie laughed and hugged Leilani to her chest. “I hope I live up to your expectations, sweetie. I haven’t danced in so long.”

“Is Uncle Gevvy dancing?” Leilani hopped off her stool to watch Chelsie slide the cookies into the oven.

“Matter of fact, Uncle Gevvy wants to dance with me.” Chelsie gestured to the sofa and as she sat, Leilani cuddled up to her side instantly. “What do you think about that?”

“Hmm.” Leilani wrinkled her nose. “I liked Uncle Gevvy dancing with you. It would be fun!”

Chelsie chose her next words carefully. “Do you think daddy would be happy?”

Leilani peered around the room, her head tilted as if she were listening to something…or someone.

“Daddy says he just wants to see you dance again. He’s so happy, he told me he’s smiling big, bigger than in the picture in my room.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chelsie snapped off her bedroom light and listened for the sound of Leilani’s soft snores before she let her head hit her pillow. Her eyes scanned the dark, empty room, landing on a beam of moonlight shining through the curtains.

“Mark? I don’t know if you are here. I don’t know how to communicate with you other than just talking. I’m glad you are happy that I'm going to dance. I’m scared to death, you know, I have no idea how I’m going to do this, but I’m going to. For you.”