Sweet Harmonies Read Online Free PDF Page B

time in a teasing tone, and
accompanied by a smile and a wink.
    “ You could definitely do worse,” she
reasoned pragmatically, “She's a beautiful girl, and you do have
the music thing in common.”
    “ That's true,” Ryan agreed uncertainly,
“Although I don't know if she would feel that way. She ran out of
her so quick after I played yesterday, I couldn't tell if she
thought my songs were good or crap.”
    “ Oh, honey, come on now,” Sue Ann
reasoned, “Your songs are so beautiful, there's no way she could
think badly of them!”
    Ryan laughed, “You're my grandmother, you
have to say that!”
    Sue Ann shrugged, “No, I don't. Trust me, if
they were crap, I'd tell you the truth.”
    “ Ha!” Ryan exclaimed, “I guess that's
true.”
    “ And I have a feeling she would, too,”
Sue Ann continued confidently, “She's a straight-shooting kind of a
girl. So I wouldn't read too much into the fact that she left right
after your songs. If she didn't like them, she wouldn't just duck
out. She's not the kind of person who would be afraid to tell you
the truth.”
    Ryan smiled, “That's good, I like that in a
girl. I like to know where I stand.”
    Sue Ann laughed, “Oh, you'll know where you
stand with Karina, don't worry!”
    Unfortunately, her admonition not to worry
actually had the opposite effect, and his brow furrowed with
consternation, “So what are you saying, Granny? Is she...I don't
know...mean?”
    Sue Ann shook her head back and forth
vehemently, causing her springy grey curls to bounce, “Oh, no - no,
definitely not! She's not mean at all, she'll just tell you exactly
what she thinks.”
    Ryan smiled widely, “Well, good, I can handle
that. In fact, I think that right about now, there's nothing in the
world I'd like better than to know exactly what she thinks.”

Chapter 3
    Karina and Sam pulled up in front of Amanda's
house and piled out of Karina's sports car, walking toward the
front door.
    “ This is so exciting!” Sam sing-songed,
“I can't believe that we're going to get you all moved into your
new house today, you're going to be all settled, I live right
across the street from you, we get to meet Ryan today – it's like a
dream come true!”
    Karina looked at her crossly, “I still don’t
understand why we had to come all the way over to Amanda’s just to
drive back up to my house together. And it is way too early in the
morning to be this perky,” she grumbled.
    “ Amanda wanted us all to ride together
in the van, plus it’s way more fun this way. And I love this time
of morning,” Sam bubbled sincerely, “You're up early every day,
too, I figured you liked it as much as I do!”
    Karina snorted, “I get up early out of
necessity, not because I like it. I think it's unnatural to enjoy
being up this early.”
    They reached the end of the walkway leading
to Amanda's door and rang the doorbell.
    “ It is unnatural. If you're
a...vampire!” Sam said and looked at Karina expectantly. Sam had
recently been on a quest to try to become intentionally funny, and
had been attempting to work jokes into regular
conversation.
    “ It's too early for joke practice,”
Karina responded sourly.
    “ Fine, I'll just say my regular
response, then, which is that if it's unnatural to like being up
this early, then I guess I'm unnatural, because I love it!” Sam
enthused, her cheerfulness not dampened in the least.
    “ Oh, no,” Karina groaned, “Please say
it's not going to be like this all day.”
    Just at that moment, Amanda flung open the
door and cried, “You're here! Excellent! Come on in! Is everybody
all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this beautiful morning of moving
day? Or should I say 'Ryan Day' instead?”
    “ Oh, good lord,” Karina continued her
groan, “It really IS going to be like this all day.”
    Just then, Lauren strode matter-of-factly
into the room. “Like what?” she asked crisply, and then added, “Are
we ready to get going?”
    “ Fantastic!” Karina exclaimed,