Hearts in Harmony (5 page)

“Actually, I haven't known Adrian very long.” Yet, in that short time, she couldn't help but like him. She wanted to get to know him better, but at the same time, the thought scared her to death.

Paul set his burger down and began to nibble on his fries. “I wonder if seeing you playing the piano reminds Adrian of when he was a kid. He took lessons for a while when we were in elementary school. That was one thing he could never master. Usually kids quit on their own, but Adrian wouldn't give up. He just kept plugging along until finally his mother couldn't stand it anymore and suggested that he try something else.”

“Adrian told me that you all grew up together, right here in this neighborhood.”

Randy nodded. “Yeah. We've been friends since we were kids. Through thick and thin. We watch out for each other, but especially for Adrian.” Randy paused, and his voice lowered. “Sometimes people tend to take advantage of him.”

Celeste swirled a fry in a blob of ketchup. She could certainly understand how that could happen. He'd been helpful to her in so many ways. Everything his friends said about Adrian confirmed that he was as good a man as her heart told her he was. She also had no doubt that he really did call his mother as often as his phone bill indicated.

He'd even arranged an extra practice, just for her on Friday night, when everyone else should have had other, more interesting things to do. “I know what you mean. I feel like I'm taking advantage of him already.”

All movement at their table stopped. Without looking, she knew they were all watching her. She refused to make eye contact. Instead, she began concentrating intently on the blob of ketchup, not raising her head as she spoke. “I mean with the worship team, and the extra practice. He's also offered to help me get acquainted with the neighborhood.”

A silence hung in the air. Bob was the first to speak. “That's right. I remember now. That's why he was late on Wednesday. You'd been shopping together. Adrian said he forgot we moved the practice to an earlier time than usual, which was really strange. It's a good thing Paul has a key.”

A wave of guilt passed through her. She'd felt bad enough about making Adrian late, but Bob's reminder made her feel even worse. “I'm really sorry about that. He never said he had plans.”

Bob smiled gently. “Don't worry about it. If he hadn't forgotten his stuff, then you wouldn't have come over, and we never would have known that you play piano. And quite well, too. I've always believed in God's timing.”

She still wasn't so sure of the timing being from God. Being able to play well didn't seem to be the major criterion for being on their team. Still, the timing was good because she now had the opportunity to use her talents to serve God, which was infinitely better than what she was doing with them before.

Bob clasped his hands, rested them on the table, and leaned forward. “After you left the other night we asked
Adrian about you, and he had so many good things to say. I was wondering if you two were an item or something. It's not often he talks about a woman, especially someone none of us already know. I can't help but be curious about you.”

“No,” she said quickly, trying to keep her voice calm. “We're not an ‘item'. We're just…” Her voice trailed off as she tried to think of how to describe her relationship with Adrian. They certainly weren't dating. She couldn't call him a friend. She didn't have any friends any more and she hadn't known Adrian long enough to call him a new friend. He was really little more than a stranger.

At best, if she had to put a label on it, they were only casual acquaintances. But she couldn't say that to Bob, Randy and Paul.

“We're just…” She forced herself to smile, hoping Bob wouldn't misunderstand. “…getting to know each other better. Since we're almost neighbors, and all that.”

One eyebrow quirked. “I see. I was just curious. If you don't mind me asking, I was wondering if there's anyone else who would mind that you're, uh, getting to know Adrian better. I noticed you came to church alone.”

Celeste blinked. She wondered if Adrian had been hurt by a woman recently, and that was why his friends were acting this way. Their obvious concern served as another reminder of the absence of such friends in her life. When she needed help, no one stood up for her. She'd been all but abandoned.

She'd never needed a friend more in her life than right now. She wanted to have these four men as friends, but she couldn't ask or expect such a thing because it would be too one-sided. They freely gave their time, energy and dedica
tion to each other. She had nothing to offer but trouble, bad examples and poor judgment.

But as to Bob's question, she didn't know how to answer. There was definitely someone who would mind, even though what she did and who she saw were no longer any of Zac's business. She'd told him she would leave unless he had a change of heart, since their priorities had become so vastly different. Zac had only laughed at her, so she'd done exactly what she'd said she was going to do. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but she knew that Zac would have been very, very angry when he discovered that she was gone.

If she continued on in the way she was doing, Zac would never find her, and he would never know what she did or who she spent her time with. Therefore, technically, at least, there was no one who could mind that she was getting to know Adrian better.

“Actually, I recently broke up with someone. It was a bad situation, and I'm glad it's over,” she said abruptly. “I'm looking forward to a new start.” They didn't know how much of a new start it really was, and she had no intention of telling them any of the details. She ached with the need to have them respect her, even though she didn't deserve it.

Paul set his drink down on the table, and folded his hands. “All of us are pretty settled. Then if you don't have ties elsewhere, do you think you'll settle here at our little church or do you tend to move around a lot?”

Celeste forced herself to breathe. She honestly didn't know. Too much depended on circumstances beyond her control, and how much she could keep to herself. “My
new job is close by, so that's the main reason I decided to move here.” She tried her best to smile and left her thoughts unsaid.

Paul grew serious, and didn't reply immediately. She suspected he was considering her in connection with their discussion of roots. She had no roots. Even the car they acknowledged as hers wasn't her own; it was borrowed. She didn't even know when her mother would return so they could trade back.

“I knew that you had only been to our church a couple of times, so I find it unusual that Adrian pushed so much for you to be on the worship team without knowing you really well first. It's not like Adrian to do anything…impulsive.” One eye narrowed slightly as he continued to watch her.

Celeste felt like a bug under a microscope. She felt as if she was being interviewed, to be sure she was worthy of their friend.

A knot formed in her stomach. Adrian was solid and stable, the exact opposite of her with her new job, her recent move, her new church and her complete lack of anyone she could call a friend, regardless of what she was trying to do with her life. She wasn't ready to tell them what she was trying to put behind her. It had been hard enough to tell the pastor, whose job it was to keep sensitive issues confidential.

The truth was that if she wanted to take advantage of Adrian, she knew all the tricks. If Adrian was as innocent and trusting as his friends indicated, he would be an easy mark—his friends were right to think Adrian needed protection from her. If she wanted to, she could taint him simply by being a bad influence, just as Zac had eventually
tainted her. She wasn't going to do that to Adrian. One ruined life was enough.

The words of their pastor,
her
pastor now, echoed in Celeste's head. He'd even helped her memorize the reference from Corinthians.

As of three weeks, two days and seven hours ago, she was a new creation. The old Celeste was gone. The new Celeste was on the worship team, where she would be serving the God who had loved her before she loved Him. Even though it was Friday night, she found she now wanted to do ‘church stuff' when everyone else was out partying.

“Impulsive or not, I'm really grateful for the opportunity to settle into a nice church so quickly. It's something I really need to do.”

Paul blinked, and his smile resumed. “And impulsive or not, we really needed a good pianist. A strong female voice from the front is a definite bonus, too. I'm glad we've all come together like this. Now let's go, before Adrian starts to worry.”

A
drian struggled not to pace.

They were late. All of them.

He could see Randy being late. Maybe Paul. But never Bob.

He peeked through the blinds, then strode into the kitchen to check the coffee for the tenth time.

He didn't know if Celeste was habitually late, or if he should worry about her. What he did know was that she had told him she would try to be early. Not only was she not early, she was late. She hadn't even phoned, despite the fact that he'd helped her program his number into her new cellular phone.

Adrian returned to the living room and peeked through the blinds again. Her earlier assurances that the car ran fine once it started did nothing to convince him it was mechanically sound. He'd heard the way it chugged. Fortunately, her e-mail address showed the name of the company where she worked. If he couldn't reach her via her cell phone, it would be a simple matter to retrace her route with his car.

He let the slats slip from between his fingers. He didn't remember praying for patience recently, but if he had, he was receiving a very ironic lesson.

He walked to the CD player, where he selected some music to pass the time and to occupy his mind while he waited.

Celeste was getting to him.

She was different from anyone he'd ever met, yet he couldn't pinpoint what he found so fascinating about her.

She appeared ambitious because she'd talked of signing up for night-school classes while working full-time. She'd also mentioned a part-time second job she'd recently quit. She hadn't told him exactly what it was, only that it involved a partnership that was now dissolved. Yet, for someone who appeared eager to get ahead and not afraid of hard work, she only held an entry level position, and her apartment held nothing of any value except for her piano.

Because the car she was driving belonged to her mother, he didn't know exactly what kind of vehicle she did own, or its age or condition. She'd only told him it was an economy import. Therefore, he doubted she spent all her money on her car. Neither did she spend her money on clothes or other women's accessories. Every time he'd seen her she'd been well-dressed, but nothing she wore was spectacular or even particularly trendy, merely practical. She didn't spend all her money on vacations—she'd told him she had never been out of the country.

She didn't even own her home, she rented.

He closed his eyes and said a quick prayer that she didn't spend all her money on medical expenses, then returned to the kitchen.

Just as Adrian reached for the phone, a rumble reverberated from outside. It became louder, suddenly stopped, then was immediately followed by an uneven series of clunks and chugs before becoming completely silent.

Adrian smiled. Celeste had arrived.

As he walked through the living room the noise of another car arriving echoed from outside. It stopped, and a door closed. Then another and another.

Adrian opened the door to see Celeste approaching, with Bob, Paul and Randy close behind.

Celeste walked up the steps, carrying a drink from the local fast-food restaurant. “I had really planned to be here sooner. Sorry. I don't know where the time went.”

Adrian's smile dropped as he saw his three friends carrying paper cups with the same logo. He saw where the time had gone, and it wasn't with him.

He cleared his throat and forced himself to smile politely, trying to hide his hurt feelings at not being invited. “That's okay. You're here now.” He paused just long enough for his three friends to file past him into the living room. “In fact, it's funny that you all arrived at exactly the same time.”

Randy grinned and held up his drink. “Yeah. We all saw Celeste's car at the restaurant as we were driving by, and then we all decided to go in, one at a time. Isn't that funny?”

“Yeah. Hilarious.”

Randy sipped his drink, which only resulted in a loud, echoing sound at the bottom of the cup. “I hope you bought donuts. We were so busy talking, we didn't have time for dessert.”

“Yes. I stopped on the way home.”

Everyone else filed into the den, but Randy turned and headed for the kitchen.

Soon Randy joined them, donut in hand, and made his adjustments in the sound system. The practice progressed well, and when they were finished, Adrian was even more impressed with Celeste than he had been when the two of them had practiced together without the benefit of the other instruments.

His opinion was confirmed by Paul, who was grinning ear to ear when he laid his bass guitar into the case. “Your other church's loss is definitely our gain. I think the rest of the congregation is going to feel the same way Sunday morning.”

Her cheeks darkened as she looked up at Paul. “In some ways, I'm looking forward to it, and in other ways I'm scared to death.”

At her hesitant smile, Adrian's heart went out to her. He would never forget the first time he and his friends had been up at the front of the church. He'd never admitted it to anyone, but he'd been scared, too. Unlike Celeste, however, he wasn't very good, and he knew it. Now, four months later, he and his friends had obtained a measure of proficiency, but it had taken a lot of practice, and there was still plenty of room for improvement.

He cleared his throat as he lowered his own guitar into the case. “You'll be fine once everything gets started. Just remember what you're there for, and that the congregation is there for the same reason, which is to worship God.”

She nodded. “Yes, of course. I'll remember that.”

Randy checked his watch. “If you don't mind, I'm going
to go home. Tomorrow is my regular weekly meeting. First we're doing breakfast, and then it's my turn to say a few words. We've got a couple of newcomers, so that's really important. Then we have an early tee time.”

Celeste turned the piano off. “Tee time? I wish my boss included tee time in our meetings.”

Randy shrugged his shoulders. “It's not that kind of meeting. This is something I never miss. Maybe I'll tell you about it someday.”

Adrian nodded. “I know the right words will come to you. See you Sunday morning.”

Instead of going through the living room, Randy detoured through the kitchen before Adrian heard the front door open and close.

Bob began to pack up the drums. Paul helped tuck the cymbals into their totes. “I've got to go soon, too,” said Bob. “Bart is taking the day off tomorrow, so I've got to get up early to go open up.” He turned to Celeste. “A 7:00 a.m. opening makes for a very short Friday night.”

Paul lifted one of the toms from the drum stand. “Then go. I'll finish this.”

“Great. I appreciate it. See you Sunday.”

Bob also left, but he went straight through the living room on his path to the front door.

Adrian's heart raced. With both Randy and Bob gone, he secretly willed Paul to leave also, even though he knew he wasn't being very gracious.

Paul smiled. “Then I guess it's just the three of us left to finish off the donuts. Depending on how many Randy already ate.”

Adrian tried to control his disappointment that Paul was
staying. Not that he really cared about the donuts. He'd only been hoping for some time alone with Celeste. He wanted to get to know her better, and that meant talking to her without Paul being there. He'd already seen that it was hard for Celeste to open up, especially in a group setting. Then, when she did, she focused on exactly what she'd been asked, and nothing more.

Adrian could understand that Celeste didn't like to talk about herself. Despite his recent tendency to talk too much, he usually didn't talk about himself, either. But Celeste's almost deliberate omissions when someone asked her a question only served to make him more curious than ever.

He glanced toward the kitchen as he thought of how he could discourage Paul from staying. “I don't know how much coffee is left. I think Randy finished it off along with the donuts.”

Celeste moved from the piano and began to help Paul disassemble the drums. “Let me help, and it will go faster,” she said as she lifted the snare and released the tension clip for the coil underneath. It tweaked Adrian's interest that she knew to do that.

“I should probably be going, too, soon as I'm done here,” she said as she began taking the high-hat cymbal apart, without the need for instruction.

Adrian folded down the guitar stands and music stands, and stacked them at the side of the room. “I'd love for you to stay and have a cup of tea.” He lowered his voice just a bit. “When I was out buying the donuts, I also picked up some of the same herbal tea I saw in your grocery cart the other day.”

Both eyebrows raised and she said, “Really? You did that for me?”

He didn't understand her surprise. It was just a box of tea. All he could do was nod.

“In that case, I'd love to stay for a while. As long I won't be keeping you from anything.”

Adrian checked his watch. “It's already ten o'clock, so it's a little late to be starting something. Unless you have to get up early in the morning, too?”

“No. I'm fine.”

When they were done, the three of them retired to the kitchen. Adrian put a mug of water in the microwave for Celeste's tea, while Paul walked straight for the coffeepot.

“There's still some left. Just enough for two cups, which is perfect, since Celeste is having tea,” Paul said as he divided the last of the coffee.

Adrian pushed the buttons on the microwave. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

“I've got to start thinking ahead for school and look over my lesson plans for the coming year,” Paul said as he poured some cream into his coffee. “There's only a couple of weeks left of summer, and I don't want to leave it too late.”

Adrian turned to his friend. “I didn't mean you. I already know what you're doing. I was talking to Celeste.”

Paul only laughed.

Adrian turned back to Celeste. “So, Celeste. What are you doing tomorrow?”

Celeste smiled. “Nothing, really. I'll probably just sit in the backyard and read. I picked up a new book on my way home from work yesterday.”

Adrian handed her the mug and the box for the tea so she could select her own teabag. “That sounds like a nice
way to spend a hot summer afternoon. I've got a pile of reading to catch up on, including something that's due back at the library in a few days that I haven't even started. Why don't I join you, and we can share a pitcher of lemonade?”

Behind him, Paul muffled a groan. Adrian wanted to kick him. Instead, he spun around and glared at his friend. “Are you sure you don't have someplace else to go?”

Paul grinned. “Nope. I wouldn't miss this for anything in the world.”

Celeste had started to dunk a teabag into the water. For an almost indiscernible moment, her movement stopped. “I'm sorry, Adrian, I don't know if that's such a good idea.”

Adrian turned back to Celeste and tried to pretend he was interested in selecting a donut out of the box. “Why not? I'm not doing anything, either. So if both of us are doing nothing, we might as well do nothing together.”

“Uh…”

“Don't you think that makes sense? Then later, maybe I can take you on a walking tour of the neighborhood as the day cools down. I sit far too much during the week, so I try to get out on the weekends. I've considered getting a dog, but I don't know if it's fair to keep an animal locked up inside while I'm gone to work all day.”

Paul snorted under his breath, then began to laugh. “Are you comparing Celeste to a dog?”

“That does it. You've just overstayed your welcome.”

Of course Paul didn't move, but Adrian hoped that Paul would at least take the hint. He usually tolerated Paul's ‘input' into his love life, not that he had much, if any love life. But this time, he not only didn't think Paul was being
very funny, Adrian didn't appreciate Paul's interference, in jest or otherwise.

Adrian stiffened, straightened his glasses, and turned around, ready to tell Paul that for once, he could mind his own business. The second they made eye contact, Paul's demeanor changed. Paul's smile dropped, his eyes widened, he quickly glanced at Celeste, then focused back on Adrian's face.

“Sorry,” Paul mumbled. “I think I'm getting punchy after such a great practice.” He stood, grabbing the last donut and one of the mugs on his way up. “Speaking of practice, I can't find my tuning meter. I think I forgot it here on Wednesday.”

Without another word, Paul disappeared from the kitchen.

Adrian smiled, hoping he could still salvage some small fragments of his dignity. “Now that he's gone, at least temporarily, what do you think about getting together tomorrow afternoon? Nothing formal. If it turns into dinner, fine, but if not, that's fine, too. I'll understand if you already have other plans for later.”

He waited for her response, knowing he was wearing his heart on his sleeve, opening himself up for her to tear it to shreds.

“I don't know. I have a lot of stuff to think about. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to sit in the same backyard and share some sunshine. Sure. Just so long as you don't mind if Hank and his wife, my landlords, are also outside on their side of the yard.”

Adrian took that to mean they were meeting on her turf, which was fine with him. “That sounds good.”

“I still owe you a dinner, so how about if I make us something for lunch?”

“I didn't feed you yesterday expecting the favor would be returned, but I'm never going to turn down a free home-cooked meal. You're on.”

Before he could offer to bring fresh donuts, Paul returned. The conversation turned to idle chatter, which was fine with Adrian.

Tomorrow was another day, and tomorrow he would have Celeste all to himself.

 

Celeste tried to concentrate, but the words were without meaning. She'd never had a problem reading before, unless she'd taken something she knew would impair her thought processes. But at those times, intellectual pursuits had been the furthest thing from her mind.