Hearts in Harmony (11 page)

Celeste shrugged her shoulders, trying to appear casual as she spoke. “Nothing more than usual, I guess. I just thought it best to leave the car at work and hitch a ride.”

“Oh. Do you need a ride home tonight?”

“Sure. That would be great.”

Celeste resumed helping Randy set everything up.

For today, she was safe from Zac, but with the recent turn of events, would her heart ever be safe from Adrian?

 

Bob Delanio could no longer see the receptionist after she disappeared around the corner, but he could hear her.

“Celeste, there's a man here to see you.”

He recognized Celeste's voice when she replied, but he couldn't make out her words. The receptionist's reply sounded loud and clear.

“No, he didn't give his name.”

Again, Celeste said something he couldn't make out.

Bob knew Celeste wasn't expecting him, but he hadn't expected that she wouldn't want to see him.

The receptionist's voice sounded loud and clear, lacking any semblance of trying to be discreet. “No, he's not blond—he's got dark hair. No earrings or jewelry of any kind. If it helps, I think he's your mechanic.”

This time, he could hear Celeste's voice quite plainly. “Mechanic? I don't have a mechanic.”

“But he asked for you specifically. He's got a big smear of something black on his face, and he's wearing gray coveralls.” Her voice lowered, but not by much. “There's a crest on them that says “Bob and Bart's.”

Bob quickly pulled a rag out of his pocket and wiped at his cheek, hoping he was wiping the right one. Not knowing whether or not he'd gotten rid of the axle grease, he shoved the rag back in his pocket when the click of heels on the tile floor approached from around the corner.

“Bob? What are you doing here?”

“Randy told me you had to leave your car here for a few days, so I started thinking. There are a number of minor adjustments I could make. I know about a few things that are about to go, and I managed to find the parts at a wrecker's, so…” He shrugged his shoulders. “I called Adrian and told him I'd pick you up today, and I'll have a look at it.”

Her cheeks turned a cute shade of pink. “Oh, Bob, you really didn't have to go to all this trouble. I can still drive it, I just chose not to.”

“I know, but it's better to be safe than sorry. That thing really isn't in the best condition, and I haven't looked at it for a while. I hope you're remembering to check your oil once a week.”

She nodded. “Yes, I am. I feel bad that you came all the way downtown for nothing.”

“One of my sisters is thinking of buying a used car, and I don't like any of my family to buy anything without me looking at it first. So I wasn't far away. It's not a big deal. It really would make me feel better if I had a look at it.”

She glanced over her shoulder, but he couldn't see her desk from where they stood. “I'll be finished work in about ten minutes. Would you mind hanging out here for a bit?”

“Actually, I parked my own car in the underground parking, and I couldn't help but see yours. If you'll give me the keys, I can start now.”

The entire time they were talking, the receptionist had been watching them, making no attempt to hide her interest. The second Celeste returned to her desk to retrieve her keys, the receptionist leaned forward, smiled and folded her hands on the desk in front of her. “Do you often make house calls?”

Bob smiled. “No. Only for family and good friends.” He reached into his pocket, withdrew a business card, and handed it to her. “But if you're ever in the neighborhood and need some work done, we'd be happy to help you.”

Before he could give his customary spiel on guarantees and customer satisfaction, Celeste appeared with the keys. “Great, I'll see you down there.”

He had the impression the receptionist wanted to chat, but Bob didn't have the time, nor did he have any interest in flirting when he had a job to do. He returned to the underground parking to check Celeste's mother's car.

At two minutes past the half hour, people began flowing through the underground parking facility, as those who worked in the building ended their work day. Celeste soon appeared beside him.

“Find anything?”

Bob straightened and swiped his hands on his pants. “Yeah, I did. The engine is out of time, which means the alignment between the spark plugs and the pistons isn't right.”

“Is that bad?”

“Not initially, but when I took the distributor apart I saw that the whole thing has to be replaced. That's only the start of it. I want to take it back to the shop. You can take my car to night school.”

“Are you sure? If there really isn't anything more wrong than usual, I can still drive it. It's okay, really.”

Bob frowned. The only thing okay with the car was that the headlights were properly aimed. All the guys knew the deplorable condition of Celeste's mother's car, but she would never allow him to do any serious work on it. The only exception had been one Saturday when they'd all found themselves congregating at Celeste's duplex. Still, he hadn't been able to do much in her driveway.

Replacing the distributor was minor. He knew from the consistent spots on the street where she parked that the car was leaking oil. He wanted to put the car up on the hoist to investigate further.

Celeste refused to let him do the work for free, but she didn't have the money to do everything needed, so nothing was done. When Bob heard she'd left the car at work, the situation presented the perfect opportunity to get his hands on it while it was down. He'd phoned Adrian and told him not to pick Celeste up, because he was going to get the car back to his shop, even if he had to call a tow truck to do it. Finally he could really get to fixing it. Or at least get to what could be done until she arrived after work on Friday to pick it up.

Adrian had expressed his relief that finally something was going to be done about the car, but in the process, Bob had one of the very few arguments he'd ever had with
Adrian. Adrian had offered to pay for the parts, and even pay him for his labor. While Bob could understand Adrian's impulse, Bob had been incredibly insulted. He had no intention of letting Celeste pay for the parts, and he certainly wasn't going to charge for his time to fix the car. He certainly wouldn't have accepted the money from Adrian for what he intended to do for Celeste for free. He liked Celeste too, and he knew she needed the help. Regardless of what she said, he intended to cover the cost of the parts himself, without any help from Adrian.

Bob had been stunned to find himself arguing with his friend until he realized the reason for the argument. While he simply wanted to help a friend, Adrian's concern went far further than friendship. Adrian's voice changed when he started talking about Celeste. The guys would be talking about something else, and the usually focused Adrian would get distracted, and somehow, Celeste's name would come into the conversation. That would be on the few times they even saw Adrian anymore, because he was spending almost all his time with Celeste.

Adrian had it bad.

Bob continued, “I've never been comfortable with you driving that car in this condition. Humor me.”

Her smile dropped, and she stepped back. Finally she could see he meant business.

“Uh, thanks. I really appreciate this. My mother probably won't recognize her car by the time she gets it back.”

“I hope that's the case. Let's go before the traffic gets any worse. I want to listen to it as it drives, so you can drive my car home.”

The entire drive back to the shop, Bob made mental
notes about all the hums, clunks and other assorted sounds. He pulled the car directly into one of the open service bays, and met Celeste in the lobby.

He stepped behind the counter and filled out a key tag, making a specific note to Bart, his partner, not to touch it, that Bob wanted to do all the work himself. “I might go to bed early tonight,” he said as he wrote. “So take my car to work tomorrow and I'll get it from you either Friday night, or on the weekend.”

“But what will you do for transportation?”

Bob relaxed, and broke out into a broad grin. “You don't think that car is the only thing I have to drive, do you? For fun, I've got my baby tucked away. This just gives me a good opportunity to uncover her.”

“Should I ask?”

Bob's grin widened. “Probably not. Now get going before you're late for night school. I'll see you here on Friday.”

A
drian bit his lip to keep from laughing at the lift of Celeste's eyebrows as soon as she opened the menu.

“Do you see these prices? What in the world were you thinking?”

He cleared his throat and tried to keep a straight face. He'd never had a date complain about the amount he intended to spend, but then, Celeste had been bucking him every step of the way, refusing to call it a date, even though it was. “I told you it's my treat. Ignore the prices. Order whatever you want.”

“What if I feel like a lobster?”

“That's funny. You don't look like a lobster.”

She met his joke with a stony stare.

Adrian couldn't hold back his laughter. “Lighten up, Celeste. It's going to be fun to wine and dine you. Minus the wine.”

She lowered her menu to the table. “Why?”

Adrian also lowered his menu. “What do you mean?”

“Why did you pick a place like this? By the time the
final bill comes, you'll have spent more on one meal than I spend on an entire week's worth of groceries.”

He had so much he wanted to say, he didn't know where to start. “That's not the point. I wanted to take you somewhere special, where we could talk.”

She turned her head, taking in the soft lighting, accented by a colored candle at each table. Soft, soothing music echoed in the background. The elegant decorating was clearly geared toward romance and not family dining. The well-spaced tables were mostly occupied by couples who were obviously on dates.

“We could have talked over a burger, just the same.”

“No, we couldn't have. This place is quiet and private. Relax.”

Celeste once more raised the menu, but he could see from her eyes that she wasn't reading. She was studying everything around her. Abruptly, it dawned on him that she might never have been to a place like this. If so, he could understand why she would have found the prices intimidating.

Her attention returned to the menu, but Adrian knew it was pointless. She would order the second least expensive item, whether she liked it or not, just so he couldn't accuse her of ordering the cheapest thing on the menu.

“I hope you're hungry. And I want you to order something you like. Maybe something you've never had before. The food here is excellent.”

Her voice was so low he barely heard her reply. “Are you sure this is okay?”

“If it wasn't okay, I wouldn't have brought you here.”

“You only brought me here because Bob still has my car. Or my mother's car. The car I've been driving for the past six
months.” Celeste covered her face with her hands. “I'm babbling. I must sound like an idiot. Can you tell I'm nervous?”

“It's okay. You'll get over it as soon as you start eating.”

She raised her head. “I still don't understand why you brought me to a place like this.”

“I think it should be obvious by now, Celeste.”

Celeste's beautiful jade-green eyes widened. Eyes a man could get lost in. Eyes that showed wonder and inner joy, yet still reflected struggles. Struggles that he wanted to share with her, but she wouldn't let him.

“I just hope that by coming, I'm not making a promise to you I can't keep.”

All Adrian's carefully rehearsed words about love and discussing future plans deserted him. “Of course not,” he said. “I wanted to get away from everything else and just talk.”

She smiled weakly. “Well, I guess we couldn't talk at the library tonight, could we? That wouldn't be allowed. Besides, by the time we're finished here, the library will be closed.”

“Probably.”

“When do you think we'll go? I need something new, because I've finished everything in the last pile.” Her cheeks darkened. “We missed going to the library last week.”

Adrian folded his hands on the table in front of him. While it was good that she had finally admitted in a roundabout way that she'd been avoiding him, it wasn't the reason he wanted to take her out for dinner. He also hadn't brought her to a place like this to discuss going to the library. “If you want we can go tomorrow.”

“Great. I'd like that. Besides, I know how you hate to pay overdue fines. You probably have to go, too, don't you?”

The waiter appeared to take their orders, which was a good distraction. However, after the waiter left, instead of talking about what he wanted, they talked about the same kind of things they always talked about, including the nice turn in the weather. By the time the waiter came with their meals, the conversation had drifted to the latest books they'd read, which in turn brought the topic of conversation back to the library.

Adrian tried not to grimace. Celeste, however, caught him, and broke out into a grin. “Can I help it if I like going to the library? Just one of these times, I'd like to pick you up instead of always going in your car. Tomorrow would be a good day for that, since I'll still have Bob's car.” She started to grin, then bit her lower lip until she had herself under control. “I know how you feel about my mother's car.” Her expression once again became serious. “Do you have any idea what Bob is doing with it? He said he ordered some kind of part, and he was going to give it back to me tonight, which obviously didn't happen.”

“I don't know. You'll have to ask him.”

“But he's being so evasive. I have a bad feeling he's doing a lot of extra work he's not telling me about. I feel funny about it, because his time is expensive. He said all he wants me to pay for is the used parts from the wrecker. That's not fair.”

“He started the shop with Bart because he likes fixing cars, so it's kind of like a hobby that developed into a career. It's probably not often that someone brings in such a, um…classic…for him to work on. Maybe he really is having fun with it. After all, it's what Bob likes to do best.”

“I don't know about that. Is it possible to have fun on the job? I enjoy my job, but I wouldn't call it fun.”

Adrian grinned. “I think that depends. I know Randy has fun at his job, but then we all know what Randy can be like.”

Celeste grinned back. “I know what you mean. Do you remember the day we bought my computer? He was being so creative piling up those remote control trucks. I bet he was playing with the demo model before he started cleaning up. I wonder—what is his apartment like?”

“It's untidy, but somehow Randy knows where everything is. And he has almost every electronic gadget known to man.” He also knew that Randy spent a lot of time at work playing computer games when there wasn't anyone in the store.

“That shouldn't surprise me. I had to laugh when I saw him trying to take pictures of Paul with the camera in his cell phone. He was driving Paul nuts, which says a lot, because Paul is always so patient, working with kids every day. He seems to love his job too.”

“I don't know. I've never really talked to him about it.” Adrian tried to keep the exasperation out of his voice, but failed. “I didn't bring you here to talk about the other guys. I wanted to talk about us.”

Celeste hunched her shoulders. “There is no ‘us.'”

Adrian leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I think there is, and you know it,” he muttered. “It's time to acknowledge it. I want to get to know you better. Have fun.”

She grimaced fleetingly at his words, then cleared her throat. “But we've been having fun.”

“That's true, but we don't ever go anyplace except for the library. Aside from that, everything we do is either church-related or we go to each other's homes.”

“We sometimes do our grocery shopping together.”

Adrian resisted the urge to drag his hand over his face. “That doesn't count. I'm talking about going out and doing regular, normal things, like couples do when they're…” Adrian's sentence stalled. Celeste's face paled, stopping him from saying the words on the tip of his tongue, which were
in love.
He cleared his throat, and thought of an emergency substitution. “…like when they're dating. How about if we start with a movie?”

Her face brightened. “That's great. The video store's got a special on this month. If you rent a new release, you get a seven-day rental for free.”

Adrian shut his eyes in frustration. “I'm not talking about renting a movie. I'm talking about a real movie. Like going to a theater. With an oversized watered-down soda and cold popcorn with too much artificial butter.”

“Wow. You make that sound so appealing.”

The waiter reappeared with their meals, Adrian said a short prayer of thanks, and they began to eat.

Celeste's eyebrows arched at her first bite, she paused, smiled, then quickly speared another piece of salmon. “This is fabulous!”

“I told you it would be.”

Adrian had never seen Celeste talk so little while she ate, but he took that to be a sign that she was enjoying the meal. He chose to say little and just let her eat in peace.

After her plate was empty, Celeste set her fork down and lightly patted her mouth with her napkin. “That was so good! Thank you. I know you said the cheesecake here was spectacular, but I'm too full for dessert. Should we think about heading home?”

Adrian's breath caught. He wanted to take her home, but
not to her home. He wanted to take her to his home, except that instead of it being just
his
home, he wanted it to be
their
home.

His heart started beating in double time. If they were married, they would be going home together. It didn't matter if they read, watched television, talked, or even if they didn't talk. They would still be together, and that was all that mattered.

“I have an idea. Since we didn't have dessert, why don't you come over to my place? By that time, maybe we'll be feeling like dessert, and we can dip into that Rocky Road ice cream I bought last time we went grocery shopping together. As well, we could have more coffee, and that would keep us both awake.”

Celeste blinked. “More coffee? You're kidding, right? I think I'm past the point of no return here. I've been drinking coffee all day, and now I've had more. I'm still sleepy, but all that coffee has had another effect on me. I had better pass for tonight, but before that…” She stood. “I'll be right back,” she said, and headed in the direction of the ladies' room.

As soon as she disappeared, Adrian took advantage of her absence to signal the waiter and quickly paid the bill, so he wouldn't have to listen to Celeste try to make a contribution when he knew she couldn't afford it. When he had mentioned the ice cream, he had seen a spark of interest, which made him suspect that the reason she had passed on dessert was the price.

When Celeste returned, Adrian led her outside, but instead of taking her to her car, he led her to the curb and pointed down the hill to the sunset.

“How would you like to stand here for a while and watch?”

Celeste hadn't buttoned her jacket; she'd only slipped it on for the short walk to the car. Now, even though they intended to stay outside for a few minutes, she still left the buttons undone, only pulling the two sides together just under the collar, bunching it in her fist to hold it semi-closed. “That would be nice. It's so pretty.”

She turned to watch the hues of pink and purple melding together, but while Celeste watched the sky, Adrian watched Celeste.

He wanted her to trust him, to open her heart and soul and share whatever it was that held her back from deepening their relationship. He was ready to commit himself to her, if only she would accept him.

Tonight, after their first real date, was a good time to start. At this moment, with the beauty of the sunset in front of them, the setting was perfect.

A cool breeze drifted across the expanse of the parking lot, causing Celeste to shiver. Adrian took advantage of the opportunity and stepped closer to her. Only her eyes moved to acknowledge the change, so he took that as a sign of encouragement. Slowly, he wrapped one arm around her and drew her close to him, both to shelter her from the wind, and also to keep her warm.

She started to lean into him, and Adrian considered that a good thing. But then, when she realized what she was doing, she stiffened.

He didn't want to let her go, but he didn't want to force her to stay.

Adrian let his arm drop.

She turned her head and stared at him. “What are you doing?”

Adrian raised his arm in an automatic reaction to straighten his tie, even though he wasn't wearing one. He tugged at his collar, then rammed his hands into his coat pockets. “I was trying to be romantic. If you have to ask, then I must assume I'm doing something wrong.”

“I….” her voice trailed off. She cleared her throat, then turned her head and stared off into the sunset. “You're not doing it wrong. It's just that it's been so long since anyone's been romantic to me, I don't know what to do anymore.”

“But… I thought you just recently split up with someone. Surely…”

She shook her head and abruptly crossed her arms over her chest. “No. We never did anything so simple as watch sunsets. I actually haven't done much sunset-watching at all.”

“Then maybe it's about time you started.”

“Maybe, but I should be watching sunsets alone. I don't want to spoil things.”

Adrian blinked. “Spoil things? I don't understand.”

She kept her face pointed at the fading sunset. “I already told you. Getting romantic will spoil our friendship. I don't want that to happen.”

“But…” Adrian let his voice trail off. As far as he was concerned, their ‘friendship' had already been spoiled. They had progressed beyond what he termed
friendship
with a kiss that had rocked his world off its axis. For as long as he lived, he would never forget that night, or the way she'd kissed him. He also would never forget how he'd felt when he'd kissed her and she had responded. It couldn't be taken back. It had happened. If she had just passed it off casually,
he could have accepted that she didn't take the power of the moment as seriously as he did. But, her strong reaction and her actions afterward told him that she'd been as affected by the moment and all its ramifications as he was.