CHAPTER 3

A few people turned out to be about a dozen and it took them almost 15 minutes to leave since a new person seemed to corner Beth whenever they tried to escape. Finally, they made it to her car and stopped at an Applebee's that wasn't too crowded.

As they waited for their food, Carlton asked, "So, how was the drive out?"

"Oh, it was good, I made great time. Got to Meg's Wednesday morning as they were having breakfast and was able to sleep while they were off at school and work. I took Wes and Kate to the Zoo before meeting Meg and Cory for dinner. Thursday I did a bit of sight seeing by myself before taking them to a movie. I left before midnight and got here Friday morning. Oh my gosh, my pets were so excited to see me!"

Beth smiled brightly as she stirred her ice tea. "My dog Frisco was making so much noise that he woke up Crissy. I felt bad but she said that she was going to get up in an hour anyways so it wasn't too bad. I took Frisco for a quick walk before collapsing in my bed. I barely thought to call you before my cats demanded it to be sleeping time. Murphy, he's a big, long haired cat, likes to sleep on either people's stomachs or backs, so it's hard to move once he's settled."

"Have you seen your parents?" Carlton watched as the smile slipped off her face.

"No. I left them a message Friday night telling them I was in town but they haven't gotten back to me yet. My mom is still a bit peeved at me for leaving in the first place and then finding out from Bobby that I've decided to stay in Santa Barbara. Whatever, she'll get over it."

She looked out the window as the server enthusiastically brought them their food. Once he left, Carlton turned back to Beth who was quietly fuming. Getting up, he sat next to her in the booth as she scooted over. He put an arm around her as she continued to look outside. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's just that," she sighed as she turned to him. "I never seem to do anything right in her eyes! The only time I've ever heard her boast about me was after I did a short solo my senior year. Meg had the first grandchildren. Amy's always been good at soccer and school. Bobby's the star mechanic, practically owning his own garage. And Jo is finally finishing her degree after taking an almost 10 year break. Me? I worked at a childcare center and was very active in the church, but nothing good enough to brag about. And when I took off, it seemed to cause a bigger rift between us. I'm a lot like her, but we always seem to be just short of fighting. I don't know what to do about her except to try and ignore her, but it never works because then Jo and Bobby get on my case about not talking to my mom. It's so annoying."

"I don't get along with my mother." Carlton commented as he rubbed her back.

"Yeah," She sighed. "I don't know. It's just frustrating. I'm pretty sure that Amy invited my parents over for dinner tonight, and knowing them, my mom will pretend that nothing is wrong, but I'll still get those looks that I got when I was 21. The ones where she's disappointed but doesn't want to waste her breath. My dad will act like everything's fine, not intervene. Promise me that if it gets to be too much, that you'll help me escape early. Say something like you're still jetlagged and that we need to go or something?"

He looked at her pleading eyes and nodded, "Sure. Just give me a sign or something."

"Good," She took a deep breath as she pulled her plate closer. "We should probably eat before it gets too cold."

"Yeah." Carlton grabbed his plate and started eating, trying to ignore the playful shoves Beth kept giving him when they bumped arms.

About an hour later, they slowed down outside a simple looking two story house in a quiet neighborhood.

"We're about 15 miles outside of downtown and the highway is about 4 miles away, so it's pretty peaceful out here. Unfortunately, there aren't many stores nearby so a car is basically a must, but at least the view is good. I helped Crissy move out yesterday, so we have the whole house to ourselves, plus my pets, for the next 2 weeks. Except of course Saturday when Amy and Susie are throwing me a going away party."

"It's a very nice house." Carlton observed a dog barking at them from the front window. "I see your dog is happy to see you."

Beth smiled as she drove into the garage. "Yeah. He was being extra clingy yesterday and I was a bit reluctant to leave him this morning. Just be careful, he's a jumper and has the habit of peeing on new guys that enter his home, so you might want to wait in here until I let him outside."

"Thanks for the heads up." Carlton said as he unbuckled.

"I'll let him run around the yard to help calm him down a bit."

"Okay." He grabbed the bags as Beth went out the side door. She quickly trotted through the rain to shut the gate before going to the back door. She let out a brown and black medium sized German shepherd mutt who started running around her. She shooed him off and watched as he quickly made a circuit of the yard before coming back to her. She petted him before running back to the garage with an umbrella.

"Come on Frisco!" Beth said enthusiastically as she opened the door and led the dog inside. He paused to shake the water from his fur before noticing Carlton and started barking at him. Beth laughed as Carlton stared the dog down. "You're suppose to make friends with Frisco, not scare him!"

"Maybe if he'll stop barking, he's giving me a headache." He growled, causing the dog to growl back.

Rolling her eyes, Beth walked over to Carlton before taking his hand and squatting, causing him to bend over slightly. "Come here Frisco, he's not going to hurt you or me." She said in that weird baby voice that most women had before talking normally to Carlton. "You have to give a dog the chance to smell you since that's their way of shaking hands. It also helps if you get down on their level. You're not trying to intimate them. Besides, my dog's enough of a wimp."

Carlton sighed as he squatted down and watch the dog quickly smell him before giving Carlton his butt and Beth his head. Beth laughed as she released his hand and started petting Frisco. "He prefers to have his back scratched. Yeah, isn't that right you silly puppy!"

"He doesn't look like a puppy," Carlton commented as he quickly patted the dog before standing up.

"Well, technically, he's a senior dog since he's 9 years old, but I guess it's just habit to call him a puppy." Beth gave the dog one more pat as she stood up. She grabbed his duffel bag and led the way to the door, Frisco quickly passing her to make one more trip around the yard.

Following her, Carlton observed the yard. There was a hammock between two trees and an old basketball hoop on the garage. On the deck, there were mismatched plastic chairs, a picnic table and a charcoal grill.

As they entered the laundry/mud room Beth quickly took off her coat and hung it on the wall before calling for Frisco to come in. As soon as the door was closed behind them, Frisco took the opportunity to shake, get them both wet. Beth laughed as she handed Carlton a towel. "Sorry, should have warned you, huh?"

Growling, Carlton took the towel and quickly dried off as Beth did the same for the dog. As soon as Beth gave Frisco the okay, he took off running through the house. "He's such a weird dog, a lot like me. He doesn't like other dogs but he's fine with basically any person, while I'm hesitant with other people but love any type of dog."

"Yeah, two peas in a pod," Carlton commented as he took off his coat and shoes.

"Come on, the bedrooms are upstairs." Beth said as she put on slippers and picked up his duffel bag again.

They were halfway across the kitchen when Beth stopped and picked something up. "Hey Smurf, how's my big kitty?"

"Oh my god, is that a cat?" Carlton asked as he got a look at the giant grey fluffball in her arms.

"Yep. He weighs around 30 pounds. Believe it or not, he actually lost about 5 pounds since I got him 2 years ago from a relative. My cousin's grandmother was moving into a retirement home and they asked if I could take one of their cats or else they would have to go to the animal shelter. Well, Murphy is such a sweetie that I couldn't let that happen."

"Wait, is it Murphy or Smurf?"

Beth laughed as she put the cat down and continued through the living room where Frisco was enjoying a dog bone on the couch. "Technically, his name is Trevor but he looked like one of my grandma's old cats who was named Big Murph, so I started calling him Murphy. Then Amy one time called him Smurf the Murph for some strange reason. He responds to basically anything. Hmm, Frisco and Salem don't have any nicknames."

Carlton shook his head as they started up the stairs. "I'm afraid to ask, but who's Salem?"

"Oh, he's my other cat, a little 10 pound orange tabby. He's skittish around new people, so you probably won't get more than glimpses of him for the next couple of days. He's also the man of the house and has a habit of picking on the other two, even though he's the smallest. See, I got Salem as a kitten when I first moved out of my parents' house 8 years ago, and the other two sort of intruded on his turf."

Beth put her finger to her lips as she approached one of the doors. As she pushed it open, Carlton saw an orange blur streak off the bed and into what he assumed was the closet. Laughing, she shut the door and turned to the door on her right. "I love scaring him. Maybe I'll get the catnip out later so you can get a better look."

"Isn't catnip a drug and just makes them more hyper?" Carlton asked as they stopped at another closed door.

"Yeah, but they have fun with it." Beth smiled as she opened the door, "So here's where you will be staying. I'm sorry if the room seems a bit girly, but it was Crissy's room and I said that she could decorate it however she wanted. I was hoping that when they painted last month that she would pick a more neutral color, but whatever. At least I have more masculine sheets."

Carlton looked around at the soft pink walls and flower decorated furniture. There was one of those white shaggy rugs on the hard wood floors. The bed itself wasn't too bad. A simple wooden frame with dark green sheets and matching comforter. "It's um, nice."

Beth laughed as she opened the empty closet and ran a hand along the hangers. "Amy is expecting a girl, so I said that she could have the furniture. I'm not very girly, I actually hate pink."

"Really? That's…" Carlton failed to stop a yawn. "That's strange."

She smiled as patted his arm. "Come on, if you haven't figured out that I'm proud to be strange by now, then you're not as good a detective as I thought."

"Oh really?" Carlton asked as he stepped closer.

"Yep." she smiled as she popped the 'p'.

Beth shrieked as he grabbed her by the waist and tossed her on the bed before tickling her. As she continued to shriek and giggle, Carlton became aware of her dog standing outside the door and barking. Glancing over to see that Frisco seemed unsure whether or not to butt in, he finally stopped and helped her up.

Yawning again, he pushed her to the door. "If you don't mind, I'm going to try and get some sleep before having to deal with your family's craziness."

Nodding, Beth picked up Murphy, who had been watching them from the dresser. "That's a great idea. I think I'll take a nap too. Oh, the bathroom is right across the hall and there are clean towels in the linen closet next to it. Sleep tight!" She kissed him on the cheek before going down the hall, calling Frisco after her.

Shaking his head, Carlton closed the door and glanced around the room. He really should unpack but he was really tired. Tossing his tie and cell phone on the end table, he crawled under the covers and was asleep in minutes.