CHAPTER 14

After a couple of hours, half the people had left so Carlton started to look for Beth since he hadn't seen her in awhile. He was about to check upstairs when he heard, "Excuse me, Detective. But can we talk for a few minutes."

Turning around, Carlton found Beth's mother looking at him expectantly. "Yes, of course."

"Good. Let's go upstairs, it'll be quieter."

Nodding, Carlton followed Pat to Beth's room. They stood in silence for a few minutes as Pat looked around the room. She picked up the pooh bear and smiled. "I gave this to her on her 3rd birthday. We were expecting Robert in a few months and I felt that Elizabeth needed something that was entirely hers since she usually had hand-me-downs or shared with Amelia. She took it everywhere with her for the first few years, even to kindergarten. We drew the line at 1st grade and she put up such a fight." Pat laughed as she turned to Carlton. "The quiet ones always seem to have the worst tantrums, like they are saving their energy for just those moments. We let her have it for the first day, but that was it. He stayed in her room after that, never going anywhere. Except after the accident. A lot of things changed that Spring."

"Amy told me that it affected Beth really hard," Carlton whispered from his post at the door.

"Yeah. I think that Elizabeth was beginning to trust my mom more than me. She freaked out that first night in the hospital, so they let Harry and I stay. But they told us the next night that it would be better if she was alone. So I immediately went home and brought pooh for her. At first, she was against having a stuffed animal in her room, so I left it on the end table. When I came in the next morning, she was fast asleep and cuddling with the bear."

Pat sighed as she put the bear back. "Look, for some reason, Elizabeth and I don't get along. I don't know when we started to drift, sometime when she was in high school. She hardly said a word after the accident, it was almost like a ghost living in the house. Once she moved out, Amelia was the only one she really talked to. For a few years, I only saw her on holidays. It wasn't until she started dating Fredrick that we saw her more often. She still didn't talk to me much, but at least I knew she was fine."

Pat looked at Carlton. "Then something changed last spring, and Elizabeth started becoming more distanced until she finally left in June. When she came back for Thanksgiving and Adam's birthday, I could tell that something wasn't right, especially when Fredrick wasn't invited to dinner and she didn't put out any alcohol. And then when she actually called me in late January to tell me she was moving, I could hear something in her voice. She wasn't my little girl anymore, something had happened to make her grow up pretty fast. Now you tell me the truth detective, what happened in January?"

Carlton stood a little taller and shook his head. "Ma'am with all due respect, if something did happen, as an officer of the law, I can't tell you anything."

"Don't give me that crap! I'm not stupid, I know something happened with Fredrick. It is not a coincidence that Fredrick gets arrested and sent to jail in the same city that Elizabeth just happens to be in. I can put 2 and 2 together, and what I get isn't pretty."

Carlton sighed as he said, "Ma'am, I'm not going to lie to you. Yes something happened but it's between Beth and Fred. Beth has already forgiven him and put it behind her. She doesn't need to relive it anymore."

Pat nodded as she looked back at the bear on the bed. "How is she in Santa Barbara?"

"As she already told you, she has a job, made new friends, gets to perform and seems happy overall."

"But is she safe?"

Carlton scoffed as he crossed his arms. "Nobody is completely safe. But she does have half the police department looking out for her and is currently staying with a cop. You also have to remember that she is a strong, brave, independent and intelligent young lady who can look out for herself. And I'll shot anyone who tries to hurt her so fast that they'll be released from the hospital before they even know what happened."

Pat smiled as she patted him on the arm. "I'll hold you to it detective. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a grandson who should be getting up from his nap soon. Don't want to keep Amelia up too late."

Carlton just nodded as he stepped aside to let Pat out. Once the door was shut, he leaned against the door and mumbled, "I hate talking to concerned parents."

After a few minutes, Carlton left the room and continued his search for Beth. He had just spotted her outside with Amy when Jill came up to him.

She smiled as she said, "I just want you to know that I think that you are a lovely young man for coming all the way out here with Beth and that she's very lucky to have found you."

Carlton blushed as he said, "Oh no, we're not together."

"I know, dear, but I can tell that you two were meant to be very good friends. You guys complement each other very nicely. Great friends are hard to find and even harder to keep, don't forget that."

"I won't ma'am."

"Good. Now, I'm curious as to when you are leaving."

"Oh, um the plan is Tuesday night, Wednesday at the latest."

"I hope I can convince you two over for dinner tomorrow."

"I'd have to check with Beth, make sure there aren't any other plans."

"Okay. I won't hold you up any longer. Just tell Beth to let me know before Ron and I leave in the next hour."

"Yes ma'am."

Jill smiled as she left him alone. Grabbing his coat, Carlton went outside and was immediately met by Frisco. Giving the dog a quick pat, Carlton made his way over to Beth and Amy near the garage. Amy was on the porch swing while Beth was laying in the snow.

"Hey Carly!" Beth called as Carlton stopped right in front of them

Carlton growled, "How many times to I have to tell you to stop calling me that?"

"And miss your reaction? I don't know, maybe close to a billion."

Shaking his head at her smile, he asked, "Are you trying to get sick again?"

Beth laughed as she looked up at him. "Hey! I'm wearing a coat this time! Besides, snow is a good insulator. I'm actually a bit warm."

"Amy, help me out."

Amy smiled, "Why? It's not that bad out here since there isn't much of a wind chill."

"Are you worried about little old me?" Beth asked sweetly.

Carlton crossed his arms. "Only because you seem to get in trouble whenever my back is turned, and then I always have to bail you out."

"Okay, I'll give you that." Beth sighed before perking up a bit. "So! Have you been socializing like a good little boy?"

Ignoring the jib, Carlton nodded before saying quickly, "Yes. I've talked to your siblings, Mark, Gina, your mother, your aunt …."

"Wait, did you just say our mother?" Amy asked as Beth looked a bit pale.

Fidgeting a little, Carlton said, "Yeah, well she kind of cornered me and wanted to talk privately."

"Oh no, that can't be good!" Beth groaned as she covered her eyes. "Please tell me that you didn't talk about Fred!"

"Well…."

"Dammit!" Beth hit the ground angrily before glaring at Carlton. "You had no right! Now she's going to be all super protective of me like she was after the accident! Thanks a lot, Carlton. You just ruined my life!"

"Now wait just a damn minute! I didn't tell her anything about Fred!"

Beth looked at him suspiciously, "You didn't?"

Sighing, Carlton knelt down next to her. "She knew that something was wrong, known it for over a year and kind of figured it out since the two of you were in the same city when he was arrested. I told her that legally I can't share anything, not that I would without your permission. I then explained that you can take care of yourself and have more than enough police officers and detectives watching out for you."

"Really?" Beth asked softly.

"Yeah. Do you really not trust me enough to have your back?"

"Okay, I'll try and remember that next time." Beth looked over at Amy who was smirking. "What?"

Amy shrugged, "I was just wondering how mom reacted to Carlton's tough cop act. Not many people can intimidate her. Remember when Cory showed up to take Meg away when she was just 18?"

"Between mom and dad's reactions, I'm surprised that they managed to escape. And then we didn't see them again for about 3 years when they announced they were finally getting married."

"Yeah," Amy added as they both started laughing.

Carlton just looked on with amusement for a few minutes. Once they finally calmed down, he said, "Beth, your aunt invited us to dinner tomorrow night and I told her that I'd have to check with you first."

"Oh, that sounds fine." Beth turned to Amy and asked, "Do you mind if we go to Aunt Jill's? We can have dinner Monday night if you want."

Amy shrugged, "I guess. As long as I get to see you before you leave."

"Deal."

Standing up, Carlton said, "She told me that you should find her before she leaves in the next hour."

"Okay, I guess I'll go in now. Can you help me up?" Beth looked at him innocently and held out a hand. "My legs seem to have fallen asleep."

"Probably got too cold," Carlton mumbled as he reached down and started to pull her up, only to get yanked down into the snow next to Beth. Wiping the snow off his face, Carlton sat up and glared at Beth, who was giggling. "What the hell did I do to you?"

Beth just shrugged as she got up quickly. "Nothing, I just thought that you needed a cool down. See ya!" With that, she ran into the house, laughing the whole way.

"I'm glad that she can relax around you." Amy said as Carlton stood up and knocked off as much snow as he could.

"Yeah, sometimes I wish that she would grow up a bit."

"Why? It's good to let loose every once in a while. You can't be serious all the time."

"You also can't be silly all the time either."

"True." Amy stood up and started walking back to the house. "But I think that Beth balances it out really well with everything she has to deal with."

Thinking about everything that happened in January and since then, Carlton nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I usually am." Amy smiled as they stopped outside of the door. They watched Beth talking enthusiastically with Jill and Ron.

"As much as I appreciate meeting all these people," Carlton said tiredly, making Amy smile. "But how much longer?"

"I told people until 6, so about an hour and a half? But I can start pressuring people around 5:30, how's that?"

"That would be greatly appreciated," Carlton smiled as they went inside.