Sweet Harmonies (29 page)

“
Ooooo!” Kelly squealed, as Ryan again
tried to squeeze past her, “We should go ice skating sometime! I
bet you'd like to see me in my little sequined ice skating
dress.”

Ryan couldn't help himself, this brought him
up short. He asked disbelievingly, “You actually own one of
those?”

Kelly leaned in and whispered seductively, “I
would by the time we went ice skating.”

Ryan, exasperated by this time, took her
firmly by the upper arms and set her aside, saying as he passed
her, “Look, Kelly, I really have to go now.”

Kelly scampered after him and managed to get
ahead of him again in just a few steps. Trying to salvage the
situation, she wheedled, “You know Ryan we don't even have to do
anything. We could just stay in, keep it casual. I could cook.”

Reluctantly, Ryan realized he was probably
going to need to get firm. He hated that. He didn't want to hurt
her feelings, and he didn't want to make their working relationship
awkward. But she really didn't seem to be responding to anything
more subtle.

As he was still trying to piece together the
right words to let her down gently but conclusively, Sue Ann
stepped into the mouth of the small hallway and cheerfully called
out, “Kelly! You've got tables out here wanting your attention,
hon!”

Kelly, disappointed, scurried off to the
dining room and Ryan walked over to Sue Ann.

“
Thanks for the assist, Granny,” he
whispered conspiratorially as he leaned down to plant a kiss on her
cheek.

“
No problem, honey,” Sue Ann said,
looking worried.

Ryan paused, “What's wrong?”

Sue Ann shook her head reluctantly, but then
said slowly, “You be careful with Karina now, hear?”

Ryan started laughing, “Granny, if this is
the birds and the bees talk...”

Sue Ann smacked his shoulder, “You!”

“
Seriously, though, what brought this
on? I thought you were all for me and Karina dating. You
practically fixed us up! Why the sudden turnabout?”

Sue Ann nodded, “You're right, and I am for
it, 100%. She's a wonderful girl, and I think you two are a great
match. I'm just a little concerned because, well...I just didn't
expect you to fall so far so fast, you know?”

“
Granny, come on, you can't know what I
feel,” Ryan argued.

“
Sonny, anyone with ears and eyes and
an internet connection knows what you feel, it's written all over
you every time you look at the girl! My only concern is that she's
always been a little closed off, you know? About everything but her
music. She's got walls up.

“
And you? You're really openhearted. So
I don't want you to jump in with both feet, and then look behind
you to see that she's just testing the waters, do you see what I
mean?”

Ryan smiled and hugged his grandmother
gratefully, “Aw, Granny. You're the best for worrying about me,
honestly. But I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself, I promise.
Still, I love you for caring!”

“
Oh, now!” Sue Ann said, a little
flustered, “OK, you just get going and go on your date before I
drop this coffeepot. It's getting heavy!”

Ryan walked out to his truck, pulling his
keys out of his pocket. He mulled over what Sue Ann had said. What
would make a little girl in a community of people that loved her
and protected her put walls up? She seemed close to Renata, so he
was fairly certain that her childhood with her grandmother had been
happy. So why the need to guard her heart so carefully?

He realized that her letting down her guard
and allowing him inside her heart was a critical component of their
moving forward in a relationship together, but he also realized
that it would do little good to press her on the reasons for her
habit of distancing herself from relationships. No. What he needed
to do was simply show her that he was a safe person to confide in
when she was ready and that, in turn, he was also a safe person to
let into her heart.

--- ~ ---

Ryan walked up to Karina's door and raised
his fist to knock, but then he noticed a delivery van pulling into
her driveway. Interested, he watched as a teenage boy, probably
around 16 or 17, climbed out of the truck. His long, gangly legs
and awkward gait made Ryan distinctly UN-nostalgic for the
so-called 'golden years' of high school. Ryan shuddered inwardly.
Awkward was more like it.

Ryan watched as the kid went around the back
of the van and then reappeared a moment later with an impressively
large and stunning bouquet of wildflowers.

When the kid came up the walkway and Ryan got
a closer look, he added manic gum popping and an acne-pocked
complexion to the kids' unfortunate attributes. Ryan felt bad for
him, and was seized by the sudden urge to tell him that this, too,
would pass – but realized that this would make him come off looking
creepy. At best.

The kid shouldered past Ryan with barely a
glance and rang the doorbell. Ryan smiled a little, admiring his
moxie.

Karina opened the door, the excited look on
her face clearly indicating that she thought her visitor was going
to be Ryan. Instead, she was greeted by the sight of the delivery
boy, holding the large flower arrangement, which was currently
blocking her view of Ryan.

She hid her disappointment well, and said
cheerfully, “Hey, Pete, how you doing?

“
Hey, Karina,” replied the kid, whose
name was apparently Pete, “do you want me to bring these inside
like the others?”

“
Yes, on the living room coffee table
will be good.”

“
What do you want me to do with this
guy who's been hanging out on your porch? You want me to get rid of
him for you?” Pete continued with bravado as he stepped into the
entryway.

Startled, Karina glanced back at the porch,
where Ryan was now standing fully in her field of vision since the
flowers had been moved. He gave her a small wave and she began to
laugh.

“
No, thanks, Pete. I'm expecting him,”
she said good-naturedly, and then teased under her breath as Ryan
passed her in the doorway, “You better watch it, mister, or I'll
have my bodyguard Pete here take care of you.”

Ryan stood in the entryway as Karina tipped
Pete and sent him on his way. Pete shuffled out toward his van with
a friendly call of, “See you tomorrow, Karina!”

Ryan looked at her, puzzled, “See you
tomorrow?”

Karina gestured in frustration to the living
room, and Ryan took a couple of steps forward, expanding his view
of the room enough to include several large flower arrangements
which had been set around on the various flat surfaces, all as
uniquely beautiful as the one Pete had just carried in.

“
Whoa, I see you have quite a few
admirers,” he said, taken aback.

“
Nope, just one.”

“
Should I be worried?” he asked
lightly.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation, “Oh,
it's just Kyle...”

“
...Austen Reed,” Ryan put in with a
wink.

“
Precisely,” Karina finished with a
laugh, “Every single day I get a flower arrangement, with a card
that says roughly the same thing. Let's check out today's, shall
we?”

They crossed to the flower arrangement and
Ryan pulled out the card.

“
Karina, my love,” he read with
something approaching Kyle Austen Reed's flair for the dramatic, “I
apologize but I have been asked to go to the library and read a
book to the children for the literacy program there, and I will be
attending a dinner held in my honor at the Veterans Hall. I will
see you tomorrow, my angel. All my best, Kyle Austen
Reed.”

“
Yep,” Karina laughed, “And yesterday
it was serving dinner at the soup kitchen...let's see, what else?
He's given a devotional reading at Hope Falls Community, he's
spoken at the high school – either opposing drugs or supporting
staying in school, I can't remember which – and he's filmed a PSA
for the local animal shelter. I think he's decided to abandon his
career as an actor and take up the role of Patron Saint of Hope
Falls.”

Ryan laughed, and then adopted a more serious
air. He stepped closer to Karina, looking directly into her eyes,
“You were wrong, you know.”

She froze, and her eyes widened, “About
what?” she breathed.

He reached up and brushed her hair behind her
ear, “About having only one admirer.”

Karina laughed, “Who are my others?” she said
coyly.

Instead of answering, he simply leaned down
and kissed her.

As they broke apart, he smiled, “OK, go get
your jacket, we're going to be late.”

As she hurried off down the hall, he worked
to tamp down his irritation about the flowers. I mean, did it annoy
him to high hell that another man was sending 'his' Karina flowers
on a daily basis? Yes. Yes, it did.

But did he actually think that Kyle Austen
Reed posed some sort of real threat to him? No. No, he didn't.

So, having made that differentiation, he
realized that the only sensible thing to do, the only course of
action that fit with 'Operation Convince Karina Blackstone That
Ryan Perkins is Worth Settling Down With,' was to swallow his petty
pride and play it off like he didn't care.

But, damn, did that guy get under his skin
with little stunts like this!

“
So, where are we going ice skating?”
he heard Karina call as her footsteps announced her return from
down the hall. She appeared in the doorway looking fresh and
rosy-cheeked, adorned now with a sleek jacket and a coordinating
cap and gloves set. He smiled. She was stunning, as
always.

“
Well, King's Pond is supposed to be
the best in the area,” he responded.

Karina looked disappointed, and responded,
“Oh, Ryan, I hate to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure King's Pond
is the one outdoor rink not open yet. As Mr. King gets on in years,
the season keeps getting shorter and shorter. I don't think he's
opening up until after Thanksgiving this year.”

Ryan smiled, “It's not actually open to the
public yet, but when Granny found out I invited you, she called Mr.
King and he agreed to open up just for us.”

Karina clapped her hands in front of her
chest, delighted, “Oh, Ryan, how fun!” she exclaimed.

Ryan nodded, “Yep, and we'd better get a move
on, too. I think he's waiting on us.”

As they hurried out to Ryan's truck, Karina
smiled wickedly, “So, Mr. King agreed to come in and open up for us
just because Sue Ann asked him to, huh? I guess I'm not the only
one with 'admirers' to my name.”

Ryan playfully swatted her rear and she
laughed and ran on ahead. He chased her and she squealed as he
caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up
from behind and spinning her around.

“
You're lucky you stayed on your feet
during that move, it would have been sooo much less suave if you'd
fallen,” she remarked playfully.

“
Oh, I had that contingency all mapped
out,” he assured her confidently, “Then we would have just rolled
together playfully, laughing movie-montage style, and it would have
ended in a kiss.”

She smiled up at him, “No reason not to use
that ending anyway.”

Chapter 20

As Karina and Ryan made the drive to King's
Pond in companionable silence, Karina struggled to process the
feelings that Ryan engendered in her.

On one hand, being with Ryan made her feel
like she could just...be. She loved that feeling. Her career being
what it was, it wasn't one that she was used to. She was generally
used to being told how to act and what to portray, the feeling of
being able to relax and just say what was on her mind at any given
moment, without worrying about how it made her look or what the
repercussions might be...it was everything.

Not only that, but Ryan really got her sense
of humor. Karina had spent the last 10 years joking around with the
people she was forced to surround herself with, only to have them
tell her, in concerned voices, that of course she understood she
shouldn't talk that way in public, right?

For the past 10 years, her self-esteem had
been slowly etched away, one jab at a time, by people who told her
time and time again, with the best of intentions, that her
personality wasn't quite fit for public consumption. That, of
course, THEY understood “what she was like.” But that she must
never show her true self to anyone else, because they just wouldn't
get it.

And yet, for ten years, she had put up with
it. Why?

Certainly not the money. For the past,
probably, seven of those ten years, she had had enough money socked
away to support herself for the rest of her life, if she lived
modestly. And Karina really didn't care about all the trappings of
excess – the private jets, the bling, the ridiculously expensive
champagne and caviar, the hotel rooms that cost more for one night
than most people made in a year. Those things made Karina sick,
truth be told. Nope. Her one extravagance was the shining home high
on the hill that she had just purchased, from which she could look
out upon the lights of her hometown and feel comforted, and she was
perfectly happy with that.

So was it the music? Of course, she lived for
her music. But the truth was that, since the advent of the internet
age, she could have self-produced the music that she wanted. She
could have done that for a long time. With her name recognition,
she could have even made a very nice living at it. Even if her name
had meant nothing because the fans of her pop music didn't
translate to the new material, she could have been happy as a clam
just living off of her savings and making music for passion. So, to
say that she'd ridden the fame wagon all this time because it was
the only way to make her music was also disingenuous.