CHAPTER 4

Once the check was paid and they were making their way down the pier, Beth took his arm and asked, "So, where else were you planning on taking me tonight?"

"Well, you said you drive a motorcycle, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"How do you feel about bicycles?"

"Why do you think I got a motorcycle? Because I loved the freedom of riding a bike but they don't go very fast and I could barely go more than 20 miles in a day. Not very effective if you're going to visit a sibling who lives 30 miles away."

"Well don't worry. We shouldn't be able to go too far before the shop closes."

"Oh man, I can't believe you had us rent a Quadra cycle!" Beth laughed as they left the shop and peddled down the street.

"Technically, it only has 3 wheels so they call it a Deuce Coupe."

"I thought we were going to rent bicycles or a tandem bike!"

"But then it would have been harder to talk to each other." Carlton scratched his neck nervously.

"Whatever. I still think we should have gotten Segways."

Carlton groaned as they stopped at a light. "There's no way that I'm getting on a Segway again."

"Why not?"

"Let's just say that during a demonstration, I leaned a little bit too far and broke my nose."

Laughing Beth covered her mouth and gently pushed at his shoulder.

"For someone who isn't comfortable with PDA, you sure do a lot of touching." Carlton mumbled as they turned onto another street.

Calming down quickly, Beth looked away. Noting the change, Carlton placed one of his hands on top on hers. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I sometimes have a big mouth."

She smiled as she turned towards him. "No, it's okay. It's just, I've got a lot of insecurities and sometimes it helps to ground myself by touching someone else. It's a way to remind myself that I'm not alone." Taking a deep breath, Beth chuckled lightly. "You don't want to hear about this."

"Sure I do. I want to know more about you."

"Says the guy who won't let me know much about him." She smiled slyly.

"Well, I, um. . . ."

Laughing, Beth patted his arm. "It's okay, I was just messing with you, again. I'm usually the same way. Except around you. I feel like I could tell you anything."

Coughing, Carlton turned them down another street. "Maybe it's the job description."

"Maybe. Or maybe we're more alike than we care to note."

Silence fell over them for awhile until they stopped at another light. Taking a look around, Beth asked, "Where are we going? Assuming of course you haven't gotten us lost."

"We're not lost." Carlton stated as the light changed.

"Then where are we going? Because to me, it looks like you're just taking me deeper and deeper into the city so that you can drop me off somewhere and lose me."

Shaking his head, Carlton turned into a parking lot. "You said that you wanted ice cream, and this place makes some of the best I've ever had. It's even made locally."

"Aw, you're so sweet Carly!"

"Please don't call me Carly or I might reconsider leaving you in the middle of the city." Carlton growled as he got out to lock their Deuce Coupe up.

"But it's such a cute name!"

"For a girl and Spencer calls me that from time to time, although he's mostly fond of Lassie and various forms of that." He growled as Beth took his arm and started dragging him inside.

"I really should have a bow-wow with Shawn and find out some of his favorite names for you."

Groaning, Carlton said, "I thought you said you weren't going to tease me for rest of the night?"

Sighing, Beth got in line, "I said I would try. I can't change my whole personality in one night!"

"You could if you tried," Carlton mumbled.

Turning around, Beth looked him straight in the eye. "You should never change who you are just to please someone. I like you a lot, you're fun to be around once you loosen up. So I guess I'll have to try harder to be nice." Turning back to look at the selection, she continued. "See, I look at the choices and normally I would pick peppermint because hardly anyone has peppermint. But since you're here, I'm going to go with my second favorite ice cream flavor, which is peanut butter and chocolate."

"That's very considerate of you, but like I told you earlier, it only affects me if I ingest it."

"I know, but I'm a very considerate person. And I don't want to accidentally get some on your hand and then you go to lick your fingers and ingest it." Beth smiled widely at him before turning back around to order.

After they finished their ice cream and returned the Deuce Coupe, they strolled along the beach.

"Can I ask you something?" Beth asked quietly as they walked toward the shore.

"Sure."

"How much of last night's conversation do you remember?"

"Most of it, why?" Carlton tried to figure out what Beth was thinking about but she kept her face blank.

"Do you remember what I said about my ex-boyfriend?"

"I thought we weren't talking about exes?"

Beth smiled slightly as she sat down about 5 feet from the water. "I know, but this is important."

Sitting down next to her, Carlton turned partly so that he could see her face as she stared across the water. "You said that he hurt you really bad one night when he was drunk."

Nodding, she spoke towards the ocean. "Yeah. About a year into the relationship, I started to see a different side of him. I wouldn't move in with him or sleep with him, so he started sleeping around. I didn't know about it at first. Then one day, he came to pick me up for a date, and I could smell another women on him, it was like he was drenched in her perfume. I tried to confront him about it but he lied, saying that he was helping his mother move some things and a bottle of perfume fell all over him."

Taking a shuddering breath, Beth hugged her knees to her chest. "Then one day, he came over really late. He was so drunk and had that same perfume on him. I didn't have my car since Bobby was borrowing it and it was too far to walk. So I let him sleep on the couch."

She closed her eyes and was quiet for a minute. Having a feeling about what came next, Carlton said softly, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Beth shook her head, "No, if I don't say it now, I don't know if I ever will. My best friend Susie is the only other person who knows. Besides, it could have been worse." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "He came into my bedroom during the night and tried to seduce me. When I rejected him, he slapped me. I tried to fight back, but he just kept attacking me. I managed to kick him in the groin and ran out. I got on my motorcycle and went to Susie's house. By the time the police got there, he was gone. I left the city a week later and haven't seen him since." Tears started falling across her cheeks.

"He wasn't charged?" Carlton looked appalled.

"No, he had a friend fake an alibi and the charges were dropped."

"I'm sorry," Carlton mumbled as he hesitantly put an hand on her shoulder.

"It's not your fault." Beth opened her eyes and looked at Carlton. "I thought we were great together, everybody said we were so cute. Sometimes I'd hear whispers about when he was going to propose since we were together for over 2 years. I'm glad he never got around to it, because I would have said yes, even when I knew he was sleeping around."

Wiping her cheeks, Beth looked back towards the ocean. "And when that guy started hitting on me at the bar, I just sort of flashed back. I felt the fear from that night and what might have happened." Laughing, she turned back to Carlton. "I honestly felt safe in the motel room last night, even though you were basically dead to the world. I haven't felt that safe at night since before all this happened. Even when I was visiting relatives, I would be so scared that someone that I loved and trusted would try something. I ended up putting stuff in front of the door each night, and if I had to bunk in the living room, I didn't sleep."

"I'm glad I could help, even if for just one night." Carlton said as he brushed back a loose strand of her hair.

Smiling, Beth turned back to the ocean and shivered. "Why is it so cold? I thought that it's suppose to be warm and sunny in California, not cold and windy."

Shaking his head, Carlton stood up and offered her a hand. "Usually it is, but you must remember that it is almost 9 o'clock in January. And while it was in the 60's around noon, it can sometimes get into the high 30's at night."

"I guess it's better than Cleveland. When I checked in with my sister yesterday morning, she said that they were in the low 20's with the wind-chill dropping into the single digits."

"Ew, how can people stand that?" Carlton asked as he led the way to his car.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"What?"

Sighing, Beth wrapped her arms across her chest. "How can you stand wearing a suit and jacket when it's 80 degrees out?"

"I got used to it."

"Exactly! I'm use to the colder weather. I would sometimes walk around the house in a tank top, jeans and bare feet when it was below freezing outside. It drove my mom nuts but it was just comfortable to me."

"And yet you're cold now?"

"Dude, I just spent 3 weeks in Arizona! And before that I was in Texas. I haven't exactly been in cold climates. My sister Jo and my friend Wendy are both ones to pile on the layers and they would call me weird when I wouldn't. So I'd tease them that I was like a chameleon and I'd adjust. Like in the summer time, it could be 80/90 degrees outside and I'd have a blanket over me."

"They're right, you are weird," Carlton commented as his car came into view.

Laughing, Beth said, "Thank you. I love getting that compliment."

"It's not a compliment." Carlton growled.

"It is to me. Who wants to average?"

"Don't you mean normal?" Carlton questioned as he fished out his car keys.

"Nope. Average. I don't believe that there is such a thing as normal when it comes to people. You can be average, but everybody is different."

"Hmm, I never thought about it that way."

"Thank you." Beth said as she slid into the passenger seat. Once Carlton got in on the other side, she continued. "It was one of my philosophies I figured out a few years ago while I was trying to 'find myself' and it's stuck ever since."

"Maybe you should have become a therapist."

"No, I have a horrible work ethic when it comes to schooling. I could have been in all honors classes in high school but only did so in math since it took the least amount of effort on my part. I barely got my associate in childcare and that was only a 2 year degree. I doubt that I would have managed the 4 plus years for being a psychologist. Besides, if anything, I would have gone into accounting or pharmacy with my math skills."

Pulling out of the parking lot, Carlton looked over to see Beth staring out the window. They rode in silence for the 5 minute trip back to her motel.

As they were turning into the parking lot, Beth finally turned around and smiled. "Thanks for showing me around today. This road trip gets lonely at times and I appreciate the company."

"You're welcome." Carlton said as he turned off the car. "So, did you want to do this again tomorrow night?"

Smiling, Beth asked cheekily, "The exact same thing? Because even though it was fun, I'd rather try some new things."

"Smartass," Carlton muttered as she laughed. "Are you sure you're not related to Spencer? You could be his twin or something."

"I'm positive. Unless somehow his dad got my mother pregnant. That would explain a lot about how I don't act like my siblings."

"Please don't go there," he moaned as he laid his head on the steering wheel. "Are you going to answer my question or not? Because I'm starting to get a headache."

Smiling, she patted his shoulder. "I would love to hang out with you tomorrow in the non-date capacity."

"Good."

"I saw an advertisement for a trolley tour and was planning on doing that. I think it ends at the Courthouse, so I can meet you there after your shift."

"Okay," He sat up straight. "I get off work around 5, so I'll call you when I'm leaving."

"Okay. Thanks again." Beth leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Good night Carlton," she whispered as she hurried out of the vehicle and walked towards her room.

Touching his cheek, Carlton watched as Beth stopped at her door and took his picture. Still in a daze, he just stared as she entered her room. Shaking his head, he quickly started up his car and made his way home, wondering what the hell he just got himself into.