CHAPTER 10

At her motel room, Beth quickly packed all her things, not even stopping to change. Carlton helped out by loading up her car. Once finished, Beth followed Carlton back to his house in her car. He could see how tense she was to drive by herself and tried to drive a bit faster without losing her.

When they got back to his house, Beth quickly unloaded her car and piled the things in the guestroom. Carlton checked his mail as he heard her unpacking. After some silence, she came out in jeans and a fitted t-shirt.

"So, have you decided where we're going yet?" Beth asked as she plopped down next to him on the couch.

"Well, I'm definitely not taking you to the gun range, especially with a brace on you wrist."

Pouting, Beth held up her left arm. "But I've got a perfectly good one right here."

Standing, Carlton took her hand and helped her up. "You need two hands to steady the gun, especially if it's your first time."

"Fine."

"Besides, I've got something more fun planned."

"Oh really? What is it?" Beth smiled as Carlton ushered her out the door and locked it behind them.

"You'll see."

"Oh yes, this is so much fun. Waiting 2 hours for an arcade to open." Beth said as they sat in his car, staring at a bowling alley.

"I didn't know that it's only opened certain hours." Carlton drummed on the steering wheel.

"Whatever. You so totally owe me a game of bowling later for making me wait."

"Fine. We'll do it next week. So what do you want to do now?"

"I don't know. How about that hike?"

"I told you before, I really shouldn't be walking on my ankle much. Besides, it's suppose to rain later." Beth started laughing. "What? What did I say this time?"

"Nothing," she calmed down a bit and waved her hand between them. "It's just that between your ankle and my wrist, there isn't a lot that we can do together."

Shaking his head, Carlton started the car. "I guess you're right. You want to go grocery shopping? We might as well get it over with, then maybe we can go to the movies later."

"Okay. As long as you're not one of those people who go slowly down every aisle as you go through your little coupon box, making the trip last over 2 hours."

"Oh hell no. I usually get in, get out within a half hour." Carlton pulled into traffic.

"Good. Because I had to stop going shopping with my mom because she'd do that all the time. And then she'd send me on expeditions to find things she forgot or just decided that we needed. Let's just say that I usually got my work out for the week done in that two hours. Admittedly, I do go back and grab some things, but not to the extent that my mom would send me."

"So does that mean that you're an expert at finding things? Because I get lost all the time."

Beth laughed as she patted his arm. "That's because you're a guy and guys always get lost, especially when they're shopping! Although, this one time, Amy and I were going to bake a gingerbread house from scratch and we needed molasses. So we go down the baking aisle, no molasses. We looked near the spices, the sugar, even the candy. No luck. On a whim, I went down the breakfast aisle, and it was with the maple syrup! Seriously? I mean, it kind of made sense since the syrup was next to the pancake mix, but I associate molasses with baking not breakfast."

"So, don't ask you to find molasses." Carlton joked only to get smacked in the arm.

"I can't believe you had me buy so much stuff! I hardly spend half this amount on groceries in a month, let alone a week." Carlton moaned as he carried in his share of the bags.

"That's because you eat out a lot. I haven't had access to a kitchen in months, so I'm taking advantage of it." Beth started opening cupboards to see where things went. "I offered to pay for it all, but nooo! You have to be the macho man and not let me even chip in a dime."

"Whatever. Just make sure you check the dates on my stuff before you use them. Some of it might have come from when I moved out from with my ex over 5 years ago."

Beth paused while putting some cans away. "You're right. I should do that first. When does the trash get collected?"

"Saturday morning."

"So don't clean out the fridge until later in the week, got it." Beth started looking at boxes and ditching things in the trash.

Taking a seat at the kitchen table and putting up his foot on another chair, Carlton remarked, "I don't have a lot of pots and pans, so you might need to borrow from someone."

Nodding, Beth checked the drawer in the bottom of his stove. "All I really need is 2 pans, a skillet, 2 pots, a casserole dish and maybe a couple bowls. And I doubt that I'll need all of them at once. I think we'll be fine. Maybe I'll check with Henry tomorrow, he seems the type that likes to cook."

"Yeah, mainly fish and beef, so be careful tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm very flexible. There were many times growing up when I only ate the sides."

"Yeah, I know, you told me already." Carlton tried to suppress a yawn.

Laughing, Beth leaned against the counter and looked at him. "You can go take a nap, you know. I'm just going to finish unpacking, maybe bake something."

"Fine. Just don't make too much of a mess." Carlton yawned again as he made his way down the hall.

"Aw, you mean you don't want to play mommy and clean up after me?" Beth asked from the doorway.

"No and if you compare me to a mommy again, I'll kick you out of the kitchen. Maybe leave you at Henry's house tomorrow."

"Oh, you're no fun Carly."

"Don't call me Carly!" He called as he closed his bedroom door, ignoring the amused laughter.

The first thing Carlton noticed when he woke up hours later was rain hitting the window. Next, the smell of cookies followed by gentle guitar playing, as if the person was trying to make as little noise as possible, which she probably was. Throwing back the covers, he grabbed his cell phone and made his way down the hall.

Stopping in the doorway, Carlton watched as Beth softly sung and strum the chords to an old song that he hadn't heard in years. Waiting until she was done, he quietly said, "That was beautiful."

Smiling, Beth opened her eyes and looked towards him. "Thanks. I'm trying to expand my repertoire. I have a subscription to this one website where I can get the chords and sheet music to most songs." she pointed to the laptop next to her that he hadn't noticed at first. "It's a bit awkward with the brace since I can't really strum, but I'm at least practicing the chord changes."

"Well don't stop because of me. Are those cookies I smell?" Carlton nodded towards the kitchen.

"Yep." Beth smiled as she turned back to her laptop. "Don't eat too many of them, I want to bring some when I go fishing. Possibly for dinner tomorrow as well."

Entering the kitchen to claim some, he called back, "Spencer is obsessed with pineapple, among other things, so I don't think that they'll be too big of a hit with him."

"All guys love food, I bet he'll be fine. Although if you eat so many, I might not have enough for tomorrow." She took one from him as he sat next to her.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't had home baked food in years, unless you count the occasional office parties." Carlton shivered slightly.

"That's okay. Maybe I'll have Henry stop at the store after fishing since he's apparently babysitting me all day."

"Hey, I'm just trying to keep you safe. Do you honestly want to be left alone when Fred can pop up whenever?"

"No, but you could have asked me first!" Taking another cookie, she asked, "So, any requests."

"How about some 80's songs?"

"80's songs? Really?"

"Hey! I was in high school in the 80's, and you've probably heard a lot of them growing up." Carlton poked her arm.

"I know and they're making a come back, especially with Guitar Hero and Rock Band. My main concern is how general you're being. You can't narrow it down to artist or genre or something?"

"Okay, how about The Police?"

Smirking, Beth said, "Seriously? Were they like your favorite band growing up or something?"

"One of my favorites, yeah. I'll admit that I almost got tickets when they reformed a couple years ago but I never got the time. Besides, they have great songs. Roxanne."Beth giggled as he started singing obnoxiously. "you don't have to put on the red light."

"Okay! I'll play some Police if you'll just stop singing!" She turned back to her computer and pulled up a file. "I'm glad that I learned this song a few months ago for a cousin."

"Your cousin likes The Police?"

"Yeah, well my cousin is weird. She's in law enforcement as well. She's very good at music, so we had a couple of jam sessions while I was in the area."

"Can she sing too?"

"Almost as good as you." Beth smirked as she picked up her guitar.

"Just so you know, I can sing a lot better than that. Not solo or choir level, but still well enough for singing in the shower."

"So what you're saying is that I should stand in the bathroom while you're singing butt-naked in the shower?"

He groaned as he rubbed a hand down his face. "I swear I'd be better off with Spencer."

"Nah, you'd just shoot him after the first hour. I'm too cute to shoot."

"True, and there would be too much paperwork, and possible jail-time. Although I would plead self-defense, temporary insanity and doing it for the greater good."

Starting to strum, she smiled at him before singing,

"Though I've tried before to tell him

Of the feelings I have for him in my heart

Every time that I come near him

I just lose my nerve

As I've done from the start"

Carlton laughed as she stood up to jump up and down, affecting her strumming a bit.

"Every little thing he does is magic

Every thing he does just turns me on

Even though my life before was tragic

Now I know my love for him goes on-on-on

"I don't think that those are the right lyrics." Carlton said as Beth collapsed next to him.

"Yeah, well I claim artistic freedom and interpretation."

"Especially with that spin and hair flip."

Laughing, Beth slapped his knee. "Of course. Now, are we going out to dinner or am I making something?"

"You already bought the food, you might as well make something."

"Okay, how do you feel about hot dogs and beans?" Beth stood up and set down her guitar.

"I'd say that it's lunch food not dinner."

Smiling, she reached out her hand. "Not the way I make them. Come on, I'll teach you. It takes 30 minutes tops and makes great leftovers."

"Lead on Paula Dean."

"Please, I'm more of a Rachael Ray girl, even have all of her cookbooks at home."

"I have to admit, this is really good." Carlton said as he finished his plate.

"I'm glad you like it. I hardly ever make it for just myself and very few guests that I have over will eat it. I think I've only had it about a dozen times since I moved out of my parent's house ages ago."

"Well, whenever you visit Santa Barbara, you're welcome to make it for me, as long as it isn't too often."

Beth laughed as she started collecting their plates. "Thank you for the invite. I told you that guys love food, especially when they don't have to make it themselves."

Shaking his head, Carlton started looking through his tuber ware collection. "I think I'll have to buy a few more containers if you'll be cooking a lot."

Rinsing off the plates and setting them in the sink, Beth turned around laughing. "So, where are we going tonight?"

"I was thinking the movie theater. I don't know what's playing, but we're bound to find something that we can both agree on."

"Okay, just let me grab my wallet and camera." Beth smiled as she left the room.

"Ah yes, the camera. Can't forget the camera," he mumbled

"I heard that." She sang as she entered the guest room.

Carlton just smiled as he put on his coat.