Hearts in Harmony

“Actually, no. He didn’t.”

Her cheeks flushed, which Paul thought quite endearing.

“As you can see, we’re about to start practicing for next Sunday. Would you like to stay and listen?” He smiled, and didn’t voice his next question. Or hang around to watch Adrian?

“No, I think I’d better go.”

Adrian stepped forward to stand beside Celeste. “That’s too bad. You’d probably be able to give us some constructive criticism.” Adrian turned to Paul. “She wouldn’t play anything for me, but you should see her electric grand.”

Paul tried not to flinch when Randy’s voice piped up behind him. He hadn’t heard Randy coming, but now that Randy had discovered the action, anything could happen.

“Electric grand?” Randy asked. “You play? Are you any good?”

Celeste’s face suddenly paled, which Paul thought odd.

“I’m okay,” she muttered. “I really think I should go.”

Randy blocked her path. “Wanna see my new electric piano? It’s probably not as nice as yours, but it’s got some really neat features.”

Paul tried to bite back his grin. He never tired of watching Randy in action, especially around women.

Celeste looked doubtful. “But you’re supposed to be practicing. I’m interrupting.”

“You’re not interrupting. We haven’t started yet.” Randy jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “It’s in the other room.”

Adrian cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Randy, didn’t you hear the lady? She doesn’t want to stay.”

Randy covered his heart with his palms and turned, making direct eye contact with Celeste and Celeste only. “But I’m not very good. If you could give me some tips, I’d be forever in your debt.”

Celeste’s face flamed. Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

Paul tried not to laugh. He was having more fun now than he would have if they had been practicing.

“Okay. I suppose I can at least look at it,” Celeste mumbled. “Is it the same one you had at the church?”

Quietly, she followed Randy into Adrian’s den, where everything was set up, ready to begin their practice. Randy’s new electric piano and Bob’s drums sat in the back corner. The guitar amps were pushed against the wall. Paul’s bass guitar lay in its case on the floor, as did Adrian’s guitar.

Celeste played a few notes with one finger, reset a number of the effects buttons, and played a few chords.

“Yes, this is very nice. Now I think I’d better be going.”

Randy shook his head so fast his hair flopped onto his forehead. “No. Wait.” He fumbled with a handful of music and pulled out a song the group had been struggling with. “Can you play this for me? I’m not quite getting it. I’m not really good at this. I’d rather be working the sound system, but Paul said we needed someone on the keyboard.”

Adrian cleared his throat. “Randy, will you move and let the woman go home?”

Randy batted his eyelashes at Celeste again. “Puh-lee-eeeeze?”

“Uh… It’s okay, Adrian. I guess…”

Randy turned to everyone else. “Can you guys play this one once, and I’ll peek over Celeste’s shoulder?”

Paul nodded. It was true that Randy wasn’t very good on the keyboard, but he was all they had. Up until recently, they’d only used the guitars. When they’d added Randy on the keyboard, as poorly as Randy played, he’d filled a hole in the music they hadn’t previously realized was there—when he wasn’t fooling around and making mistakes.

Paul cleared his throat. “As long as she doesn’t mind, and she’s volunteering, I’m not going to refuse. Let’s get started.”

Bob parked himself behind the drums, and Paul and Adrian plugged in their guitars.

“Three, four!”

And they began to play.

They sounded better than they’d ever sounded in the entire time they’d played together.

After the last chord ended, silence permeated the room.

“I’ll never play like that,” Randy mumbled. “I quit.”

Paul blinked a few times. “Did you say you were looking for a new church home? Were you on the worship team at your old church?”

Her face paled again. “No.”

He waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. He noticed Adrian didn’t say anything, either.

Paul blinked again. “I can’t believe this. You, Celeste, are the answer to our prayers.”

Celeste remained silent.

Paul lowered his bass guitar into the stand. “If you can’t tell, we really need you. The church needs you.”

“But…”

Paul raised his palms to silence her protests. “I don’t want to pressure you, but—”

“Oh, come on!” Adrian burst out. He stood between Paul and Celeste, his arms crossed over his chest. “You guys haven’t left her alone from the moment she walked in the door! Talk about pressure. She’s only just met you guys. And Randy, playing all your cute little tricks to get her sympathy. You all should be ashamed of yourselves.”

“But…but…” Randy stammered, then turned to Celeste. “I think you can see the difference you made. You heard us on Sunday.”

Paul watched the color drain from Celeste’s cheeks as she and Randy faced off. “But what about you?” she asked. “You’re the one playing the keyboard. You’re doing okay. Really. You are.”

Randy cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair, an indication that for once, Randy was being serious. “Don’t try to be nice. I listened to the tapes, so I know what I sound like. That’s why I just quit, remember? My job is the sound system. That’s what I like to do best. We need you on the piano.”

Celeste stood staring at Randy with her mouth hanging open.

Paul turned his head to Bob, who had said nothing the entire time. One corner of Bob’s mouth turned up, he glanced at Randy, and shrugged. “I think she sounded great, too.” Bob turned to Celeste. “It’s up to you, though.”

Paul shook his head. “I know this is rather sudden for you. Tell you what. If you decide to take up residence with our little church, think about joining our worship team.”

“But I’ve never been on a worship team before. I don’t even know most of the songs.”