Sweet Harmonies (8 page)

However, that was before their little moment
in the studio. He grinned. He had gotten more information than he
was even hoping for. Now, he not only knew that she was aware of
his interest in her, he was certain that it was returned. In fact,
as the group was leaving her house not twenty minutes ago and she
was seeing them all out, she had stood on her tiptoes to whisper in
Ryan's ear, “Call me.”

He grinned wider. That was a good sign, no
two ways about it.

Of course, he had also come across another
little piece of unexpected information in that music studio –
namely, that she was Karina Black, the pop star. On one hand, he
felt like his entire view of their relationship, of who she was and
in turn who he was in relation to her, was skewed on its axis.

She was a superstar.

But on the other hand, try as he might, he
just could not reconcile the beautiful, sweet, funny girl – the
girl that he had met only yesterday but felt like he had known for
his entire life – with the mega-celebrity that everyone in the
world knew from magazine covers and television.

Even he, with his sheltered existence,
growing up on a secluded ranch and rarely ever entering
civilization, yes even HE had seen pictures of her on tabloid
covers, usually in huge sunglasses while trying to rush away, and
airbrushed glamour shots on the covers of fashion magazines in the
grocery store checkout line.

He had seen her perform on television, he had
heard her songs on the radio.

She was famous.

The idea was going to take some serious
getting used to.

Yes, she was famous, and yet – when he was
around her, she seemed so normal. How was that possible? It seemed
so counter-intuitive.

As he closed the door behind him, locking it
and resetting the alarm, he was startled and nearly jumped out of
his skin when he heard a voice ring out of the darkness.

“
Hi, Sweetheart, how was your day? Did
you have fun with your friends?”

Ryan whirled around, heart thumping out of
his chest, breathing fast.

“
Granny! You can't just sit in the dark
and wait for people! You almost gave me a heart attack!” he
exclaimed.

“
Oh, sorry Ryan,” Sue Ann replied
contritely, “I just didn't want people thinking we were open, and
coming up to the door expecting that I would make them some food. I
thought...just simpler to turn the lights off. But I just couldn't
wait to hear all about your day!”

Ryan laughed and sat down across the table
from Sue Ann, both of them still cloaked in near-perfect darkness.
The only light in the room was the dim, silver glow of moonlight
which trickled in through the front window panel, shrouding the
room in a filmy luminescence. He reached across the tabletop and
took her hand.

“
That's sweet, Granny. I don't want to
sit here in the dark and talk about it, though. Why don't you come
upstairs with me to my apartment and I'll make us some hot cocoa
like when I was a kid?”

“
I thought you'd never ask,” she
replied.

Ryan and Sue Ann walked up the stairs
together, and Ryan unlocked and opened the door to his cozy
apartment – the apartment that Sue Ann had decorated and fixed up
especially for him, in anticipation of his arrival.

As the two of them entered the space, he
looked around and felt satisfaction at what he saw. It was very
cozy, and felt like home. At the same time, Sue Ann had definitely
made a strong effort to keep the small apartment masculine-feeling.
There was nothing in this living space that could remotely be
described as frilly or frou-frou, with the dominant hues being
dark, bold shades of chocolate brown and navy blue.

The furniture was leather and overstuffed,
and there was a small fireplace in the corner. It was the kind of
place that made you want to settle down into it, take a deep
breath, kick off your shoes, put your feet up and enjoy a good
book.

It even had a sliding door in the living room
which led to a small balcony, where he could partake of a cup of
coffee in the morning or a beer in the evening, watching the
hustling and bustling of the small downtown area.

When Ryan had left Montana, although he had
been excited to experience a different place and get to know
another corner of the universe, he had wondered if any other place
in the world aside from his beloved big sky country would ever
truly feel like home.

Sue Ann must have anticipated this feeling,
because she had created a perfect space for him, one that he had
felt at home in, the instant he stepped into it, even though it was
the first time he had ever seen it.

Sue Ann walked over to the big, overstuffed
armchair that sat in the corner of the living room near the
fireplace and settled into it, taking the chenille throw from the
back and tucking it in around her legs.

“
Let's see,” Ryan said, walking over to
the kitchen cabinets and opening them, “I'm not sure if I have hot
chocolate or not.”

“
You do,” Sue Ann replied
confidently.

Ryan smiled to himself. Of course, since this
apartment was above her cafe, and in a building that she owned, and
she had overseen the redecorating effort – she had a set of keys to
his door. And, although for the life of him he could not figure out
when she did it, he knew she must still use them from time to time,
because his pantry was always mysteriously fully stocked.

He had never protested this, because she
never did anything less benign than making sure his fridge and
cupboards were never bare, and he rather liked that. It was sweet.
And it was not as if she would ever barge in when he was there, or
snoop when he wasn't.

As Ryan busied himself with making the hot
chocolate and Sue Ann sat contentedly watching him, he thought
about how to broach the question that was on his mind. Luckily,
that awkward segue was taken out of his hands when Sue Ann said, in
a slightly sing-songy tone, “Soooo...? How did you and Karina get
along...?”

Ryan smiled, “Well, Granny, you definitely
have good taste, I'll say that for you.”

She smiled knowingly. “So, I take it you
liked her then?”

“
What's not to like?” he said
carefully, noncommittally.

“
Exactly!” Sue Ann chirped happily, “I
knew you two would get along!”

Ryan said, “Well, that's the thing, Granny. I
like her. Of course I like her. The whole world likes her. But what
I don't understand is why you thought that she would like me.”

Sue Ann looked at him, puzzled. “Why wouldn't
she like you? You're a wonderful young man!”

Ryan chuckled indulgently, “Well, yes, you're
my grandmother, of course you think I'm great. But, I guess what I
don't get, Granny, is why didn't you tell me that she's a big
star?”

Sue Ann looked even more confused, “What do
you mean?”

“
Why didn't you tell me that she was
Karina Black?”

“
Oh, no, honey,” Sue Ann corrected him
kindly, “Karina's last name is Blackstone. But that's an easy
mistake.”

“
No, Granny,” Ryan said, shaking his
head, “Karina Black is her stage name.”

Sue Ann shrugged, “OK, if you say so.”

“
Well, it's not just that I say so,”
Ryan said insistently, “The whole world says so.”

Sue Ann sighed as if this topic was beginning
to bore her, and shrugged again. “OK,” she agreed amiably.

Ryan sighed, but his sigh was not out of
boredom, but rather out of frustration at his inability to get his
point across.

“
OK, Granny,” he started again, trying
a different angle this time, “Here's the thing...do you not
actually realize how famous she really is?”

Sue Ann shrugged, “I know Renata said that
she was doing well with her music, but I took it with a grain of
salt. You know how grandmothers can tend to exaggerate about how
great their own grandchildren are.”

Ryan snorted at the irony, “I've never run
into that, can you give me an example?”

Sue Ann ignored him, continuing, “I'm glad
for her that it's true, that she's had some success. She's a gem of
a girl. She deserves for nice things to happen to her.”

Ryan laughed, “You don't understand, Granny.
She hasn't had 'some' success. She is world-famous. She's a
household name. She's a superstar. She is...” he shook his head in
frustration, “I mean, anyone would recognize her!”

“
You didn't,” Sue Ann said
pointedly.

“
Well, I'm an idiot. My point is, she's
a global phenomenon.”

Sue Ann smiled, “That's nice.”

Ryan sighed in frustration at his inability
to get his larger point across, “What I'm really trying to get at,
Granny, is...why would you ever think that someone like her could
be interested in someone like me?”

Sue Ann looked at him sharply, a little taken
aback, “Are you trying to say that you don't think you're good
enough for Karina Blackstone?” she asked incredulously.

Ryan considered this for a moment. He hadn't
exactly put it that way to himself, and it was a much more stark
way to think of things.

He shook his head, “I don't think 'good
enough' is exactly the right way to phrase it. It's not a matter of
measuring up, or being 'good' enough. It's a matter of being...I
don't know.”

“
In the same league?” Sue Ann
supplied.

“
I don't know,” Ryan shook his head, “I
don't know what I'm trying to say. It's just the longer that this
rolls around in my mind, the more I start to doubt that we could
have anything in common. I think my head is just spinning from
this. I don't know what I mean.”

“
Well, I tell you what, Sonny,” Sue Ann
said decisively, “What you need to do with that spinning head of
yours is pull it out of your behind.”

Ryan looked up, shocked. “Granny!”

“
Here's the thing,” she continued,
undaunted, “She may be as famous as all get out. I don't know. But,
at heart? She's just Karina Blackstone, and I've known her since
the day she was born. And she's a good girl.

“
And you may be a boy from a small
town, but you're not JUST a boy from a small town. You have the
best heart of anyone I've ever met. Karina Blackstone would be
lucky to have you. If she gets to know you at all, I think she'll
realize that. I suspect from the way she started gaping like a fish
on the shore when you walked in from the kitchen yesterday that
she's probably already halfway there.

“
But if she doesn't? Then she doesn't
deserve you. And it has nothing to do with her being out of your
league. And that's the truth.”

“
Thanks, Granny,” he replied, his voice
growing a little tight with emotion as he set the mug of hot cocoa
on the end table next to her chair.

“
You're welcome, Ryan,” she said,
smiling up at him and patting his cheek, “But it's just the
truth.”

--- ~ ---

Karina sat straight up in bed the next
morning, the pounding in her head so severe that it was actually
causing it to ring loudly with sonorous, crashing bell peals. In
fact, the ringing in her head was so disturbing that it was
actually what had woken her up.

She was still attempting to get her bearings
when her palms flew to her temples and her brain exploded in agony,
causing her to cry out in in pain, as another cacophonous round of
ringing tore through her consciousness.

It was only then that she realized that the
ringing existed independently of her poor, broken, hung over brain
– it was coming from her front door. She angrily fumbled for her
bedside alarm clock, and her indignation was only compounded when
she saw the ungodly hour – just before 6:30 am.

“
Seriously,” she grumbled, as she
grumpily slung her legs over the side of the bed and clumsily
pushed her feet into slippers, “Who the hell thinks it's OK to just
ring my doorbell at this godforsaken time of the
morning?”

She trudged down the stairs, wiping sleep
from her eyes, her throbbing head killing her, and bile rising in
the back of her throat. She knew she was paying the price for the
night of solo debauchery she had indulged in after her encounter
with Ryan yesterday. She was definitely NOT used to being rejected.
So, while she was normally not a solo drinker, she had felt sorry
for herself and she had decided to go with that sentiment. She had
started out by thinking she would just mellow out and take the edge
off with a glass of wine, and had ended up drowning her sorrows in
the entire bottle.

And this morning? She was remembering WHY she
was usually not a solo drinker.

She got to the front door and looked out the
peephole.

“
SAM!” she exclaimed as she flung open
the front door, “Frickin' A, seriously, are you kidding me?
Somebody better be dead. What the hell are you doing at my door at
6:30 in the morning?”

There on Karina's front step stood a
spandex-clad Samantha, hopping from foot to foot so as not to lose
the heart rate momentum she had built up, her dewy pink skin
glowing with the perspiration she had generated during her
workout.

“
There you are!” she said breathlessly,
but still cheerfully, jogging into the house past Karina. Instead
of stopping in the entryway, however, she jogged straight into the
kitchen without waiting to see if Karina was going to
follow.

Karina shook her head to clear the fog that
was still clinging to her, and shuffled after Sam. “Oh, yes, please
just come on in! Feel free to stop by unannounced anytime,” she
intoned grumpily under her breath.