Hearts in Harmony (13 page)

She didn't know what to say, but standing in Adrian's foyer in the middle of the night, dressed only in her pajamas and now Adrian's bathrobe, she owed him some kind of explanation.

The time had come to tell Adrian everything.

The truth had never been so difficult. Telling Pastor Ron had been almost…business. Telling Adrian was personal. Very personal. It was also very different now that Zac had found her.

“I'm so cold. May I have some tea?”

“Tea?” He glanced again in the direction of her home, then focused his attention back to her. “I suppose.”

She followed Adrian to the kitchen and watched from the doorway while he ran the water and started to fill the kettle.

Telling him would be easier if she didn't have to face him.

She spoke while his back was still turned. “Zac got rather upset when I disappeared so abruptly.”

He didn't look at her as he continued to fill the kettle. “Go on.”

Celeste sucked in a deep breath and wrapped her arms
around herself. It was time to trust God, fully, that she could say the truth and leave it in God's hands.

She didn't know if she was ready, but she no longer had any options.

“I know you've wondered about how easily I could play in front of people when I joined the worship team. The truth is that I've been in a band before.”

Adrian turned off the tap and set the kettle on the stove. He spoke with his back still turned as he turned the stove on. “You already told me that. You said the band broke up.”

Celeste cringed. When she'd said that she'd purposely left out most of the details. Today she couldn't. “That's not really the whole story. What really broke up was me and Zac. I more or less ran away. One day when he wasn't home, I took my clothes, a few personal things, my piano, my car, and I left him.”

Adrian turned around. His eyes were wide, and his face had paled. “You're married?!”

Celeste gulped. “No, we weren't married.” She let him draw his own conclusions. Judging from his horrified expression, he was drawing the right ones.

He cleared his throat. “I see,” he mumbled as he reached into the cupboard for the box of tea. “Were you not happy?”

Not happy
didn't begin to cover how she'd felt in the months leading up to her parting from Zac.

“It wasn't just Zac. It was also the lifestyle. I tried talking to Zac, but he wouldn't listen. I couldn't survive in those surroundings any more, and that's why I left.”

Adrian's eyebrows arched, and his expression went blank. Celeste could see things were getting worse instead
of better. He couldn't have understood why she left the way she did, if he didn't know the full story.

The kettle whistled.

Adrian turned around to fill the teapot.

It was easier talking to him when he was busy, and not looking at her.

“You know when you go to a bar, where the crowd is drunk and loud and obnoxious, most of people in the building are stoned, and the band isn't in much better condition than the people in the chairs?”

Adrian turned around. He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head slightly to one side.

“I can't say that I do.”

Celeste gulped. Of course he wouldn't know. He'd likely never been in such a place in his life. On the other hand, Celeste had been to almost every cheap and sleazy bar in the county, both as a member of the band or as a patron.

“Those are the kind of places we hung out, so that's where our band played. When we first started the band, we had high hopes of being rich and famous, but it didn't happen. The party atmosphere quickly took over, and we slid right into it. The drinking. And yes, the drugs, too. With all that, Zac sank lower and lower, until I didn't know him anymore.” Looking back, she wondered how well she knew herself at that time in her life.

Adrian flinched, but otherwise didn't move. “I don't know if this is a stupid question, knowing you ran away, but do you still love him?”

Celeste shook her head. “No. Not at all. I know I'm not supposed to hate anyone, but when I tried to talk to him about some of the changes that were going on in my life,
he said some really horrible and nasty things. I quit drinking and everything else, and then he started getting rough. I guess he saw that I was starting to pull away. I don't know how he thought that being that way would make me change my mind, but he's so far gone I don't know what he thinks anymore. I was scared, so I started looking for a job when he didn't know what I was doing. As soon as I found something, a friend of my mother's helped me find a place to live, and I left. But now Zac's found me, and he's really mad and that's why I'm here. I guess that's my life in a nutshell.”

Adrian uncrossed his arms and walked the few steps between them. He was close enough to reach out and touch her, if he wanted to, but his hands remained at his sides. “He started getting rough? Did he hurt you?”

Celeste shook her head. “He didn't leave bruises, and it only happened once. But I knew that once it started, it probably wouldn't stop, not with the way he always let his temper get out of control. If I had stuck around, it would only have gotten worse. So I didn't stick around. It's not like we were married. He never even bought me a ring.”

Adrian glanced over her shoulder toward the living room window. “If he's dangerous and there's a chance he's still out there, I think we should call the police.”

Celeste felt herself relax just a little. She hadn't given Adrian all the details she had given Pastor Ron, but she'd told him enough to let him know the type of person she'd been before they met. After the excitement was over and she was sure Zac was gone, Adrian would have time to think about what she told him.

Now, all Celeste could do was pray.

Unable to look at Adrian, she turned to face the window. “That's probably a good idea. I was starting to call the police, but when Zac broke the glass…” She turned back, because even though fear sat like a rock in her stomach, she had to see Adrian's reaction. “…that's when I ran.”

Adrian stiffened. “What do you mean, ‘starting' to call?”

“I dialed, but I didn't actually speak to anyone. When I heard the glass shatter, I dropped the phone and jumped out the bedroom window. I don't think I broke the phone, but even if I did, I don't care. I can buy a new one.”

Adrian's eyes widened. “You jumped out the window?”

Celeste nodded, then shook her head. “Sort of. I didn't go far. I only jumped as far as the apple tree. I had to climb down really fast. I've never climbed a tree before, but I don't know if it's still called climbing when the only direction you're going is down.”

Adrian leaned closer. Very slowly, he touched her cheek, which stung at the contact. She flinched, but otherwise didn't move.

“Except for a few scratches, you don't seem to be hurt, although I don't know why not. We have to get back to your place right away. They record everything when you call 911. If they heard trouble over the phone, they would have dispatched someone, and they're probably out there searching your house right now and wondering where you are.”

Celeste froze. “I heard Zac yelling and swearing and banging things when he was looking for me, before I got to the ground. If the police are there, they might think they're looking for a dead body. Zac was very, very angry. When he went into the bedroom, he at least knocked my lamp off the end table.”

She shuddered inwardly. Zac truly had made a lot of noise, which must mean that he knew no one was home on the other side of the duplex. It scared her to think that he knew. Yet, the alternative was even more frightening. If he didn't know there was no one home next door, that meant he didn't care if anyone was listening to his tirade.

Her stomach rolled, and she wondered if she might throw up.

Adrian looked down at his bare feet. “I'll be right back,” he mumbled, and left her waiting in the kitchen. When he returned he was wearing socks.

He handed her a pair of balled-up socks. “Your feet must be cold. I'm sorry I didn't think of that sooner. I don't have any shoes that would even come close to fitting you, but the socks will at least keep your feet warm.

Celeste felt her cheeks heat up as she sat in one of the kitchen chairs and tugged the socks onto her cold feet while Adrian put his shoes on. She didn't know why such a thing would have been embarrassing after what she'd just told him, especially when she was wearing his bathrobe, but she felt awkward.

He didn't say a word during the drive to her house.

Just as Adrian had predicted, a police car with lights flashing was parked in front of it.

Adrian turned off the motor, then escorted her into the house. Once she identified herself as the absent occupant, the attending officer introduced himself as Officer Jacobs. After she explained briefly that it was her ex-boyfriend who had broken in and that she was safe and unharmed, they all walked through the house together.

The damage she had feared was indeed a reality. Furni
ture and shelves were knocked over, and many items were broken. Strangely, the only thing that seemed to be untouched was her purse, which didn't really matter. Except for holding her ID, she had no money in it.

Officer Jacobs took notes and a few photos as they investigated all the rooms. “Because you know who did this and you have a past relationship you can lay charges of willful damage. If you dialed 911 they taped everything that happened until he smashed the phone, whether you were on the line or not. If he was yelling out threats and you can identify the voice on the tape, I recommend that you get a restraining order. But I'd like to give you another suggestion.”

Because Celeste had seen Zac lose his temper before, she could picture him on his path of destruction, breaking her things that now lay shattered on the ground. Between her fear of Zac's retribution, and the fact that his actions had forced her to reveal what she hadn't wanted Adrian to know, Celeste couldn't speak to respond. If she did, she knew she would start to cry.

When she was silent too long, Adrian replied for her. “As long as it will keep her safe.”

Officer Jacobs stopped. He tapped his pen to his lower lip as he spoke. “There are never any guarantees with a restraining order, but if you file charges the court can make it a condition of his release that he stay away from the residence, stipulate a distance like, say, one block, and state absolutely no contact. Those types of release orders make it easier to re-arrest stalkers and creeps who can't seem to stay away. Many ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands will breach a release within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.
If this Zac does, we can immediately arrest him, and make it stick as a breach of the conditions set forth.”

Adrian stayed silent for a couple of minutes. “I think that's a good idea, if you say that's what works best. But I still think it would be a good idea for her not to be out alone, especially at night, just in case, right?”

“Yes, though at least tonight we don't expect him to come back. Generally with these kinds of things the perpetrator doesn't return immediately after. You don't have to make a decision immediately, but you should within twenty-four hours.” He reached into his pocket for a card. “Call me as soon as you decide, and we'll set up a meeting where you can sign all the documents. In the meantime, I'll contact 911 and advise that the tape will be required for evidence. That way they'll make a copy as an exhibit for court and it won't be destroyed.”

Celeste nodded as she accepted the card. She didn't want to have to air her dirty laundry in court, but if that was what it would take to keep Zac away, then she didn't have a choice. “Thank you. I'll let you know.”

Adrian looked around the living room, surveying the knocked-over lamp and broken CDs. “What about the mess?”

Officer Jacobs tucked his notebook and camera into his pocket. “I've got all the department will need. You'll have to call your insurance broker. They usually won't send anyone to fill out a report if the police have already been to the scene, so they'll just tell you to clean it up and itemize what has to be fixed, and what needs to be replaced.”

Celeste stared blankly at the mess. The rush of adrenaline that had kept her going disengaged, leaving her feeling like a soggy dishrag, standing amongst the ruins of her
living room, wearing only her pajamas, Adrian's bathrobe and socks.

A little voice echoed inside her head.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

All she needed was enough strength to make it twenty more minutes. Then, when she was alone again, she could break down and no one would know except herself and God. “Thank you, officer. I'll think about what you said.”

Officer Jacobs turned to leave. “You'll want to cover that broken window with some plywood or something before you go to bed. Goodnight. And good luck.”

Together, Adrian and Celeste watched Officer Jacobs return to the car. He turned off the flashing lights, said something on the radio, then drove away.

Everything was over. She was safe, but it was time to get on with her life.

Celeste turned to the gaping hole and the broken glass. The front area of the house had cooled considerably, and colder air continued to drift in through the opening. She felt the chill, both inside and out.

“I don't know what to do. I don't have plywood or anything, and Hank isn't home.”

Adrian stepped forward and ran his finger along the window frame. “I have some in the garage at home. I can put in something that can make do until Hank can replace the window. This is supposed to be a special glass that's hard to break.”

“I'm guessing he came prepared.”

“What kind of man is this? He obviously had this planned. You say he times his break-ins to three minutes. Is he a professional thief?”