Free Hearts in Harmony by Gail Sattler Page A

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?”
    â€œYeah. 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.”
    â€œYes. 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