Beachton ….

Meg tossed Benton the car keys before they headed out the cabin door. He looked at her, one brow raised questioningly. She hated the way he drove usually.

"I want to look around for a change." Meg answered, opening her own door. It had been ages since she'd sat back and enjoyed the view.

Benton adjusted the seat, buckled his safety belt, then proceeded to adjust every singe mirror on the car to suit himself. Meg had long ago buckled her seat belt. Benton tipped the rear view mirror up, then down, as well as from side to side. He then adjusted the side mirrors before going back to the rear view mirror. By the time he inserted the key into the ignition, Meg was ready to break the mirrors off and order him to drive. Instead, she bit her tongue and reminded herself that she was his girlfriend, not his Inspector.

"Now, we're ready. Where are we going?" Benton asked, hand on the gear shift.

"The nearest restaurant." Meg answered after a calming breath.

"Very well. I thought I saw one along Main Street." Benton put the car in reverse and hit the gas pedal. His quick stop to avoid a parked car behind them threw Meg forward, against her safety belt.

"I'm sorry." Benton apologized, easing the car forward gently. With a few jerking stops, he found his way back to town at a snail's pace. Meg thanked her lucky stars it was a rural road and not Chicago.

Benton parked in the center of a line of roadside parking spots up the street from the Beechnut Restaurant. A large, Beech tree with wide spread branches decorated the front picture window and the billboard above the one story building. A dozen tables set scattered along the modest space. They all wore cheerful, spring leaf table cloths and linen wrapped flat ware.

"Hello, come on in." A friendly, brunette waitress greeted them from behind the counter to the left. "We aren't busy, so sit where you like. I'm Emma." She quickly rounded the short counter to meet them. Meg admired her tan uniform shirt emblazoned with the restaurant's logo. The waitress followed them to a table along the front window. She set two menus down on the table and pulled an order pad from her apron pocket.

"What can I get you to drink?" She made eye contact with Meg but Benton held her gaze after he'd looked to Meg to order first.

"I'll have coffee." Meg answered, breaking the waitress' stare.

"I'll have sweet tea if you have it, thank you kindly." Benton ordered without looking away from Meg. He felt the waitress' eyes lingering on him and began to blush.

"Alright, I'll be back in just a moment." The waitress replied in a breathy voice. Dreamy eyed, she floated back to the counter.

"Pssst, Benton, she's gone." Meg tapped his foot with her own. The Mountie gave her a slight smile and picked up a menu.

"Do you always get such good service when you go out to eat?" Meg asked, teasing.

"Unfortunately, yes, I do." He answered, shrugging.

"Should I be jealous?" Meg persisted, pulling his menu down to look at him. She wore an impish smile.

"Never." Benton answered, his blue eyes laughing. Meg giggled, taking his hand across the table. Benton gave her a flirtatious wink and an open, honest smile.

"I can't wait to get you back to the cabin." His smile switched to a sexy grin, his blue eyes dark with desire. It was Meg's turn to blush.

"We have two more days, why don't we take in the sights this afternoon." Meg suggested, trying to hide her anxiety. She hadn't been intimate with anyone since her ordeal in Iraq. She felt nervous and scared, like the first time she'd gone all the way as a teenager. This time there was more at stake.

"Alright, according to Ben's itinerary, there's a historical museum on the outskirts of town. That should prove interesting, or, there is a zip line a few miles away." Benton offered, reading over the list of activities the younger Fraser had written out for him. The boy had given each of them a copy, just in case.

"The museum sounds good, I could use a walk." Meg answered, studying her menu blandly. Her heart hammered in her chest. "Maybe this weekend wasn't such a good idea. Maybe it's too soon?" She thought to herself.

After lunch, Meg followed the directions Ben had printed to a small, red building on the outskirts of Beachton. Benton hummed along with the radio playing softly as they rode. Meg's mind still questioned her decision to spend a three day weekend with him. Part of her wanted this more than anything, while the other part kept telling her he would be repulsed by the sight of her undressed. Her head told her it wasn't true, while her emotions mocked her.

Chicago ….

Victor's mother, Annette, waited outside the school in her SUV, Diefenbaker in the back seat. The old wolf hung his head out the window, sniffing the air. He barked happily when he saw Ben and Victor exit the brick building.

"Hey, Dief." Ben gave his furry friend a scratch between the ears and let him lick his face. Dief gave Victor the same treatment before going back to Ben. "I don't have anything for you today, fella."

"I have bottled water, bananas and oatmeal raisin cookies for you." Annette handed each teenager a water and a sandwich bag of goodies.

"Thank you." Ben said, buckling his seat belt.

"These are good, Mom, thanks." Victor chimed in, his voice cracking.

"You're welcome." Annette smiled, looking at them in the rear view mirror. She pulled the SUV into traffic, following a school bus. Traffic around the high school crawled.

"So, when are you going to call Rena and ask her to the movies?" Victor asked quietly, munching on his third cookie.

"I don't know, she invited you too." Ben answered, peeling his banana. He didn't want to talk about Rena. Every time he did, he felt nervous and giddy.

"Yeah, but she was looking right at you when she said it, I was an after thought." Victor tapped his friend on the shoulder with his banana.

"I'll call her later, after dinner." Ben shrugged it off.

Annette saw the boy's ears turning red in the mirror. Ben had never been anything but easy going and polite in her presence. She was glad her son had such a good friend.

After Dinner ….

Ben volunteered himself and Victor for dish duty. There weren't many scraps with Dief staying the night. Victor kept leaning out the kitchen door to hear the baseball stats on television. He dried one plate to Ben washing three and the dinner glasses.

"Victor, they'll be on again in the morning, you're falling behind." Ben called, snapping a dish towel to get his attention.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, but I gotta know if I'm gonna have to avoid Andrew Monoli tomorrow or not, I owe him five bucks if his team won." Victor waved Ben away.

"That's gambling, you shouldn't gamble." Ben stood only an inch away when Victor turned back to argue. The boy nearly fell out the swinging door.

"Geez, Ben, don't do that." Victor grabbed his chest and leaned on the door frame.

"Do what?" Ben asked innocently.

"Don't scare me like that, you shaved ten years off my life."

"Okay, I'm sorry." Ben went back to drying a cast iron skillet. Victor put the dry dishes in the cabinet as well as the flatware. For good measure, he even took out the garbage. He and Ben went to his room, Dief brining up the rear.

"Is he okay, he didn't knock me over at dinner for my chocolate filled donut." Victor asked, hitching his thumb over his shoulder at Dief.

"Yeah, he's alright." Ben turned to look at the wolf. "You'd tell me if you weren't, right?" he knelt down to Dief's level, scratching his head. The wolf closed his eyes and enjoyed the attention.

"He's really old, older than us isn't he?" Victor sat down in the hallway beside the wolf, stroking his silky coat.

"Yeah, he was fully grown when I was born." Ben tried to remember how old Dief would be in human years. He lost count when the numbers added up to over a century.

"Maybe he'll still be around when you and Rena have kids." Victor teased, shoving Ben playfully.

"Victor!" Ben shoved back.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you haven't thought about kissing her." Victor fell back on his butt, grinning. Dief pushed Ben, making him fall backwards. Then the old wolf had to sniff both boys.

"She's just being nice because I helped her bring her Geometry grade up." Ben shrugged, turning back to the sudsy sink. "I'll call her after I finish my homework." He said quietly, relishing the idea of hearing her voice over the phone again.