CHAPTER 21

A little over an hour later, Beth was glaring at the board as she tried to figure out her next move. The supposedly relaxing game of chess only seemed to frustrate Beth. Henry had won the first game in under 20 minutes but the second game lasted almost 30, once again with Henry winning. Beth got quieter and more aggravated as the games went on. Carlton suggested a few times to do something else, but Beth kept refusing, saying that she could figure it out.

She finally moved her knight forward only to have Henry capture it with a "Check."

"No! You can't do that!" Beth whined.

"Sorry Sweetie, but that's how you play the game. Your move."

She bit her lip and ran a hand through her hair. "Ahh! I don't know! Carly, please help!"

"Hey! No help from the peanut gallery. No offense, Carlton."

Carlton scoffed and crossed his arms "No, I agree. She needs to figure this out for herself"

"It's not fair! They gave me pain meds and they always mess with my head!"

"Hey! Don't play that card. They gave me some pretty strong stuff too but I can clearly see where you should play next."

Beth huffed and started to pout as she glared back at the board. Laughter made them all turn to see Amy leaning in the doorway. "I see that you're as much a sore loser as ever!"

"Amy! It's not fair! I'm trying my hardest but I can't think and they aren't helping!" Beth whined, running a hand through her hair again.

"You just have to focus," Henry replied.

"I can't," Beth sighed.

"Close your eyes and take a deep breath?"

"Why?"

"Just trust me."

Beth finally took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. Amy slowly walked over and sat on the bed near her sister's feet. After a few seconds, Henry said, "Now try to picture the board."

She shook her head and said, "I can't."

"Just try. Peek if you must, but try to picture it in your head."

"I, I still can't do it." Beth said dejectedly as she opened her eyes.

"Okay. Then just concentrate on the board. Now, there are basically three options, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"What are they?"

"Um, move my king, block your piece or capture your piece?"

"Okay. Out of all the possible moves that you can make, which would be the most beneficial to you?"

"I don't know, capture your piece?"

"And how would you do that without leaving your king wide open."

Beth whined as she stared at the board. After a long pause, Carlton was about to suggest that they do something else when Beth finally said, "No, the best thing move would be to sacrifice a pawn so that I can capture your piece without compromising my king's defenses."

Henry smiled as he patted her leg. "Exactly! See, you can do it."

Beth smiled with relief as she turned to Carlton. "I'm glad that's over. I swear, I was one second from a breakdown."

"You did good." Carlton replied as he failed to hide his smile.

Turning to Amy, Beth asked, "So, why are you back so soon? And did you bring me any food?"

Amy laughed, "Does it look like I brought food with me?"

"No, but I honestly was more concerned about figuring out my next move than if you were carrying any food bags. And you didn't answer my first question."

"Okay, fine. But first, aren't you going to make some introductions or something?" Amy asked as she gestured to Henry.

"Oh, right, sorry. So this is Henry Spencer, a former cop from Santa Barbara and this is my favorite sister, Amy Gilbert."

Amy laughed as she stood up to shake Henry's hand. "Nice to meet you, sir. I've heard a bit about you."

"Likewise. And you can call me Henry."

Moving the tray with the chessboard off to the side, Beth leaned forward. "Now that that's over, can we get back to the reason why you didn't bring me food when you said you would?"

"I said that I would try. It's not my fault that half the places on the way here weren't open. But I did bring you some banana bread that I made yesterday." Amy pulled a saran wrapped loaf out of her purse. "It was suppose to be part of a farewell snack basket that I was going to give you tomorrow, but figured that you could use this now."

"Oh my gosh, you are the best!" Beth exclaimed as she reached for it. "Homemade banana bread with glaze! Yummy."

"You are going to share that, right?" Carlton asked as Beth began to unwrapped it.

"I wasn't really planning on it, no. You know that I love bread and bananas."

"But it's rude to eat in front of people."

"It's also rude to ask for somebody's gift that they just got."

"Not if it's food."

"Well, what would you trade me for it?"

"I don't have anything."

"Exactly." Beth smiled as she broke a piece off and ate it.

"Beth!" Amy exclaimed. "I can't believe that you would be so mean!"

"I'm just teasing him," Beth smirked as she offered the bread to Henry and Carlton.

"See what I have to put up with?" Carlton asked Amy before turning back to Beth. "Maybe I should just leave you with your parents while I take a plane back to Santa Barbara."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me." Carlton said simply as they engaged in a short staring contest.

Eventually, Beth sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine! I'll try to tone it down a bit."

"That's all I ask."

Shaking his head, Henry stood up and said, "If you don't mind, I'm going to head down to the cafeteria and get some more coffee. Maybe some lunch."

"Can you bring me back something yummy?" Beth asked hopefully.

Henry smiled slightly. "I'll think about it. Would anyone else like some coffee?"

"Yes please," Carlton answered immediately. "Three creams, four sugars."

"Wow, that's a lot." Amy laughed before turning to Henry. "No thanks, I'm not really a fan."

"Can I get you something else? Tea, juice, water."

"I'm good." Amy smiled.

"Okay, I'll be right back then." Henry nodded as he left.

Once the door shut, Beth turned to Carlton with a grin. "Really Carly? Three creams, four sugars? What's the point of even having coffee in it? You might as well melt ice cream and drink that."

Carlton glared and crossed his arms, "For your edification…"

"Edification?" Beth laughed.

"Yes. For your edification, I get coffee for the caffeine, not the taste."

"Why don't you just drink energy shots then?"

"Because coffee is easier to get and a lot cheaper. Plus, I don't want to get an addiction to energy drinks."

"Oh yeah, because there is no way to get addicted to coffee," Beth replied sarcastically.

"Anyways," Amy interrupted before things got worse. "I have some updates and news to deliver. Would you like to hear the good stuff first or the bad stuff?"

"I don't know, tell it in whatever order you feel like." Beth shrugged.

"Okay. When I showed up at mom's with Adam this morning, she basically ambushed me with questions, wanting to know what happened and why you weren't answering your phone."

"Oh man! How did she find out?" Beth whined.

"Well, last night, when both of you were asleep, an officer came in to get an update and asked if you had a preference for auto repair shops. I gave him the info for Bobby's garage. Apparently the police dropped your car off around 6:30 this morning, and Bobby was the one to sign the papers. Since the police told him that you two were admitted to the hospital, he called mom right away and left a message on her machine before trying Jo and myself. I was driving home when he called me, so I didn't pick up. I called him back before going to mom's, but of course the damage had already been done."

"So the whole family knows what happened?"

"Yep. But I only told them about you two's physical injuries, so they don't know about the amnesia or concussion. Although mom is insisting on coming by tomorrow for dinner."

"Fine. I know that she would never let me live it down if I refuse." Beth sighed before continuing. "I hope she's okay with pizza, because I sure as hell ain't cooking nor am I going to subject either of my guests to cook for her."

Carlton coughed and asked, "So, what is the good news in all of this?"

"First, Beth's car wasn't too badly dinged up and should be ready sometime tomorrow afternoon. Bobby said that they currently only have one other car in the shop and that other than snow plowing, he has plenty of time to fix it up. Second, Susie headed over to your house to check on your pets, and they're fine. Apparently the vet called to remind you about appointments tomorrow."

"Oh crap," Turning to Carlton, Beth asked, "Did you know about them?"

"Nope," Carlton replied. "I think you mentioned about taking them but you never told me that you made appointments."

"It's fine." Amy reassured them. "Susie said that she can stop by tomorrow and take them. She'll bring her mom's minivan so that you can come as well. I assume you just want a final check up and get their records faxed over, right?"

"I don't know. That sounds good, I guess." Beth shrugged.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Amy covered her mouth. "I forgot!"

Beth snorted, "You forgot that I can't remember? That's funny."

"Sorry, but it's been a long day and the conversation has made it feel like old times that I forgot that something was wrong. Sorry."

"It's fine! I'd rather you forget something was wrong and treat me normally than acting weirdly and skirting around stuff."

"So I'm forgiven?" Amy asked sheepishly.

"Of course you are! You're my little sister!" Beth smiled.

"Oh," Amy huffed. "So if I was some random friend, I wouldn't be forgiven so easily?"

"Well, duh!" Beth laughed.

Carlton just smiled as he watched the two of them laugh over such a mundane thing. The feel-good moment was only broken up by the arrival of a candy stripper with lunch.