CHAPTER 2

As the offering plate was passed around near the end of service, Beth leaned against him and whispered, "I'm glad that you're here with me. I don't think that I could face my family on my own."

Wrapping his arm around her, he whispered back, "I'm glad that I'm here."

She kissed his cheek as they stood up and she clung to him for the last verse of the song.

As the closing song started, Beth smiled as she let go of him. "This is one of my favorites and I've performed it a few times at gigs."

Sure enough, Carlton remembered the words and sung along as Beth and Amy started doing some sign language. They seemed to not remember some of the signs and would start laughing when they each did something different. By the end of it, they were both doubled over with laughter, trying to stifle it as they clung to the seats in front of them.

After the minister gave a final blessing, Beth turned to him with a huge smile. "Aren't you glad that you came?"

"Yeah, getting to see you relax with your sister is very entertaining."

Taking his arm, she turned to Amy, "We're going to go mingle with others. We'll probably see you upstairs."

"Okay," Amy smiled as she hugged her husband.

Shaking her head, Beth led the way out of the row. "They are so cute together! Always have been. Anyways, there's some people that I need you to meet, including Susie, who I don't see." She frowned as she pulled him up front so that they could talk to one of the ministers. "Hey Dr. Yost," she greeted the older one. The minister who gave the sermon was greeting people at the door.

"Hello Beth, how are you?" He pulled her into a quick hug before stepping back.

"I'm doing good."

"So you're moving to California? Big step and a lot of changes." Beth had announced during the prayer requests what her plans were, as well as mentioning her visitor.

"Yeah, well. I just felt like it was the right thing to do, especially after I met a bunch of really nice people." She smiled as she patted Carlton's arm.

"Ah, yes. Carlton, is it?" Dr. Yost stuck out his hand.

"Yes sir. Carlton Lassiter," he said as he took the handshake and smiled slightly.

"Mark Yost, and how are you enjoying North East Ohio?"

"Oh, well I just got in this morning, so I think it would be a bit unfair to judge yet. Although you have a beautiful church."

"Yes, and there's a nice history behind it that I'm sure Beth can tell you all about if you are interested. She led a class on it a couple summers ago."

Beth blushed as they both looked at her. "Yeah, well maybe next week when Carlton isn't so jetlagged."

"She has been such a strong influence in this church and it's hard to believe that she's barely 30. It's such a shame that you're moving away."

"Well, I may come back every once and while since my family is still here."

"I know that the choir and praise team both miss your presence." Mark looked at his watch. "I'm sorry, I wish we could continue this chat, but I'm need to get ready for the next service. Feel free to come talk to me during the week. Either of you or both, it doesn't matter."

"Thanks Dr. Yost," Beth smiled as he walked away. "He's been Senior Pastor here for over 15 years, so definitely the one I've gotten closest to. Come on, I need to talk to someone before I forget." She took his hand and led him across the room, politely greeting people as they passed.

As they got to where the praise team was tearing down, she released him and went up to the head singer, "Hi Chris."

"Hey Beth, it's good to see you! How's it going?" Chris asked as she collected the music from the stands.

"Good, real good," Beth flashed Carlton a smiled before continuing. "I should be here for the next two weeks and was wondering if I could maybe jump in and sing next Sunday."

"You know what, that might actually work. A couple of my singers are going to be out of town and we would love for you to join us! Your friend here is welcome, too."

Carlton looked startled at being addressed, "Oh no, I don't sing well at all, especially not in front of an audience."

Beth grabbed his hand as she smiled, "Yeah, I've only heard him sing a few times, but you can trust me when I say he's not the right man for the job." She laughed as he gave her a little shove.

"Okay, well send me an email to remind me and I'll put you down for next week. It's great to see you again," Chris patted Beth's arm as she continued collecting things.

"Yeah, it's great to be back." Beth replied before dragged Carlton off towards the doors of the quickly empting room. "So, are you up for more socializing or are we leaving?"

Seeing the pure happiness in her eyes, Carlton sighed as he said, "I guess we can stay, as long as I can get some coffee first."

Giving him a quick hug, she said, "Of course. Hopefully there are some cookies left!"

"If anything, you do not need anymore sugar," he groaned as she practically skipped down the empty hall with Carlton barely keeping up.

Smiling, she slowed down before entering a nicely furnished room where people were hovering around a couple tables, one of which had coffee pots. "There you go, doctor up yourself some coffee while I have juice and a cookie."

"What are you, 5?"

"No, but it's here and I'm hungry again. Now hurry up. Sunday school starts," they heard the bells chime again, "right now. Just because my sister leads it, doesn't mean that we should be too late."

"You're the one stopping to talk to everyone." Carlton pointed out as he quickly added cream and sugar to his cup.

"Yeah, well I'm sorry. Next time I'll be more conscientious of the time."

Shaking his head, Carlton quickly grabbed a cookie, ignoring her smirk, as Beth tried to drag him upstairs.

A group of about 20 people were in small groups all around the room when they arrived, quickly interrupted when one of the women squealed, "Beth!" A young women, about half a foot shorter than Beth and with curly dark red hair, ran across the room and attacked Beth in a hug, barely avoiding Carlton and his coffee.

Laughing, Beth returned the hug, "Jeez Suz! You just saw me yesterday for quite a few hours."

"I know but I'm still so excited that you're here! It's been almost 9 months since I didn't see you during Thanksgiving." Pulling back she turned to Carlton. "And is this the infamous Carlton that I've been hearing so much about?"

"Yep! Carlton Lassiter, meet Susie Kellys" Beth said as Susie quickly hugged Carlton, barely missed spilling his coffee again.

"Welcome to Ohio, to our church and to our Sunday school class," Susie smiled as she pulled back and looked him over. "Although, I think you're a bit old to be in here."

"Suz! Only by a couple years. Besides, I wasn't going to leave him at the mercy of some other class without me, unless you want us to leave?"

"Of course not! You know we don't turn anyone away, unless they're still in middle school like a certain miscreant."

Beth laughed as Jo stood up and said, "Alright, I think that we should get started before Beth and Susie get into one of their fights again."

Everyone laughed as they quickly took seats, Carlton sitting at the end of a couch with Beth, Susie and Jo.

Once everyone quieted down, Jo said, "I think that we should introduce ourselves since we have a few new faces. I'll start and everyone should say their name and favorite hobby."

Beth leaned over and whispered, "Please don't say anything cop related." She smiled at his frown.

"I'm Jo and I'm into scrap booking."

"Susie and I guess card making."

"Beth and I want to say music but since I'm perform in bars, it's not really a hobby. Let's say photography."

"I'm Carlton and skeeball."

"Bobby and video games."

People quickly said their names and hobbies with some jokes thrown in. Feeling the atmosphere relax a little bit more, Carlton leaned back on the couch and crossed his legs. As the lesson went on, there was a lot of laughter and more jokes as they discussed the bible passages. By the time the hour was over, Carlton was in a pretty good mood, besides being tired.

At the end of the class, the class broke up into small groups again, and Carlton found himself in a conversation with Bobby, who kept going on and on about cars. When Carlton mentioned that he had a Ford Fusion Hybrid, Bobby went on a rant about hybrid cars. After about 5 minutes, Beth finally rescued him, saying that they better get going before the weather got too bad. Looking out the window, Carlton noticed that it had started raining even harder. Promising Amy that they would be over by 7, Beth carefully steered Carlton out of the room and down the stairs to get their coats.

"Thank you. I didn't think that I could take much more of your brother's car talk. He said that he loves Crown Vics but not hybrids. Doesn't like electric cars."

Beth smiled as they reached their coats. "Yeah, well my siblings can be a lot to take in, especially when you get them on the right topic. And they have this annoying habit of pushing me away when I want to talk about something they don't care about." She did a weird shake/shimmy as she exhaled before turning to him as she put her coat on. "Enough about them. Let's blow this popsicle stand. Anywhere in particular that you want to go to for lunch?"

Looking out the window, Carlton said, "Someplace warm where we can get hot food."

"Alright, that narrows it down a little. We'll just stop at the first interesting place on the way to my house. But first, I need to say hi to a few more people."

Carlton groaned as Beth took his hand and led him back through the hallways.