“Oh, please!” Karina began to interrupt, but Sam and Lauren both shushed her.
Amanda continued, “Karina gasped...”
“Oh, I did not gasp! Now you're just making it up as you go along!”
“Oh, you gasped,” Amanda assured her, “I mean, it wasn't like Freddy Kreuger was about to murder us or anything, but there was a definite gasp. Now, shush, this isn't your story!”
“Not my story? It's about me!” Karina laughed incredulously.
“Exactly...you are the subject of MY story!” said Amanda.
Lauren reached over and, without so much as a glance in her direction, placed her hand over Karina's mouth.
“So, anyway,” Amanda continued, undaunted, “Ryan walks out, Karina's gasping, I can practically hear her heart beating out through her chest, all the blood has rushed from her face.
He comes over to us, shakes hands with Renata, shakes hands with me. Then, he turns to Karina, and I swear to you – it's like some kind of spotlight was shining out of his face. I never actually knew what the phrase 'he beamed at her' meant until I saw that. It was like literal, physical light shining from his face onto Karina.
And Karina, she puts her hand out to shake his, and it's shaking like a leaf. Honest to God, just hanging there in the air, trembling.
So then he takes her hand, ever so gently, like he's going to bring it up to his mouth and kiss it. And Karina, the original Queen of the Quip, can't say anything! It was just this long, heavy silence while they stared at each other – until finally, I was like...AWKWARD...so I started talking to fill it.”
Amanda took a breath, something she hadn't done in a long stretch, and continued, “And then, this is the best part, you guys, when he sang...” Amanda paused for dramatic effect and gathered her hands in front of her heart to show how touching the moment that she was about to relate was, “Karina cried.”
Lauren and Sam's jaws both dropped.
“Karina cried?” Sam exclaimed, “You didn't tell me that part on the phone! Our stoic Karina actually cried?”
“And her heart grew three sizes that day,” Lauren intoned dryly.
The rest of the group laughed.
“And I must admit, that does change things,” Lauren added.
At this, Karina wriggled back from Lauren's hand.
“Change things? What are you talking about? So I got a little choked up, it's not like it never happens. I'm a human being, I have feelings!”
“We've suspected that all along,” said Lauren, “the thing is, now we've just seen actual evidence of it.”
“Well,” said Justin pragmatically, “I think the only thing left to do is to go and meet this amazing guy, who was somehow able to bring out the soft and squishy side of Karina.”
--- ~ ---
Ryan looked out the big picture window at the front of the cafe and saw a white passenger van pull up in front, with a dark green logo on the side comprised of an oval encircling a pine tree and words “Mountain Ridge Outdoor Adventures” inscribed at the top.
“That’s them!” Sue Ann exclaimed, jumping up excitedly. She handed him the box containing the cartons of breakfast sandwiches and laid the cardboard drink holders with the coffee cups on top.
“OK, Ryan,” she said, kissing him on the cheek, “There’s cream and sugar in the bottom of the box. I think that’s it. You have a good time with your friends, now!” she finished, patting him on the back and sending him out the door.
Ryan felt distinctly like a junior high school kid getting sent off to summer camp, a feeling that wasn’t mitigated when the side doors of the passenger van opened up and he had to awkwardly clamber into the backseat like a kid climbing into an overstuffed school bus. It was even further solidified when he looked out the window as the van was pulling away and saw his Granny standing on the sidewalk, waving at the receding vehicle.
But any nerves he may have felt about being accepted by this crowd of mostly-strangers were quickly laid to rest when they greeted him heartily.
When he climbed into the van, he knew that his first order of business was going to be to connect with Karina. Nothing too overbearing. But he wanted to start the day off by erasing any doubt she may have in her mind that, when it came to how he viewed things, she was special. Very special.
He settled himself down into the lone empty seat in the van, which, as it happened, was in the back, right next to her. This made him smile, he took it as an indication that fate was on his side.
Ryan turned to face Karina with a huge smile on his face, and took her hand in his, ostensibly to shake it. However, he held it in his for a moment, warmly, seductively, looking straight into her eyes. His smile spread even wider, he winked at her, and, in a tone that was low and intimate, said, “Good morning, Karina.”
Karina’s mouth opened, but nothing came out, and she quickly closed it again. A blush started to creep up her cheeks, and she opened her mouth again, but again, no sound escaped.
“Hey, Ryan,” said the blonde woman driving the van, filling the silence which was fast becoming awkward, “we’re so happy you could come hang out and help Karina move today! I think it’s going to be a good time.”
“Thanks, I’m glad, too. I appreciate you inviting me,” Ryan replied, “You’re Amanda, right?”
“Absolutely, good memory,” Amanda confirmed. Then, her face lighting up as she looked at the brown-haired man in the passenger seat next to her, she said, “And this is my fiancé, Justin.”
Justin turned partway and glanced back at Ryan, giving a small wave, “Hey, man, good to meet you,” he said, and then leaned over and kissed Amanda’s cheek. He whispered something to her and they both started laughing.
Another blonde woman, this one tall and elegant, perfectly coiffed and made up even at this hour and for this task, smiled at her friends indulgently and then turned that smile to Ryan, “Please excuse Amanda and Justin. They’re in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, they can’t keep their hands off of each other. I wish that I could tell you that this little display was the last instance of PDA that we were likely to be subjected to today, but, sadly, I suspect the opposite is true. I’m Lauren, by the way,” she said, extending her hand gracefully across the seat to shake his.
“Nice to meet you,” he returned her greeting. Then, giving Karina a wink, he added, “And, believe me, the PDA doesn’t bother me. I believe in love. I think expressing it is nice. I think not being shy about letting someone know how you feel about them is one of the things that keeps you in love.”
“Good to know!” piped up the cute, pixyish, auburn-haired woman sitting on the middle bench seat with Lauren. “And, I’m Sam. So, now you know everybody!”
“It’s great to meet all of you,” Ryan said, “If anyone’s hungry, my grandmother sent some breakfast sandwiches and coffee.”
Justin turned around, “I thought I smelled something delicious, pass those up here!”
For the next few moments, everyone was engaged in the task of distributing the food and coffee and starting to munch on it.
“Oh, man,” Sam groaned, “I love Sue Ann’s cooking. And it was so sweet of her to make me a turkey patty with egg whites and low fat cheese on whole wheat for my breakfast sandwich, Ryan. Please thank her for that.”
“And it was so sweet of her NOT to make that for the rest of us,” Justin interjected, “Please thank her for that as well!”
“Ryan, if you want to pass the box up here, we can use it for a trash receptacle,” Lauren said.
“Lauren’s the organizer, just to let you know,” Sam told Ryan, “She and her clipboard are ruling the schedule today.”
“Good to know,” Ryan said, “I’ll be taking my orders from you, Boss.”
As the van climbed higher and higher into the mountains above Hope Falls, Ryan gazed around at the scenery wonderingly. “I didn’t even realize there were houses up here, or come to think of it, that the roads even went this high.”
“Oh, yes,” sa
id Lauren, “I’m in real estate and I helped Karina find this home. I’ve only recently moved back into the area as well, so I did a lot of research on the MLS. I was actually surprised to find out that there are some really lovely homes up here in the hills and mountains that surround the town proper. Most of them are vacation homes, however, and not owned by locals. That’s probably why people that live in Hope Falls don’t naturally think of them as part of the town.”
Ryan turned to Karina, “I can’t wait to see your new house.”
Karina opened her mouth to speak again, and this time actually was able to form words, “Oh, and Lauren found me the greatest house, too. It’s got an amazing view, and a really wonderful state of the art home studio, as well. That last part was really what sold me on it.”
Ryan smiled at her again, in that way that shut out everyone else in the van - everyone else in the world, for that matter - and enclosed the two of them in a little bubble all on their own, a world completely unto themselves.
“Maybe we can jam later,” he suggested with a wink.
Karina smiled widely, and it was clear she was getting at least some of her bearings back. “It’s a date,” she said playfully.
“OK, you crazy kids, break it up! We’re here!” Amanda called as she pulled the van into the driveway of a spectacular redwood and glass structure.
She turned off the motor, took off her seatbelt and began to open her door to climb down, but Justin put a hand on her shoulder and cried, “Don’t even think about it! You wait right there!”
As quick as a flash, he removed his own seatbelt, bolted out of the van and ran around to the other side, and opened Amanda’s door.
“My lady doesn’t open her own doors when I’m around!” he declared grandly.
Amanda laughed and pretended to swoon. “My hero!” she exclaimed, clasping her hands in front of her.
Justin held out his hand to assist Amanda down from her perch high in the van seat, but when she placed her hand in his, he surprised her by grasping her around the waist, pulling her out of her seat and whirling her around in his arms.
Amanda shrieked and laughed until Justin put her down, and then they shared a long and happy kiss.
“Hmmm...” Ryan chuckled, turning to Karina, “If that’s the prize for chivalry around here, I think I’d better help you down!”
Karina winked, “Hey, play your cards right...” she teased, and they both laughed.
Sam reached for the big sliding door of the van, but Ryan stopped her. “In all seriousness,” he said, “let me get out first. It’s quite a step down.”
And with that, he got out ahead of the three ladies and helped them each down in turn. Karina was last, and as she climbed out, he waggled his eyebrows at her, which had the desired effect of making her laugh. It was a glorious sound, like the tinkling of piano keys, like birds singing in the early morning light, like pure silver ringing ever so delicately against cut crystal. He knew at that moment that the rest of his life would be measured - not in weeks or months or years - but rather in the intervals between moments when he heard that intoxicating laugh.
“OK!” called Lauren, glancing over the papers attached to the clipboard she was carrying, “Let’s gather up, everybody. We have a lot to go over.”
“Yes, sir!” Sam called crisply, as she jogged over to where Lauren was standing. When she came to a halt at her destination, she stopped and smartly saluted.
Lauren looked at her blandly, not impressed.
“Sorry,” Sam said, chagrined. She leaned slightly toward Ryan and said, in an exaggerated whisper she pushed out of the side of her mouth, “Lauren doesn’t like people fooling around when she’s ready to get down to business.”
Lauren raised an eyebrow, “One hundred percent correct,” she said, nonplussed, and then looked around at the assembled group. Sam, Karina, and Ryan were paying attention, but Amanda and Justin were still fooling around - laughing, tickling, chasing each other, and just in general having a good time.
Sam cleared her throat loudly and yelled over at them, “Excuse me! J’Amanda! Cut the horseplay, we’re waiting!”
Karina looked at her quizzically, “J’Amanda?”
“Yep,” Sam replied, looking pleased with herself, “It’s like Bennifer, or Brangelina. It’s their names smushed together.”
“It’s a portmanteau,” Lauren supplied.
“A what?” Sam asked.
Lauren grimaced and conceded, “It’s two names smushed together.”
Karina laughed, “It’s not exactly a combination of their names. It’s really just Amanda’s name with a ‘J’ in front of it.”
Sam shrugged, “I thought Justanda didn’t have quite the same ring to it. How about Amustin?”
Lauren said, “How about we go over the schedule?”
Amanda and Justin ambled up to the group at that moment, still giggling and flushed.
“OK, lovebirds,” Sam teased, “Are we ready to get started now? Lauren’s been waiting for you!”
“Sorry, Laur,” Amanda laughed.
Lauren raised her eyebrows at the assemblage, but was wearing the faintest hint of a smile. “OK, now let’s get started, then - no more nonsense,” she said in a mock-stern tone.
“What’s up first?” Karina asked.
“Well, first of all, here are maps of the interior of the house. Each room is marked by name. Each box should have a corresponding name, and each piece of furniture should be tagged with a corresponding room name, as well.
“When we go inside, I’m also going to be putting up signs in all of the rooms that correspond with the name of the room, so it’s clear. You guys should just walk through the house at first, familiarizing yourselves with the layout, the way that it feels in real space. Commit as much of it to memory as possible. It will save time when we’re hauling the boxes later, if you don't have to stop and consult the map before carrying each individual box to its destination.”
Ryan leaned over to Karina and said, “Wow, I'm impressed. She really has this whole system mapped out.”
Karina smiled proudly at Lauren and replied, “I know, she's really amazing at stuff like this. She's the most organized and on-top-of-things person I've ever met.”
Lauren continued, “The movers will be handling the furniture, obviously. I will be directing that process. You all can start on the boxes, which are in the second truck. The lighter ones should be on top. I should be finished directing the movers by the time we reach the heavy boxes, which may require more than one set of hands per box. I think that's about it. Any questions?”
Sam, raising her hand, said, “So, we basically bring the boxes in and put them where they go?”
Lauren cocked her head, unimpressed, and deadpanned, “Pretty much.”
“I think we can handle that.”
Lauren shook her head, “Unless anyone has a real question, let's head on in so you all can start familiarizing yourselves with the floor plan.”
The group bounded toward the front door, eager to get a look at Karina's new house. Only Lauren, Sam, and Karina herself had seen the inside, and Sam had only seen it in the dark.
As they made their way up the front walk, Amanda jumped onto Justin's back so that he was carrying her piggy-back style.
“Hey, no fair!” Sam cried, “You're blocking my view!”
As the group entered through the heavy, wood front door, however, this turned out to be a completely invalid concern. The entryway opened directly up into the cavernous living room, with its vaulted ceilings and wall of glass three stories high. The view was stunning, and panoramic, rolling mountains of deep forest green pine trees, dotted here and there with groves of fiery red and yellow aspens. The entire town of Hope Falls was visible in the valley below, looking like a quaint miniature model train set from this height and distance. Completing the tableau were the brilliant blue accents of rivers, creeks and ponds which dotted the landscape.
All of their breaths caught in their throats
and they were rendered momentarily speechless by the sheer power of the beauty they were witnessing, even the two who had seen it before. It was the kind of view that you could never really TRULY get used to. You could see it a hundred times a day for fifty years or more, and yet every time you walked in the room, some little part of you would thrill at the sight, the way you did when you saw it for the first time.
As the group began to disperse throughout the house, looking at their maps and correlating their positions in the real space of the house, Ryan fell into step beside Karina.
“This house is amazing!” he said, awe tinging his voice.
Karina looked embarrassed. She wasn't a person that flaunted her wealth generally, but between this view and the recording studio, she hadn't been able to resist the pull of this extravagant home.
“Yeah, I guess I'm not a starving artist anymore,” Karina joked self-consciously.
Ryan looked at her quizzically, “Are you an artist?”
Karina gave him a puzzled look, as if unsure what to say next, as if she were trying to work out if he was joking or not. She said slowly, “Um...I'm a musician...”
Their conversation was cut short by the rumbling of two large moving vans pulling up outside of the house, a sound which drew the rest of the crowd back to the entryway.
After that, much to Ryan's regret, there was very little time for much of anything in the way of conversation. When he had pictured this day in his mind as he was falling asleep the night before and plotting out his plan earlier this morning, he certainly hadn't imagined seemingly endless hot, sweaty, trudging trips through the enormous square footage of her house, carrying boxes containing what seemed to be countless fine possessions.
No, he had seen visions of he and Karina making genial little trips back and forth between a U-Haul truck and a small cottage-style cabin, laughing and chatting and horsing around, like some sort of romantic comedy musical montage scene.
Sweet Harmonies Page 4