CHAPTER 4

Looking at the clock, Carlton noted that he had been asleep for about 3 hours. Since Beth never said when they were leaving, he shouldn't risk oversleeping. Getting up, he quickly sorted through his luggage until he found his toiletries. Grabbing some clean clothes, he made his way across the hall to the bathroom. It was a pretty decent sized room with a shower tub.

As he stepped out into the hall 15 minutes later with slacks and an undershirt on, he heard whimpering coming from the master bedroom. Quickly crossing to the door, he knocked softly as he called, "Beth? Are you okay?"

More whimpering met his ears, so he slowly opened the door. Beth was on her side in the fetal position with her hands over her head, Murphy was on a pillow staring at her. Hearing her sob, Carlton quickly knelt next to the bed and put a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the slight flinch. "Beth, you're safe, no one's going to hurt you."

Gasping, Beth opened her eyes and stared at him for a second before quickly turning over on her other side and crying into her pillow. Before Carlton could decide what to do, Frisco came in and hopped up on the bed, growling at Carlton as he laid down against Beth's back.

Standing up, Carlton slowly made his way to the other side of the bed. "Beth? Are you okay?"

She laughed as she shifted her head to look at him, "Do I look okay?"

"Alright, stupid question. Can you tell me what's wrong? I just want to help."

Nodding, Beth sat up, causing Frisco to shift slightly so that his head was laying on her leg. Moving Murphy to her lap, she patted the bed. Giving Frisco a calculating look, Carlton slowly sat next to her. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Beth petted Murphy.

"So, are you going to tell me or do I have to guess?" Carlton asked quietly.

Beth laughed as she shifted so that her head was on his shoulder. "It, it was a nightmare. About what happened with Fred. I haven't slept well the past week or so, since leaving Santa Barbara. Mostly I went to sleep exhausted so I wouldn't dream. The night I spent at Meg's house, I think I got about 4 hours of sleep before I woke up in a cold sweat. I was so close to calling you, had the phone in my hand and everything."

"Why didn't you? I would have came out earlier."

"Because I didn't want to worry you. You would have spent the whole flight fretting. Besides, I figured that I could make it and I did. I ended up going for a 3 mile run at 5am. Meg thought I was crazy, but I didn't care, it helped to clear my head. Once I got here, I was so tired, especially after taking Frisco out, that I slept for 12 straight hours. Then I was up all night sorting through things in the basement. By the time I finally tried to fall asleep last night, I couldn't. I kept flashing back to what happened here back in June. I ended up calling Henry." She laughed sadly, "Boy was he surprised since it was almost midnight there. He helped to calm me down, reassured me. Then I just played piano while I waited for your plane to land."

"So you're telling me that besides the three hours you just got, you haven't slept in almost 40 hours?" Beth nodded. "How the hell were you so hyper this morning?"

She laughed as Frisco growled at his tone, "I told you I was strange. I get into this weird hyper, sugar high-like state when I'm sleep deprived."

"I think that you should sleep some more."

"No." She quickly snapped before taking a deep breath. "I mean, it's almost 6 and we have to leave in about 40 minutes."

"Alright, well I just have to finish changing. Are you sure that you're okay now?"

Beth nodded as she smiled at him. "Yes. Thanks for coming to my rescue, oh sweet knight."

Carlton blushed as she laughed. "Right, I'm going now."

"Fine. I'm going to take Frisco for a quick walk." She laughed as Frisco's head perked up. "Let's meet downstairs in, lets say 35 minutes?"

"Okay." Carlton shook his head as he got off the bed, barely avoiding the suddenly energetic dog.

Carlton was getting worried. It was almost the time Beth said to meet her in the kitchen, but she wasn't even back from the walk yet. He was contemplating calling her cell phone when she rushed in the back door.

"Sorry!" She called as she quickly dried off Frisco. "I took a wrong turn and we ended up going in the wrong direction. By the time I figured it out, I had to run to get back here." She kicked off her shoes as she ran though the kitchen. "Just give me 10 minutes, I'll be right down. Help yourself to anything in the fridge!"

Shaking his head, Carlton looked at the tired, wet dog who was still standing in the laundry room. "What are you looking at?" Frisco just whined as he shook his fur, only missing Carlton because of how far away he was. "Why don't you go lay down or something?" The dog sat where he was, but continued to stare Carlton down.

Trying to ignore Frisco, Carlton opened the fridge to find it mostly empty. There were the basics, a box of pizza, some fruit and a bottle of pop. Grabbing a banana, he sat on one of the stools at the island, sparing glances at Frisco every so often.

Almost exactly 10 minutes later, Beth came tearing down the stairs in black dress slacks, a blue peasant top and carrying 2 inch black heals. Her hair was a mess and she hadn't put any makeup on. "Sorry, are you ready to go?" She asked as she put earrings in.

"Yeah, but I think your dog wants something."

Beth looked at his confusedly before turning to Frisco and gasping. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Frisco! He's not allowed past the laundry room if he still has a leash on." Dropping her shoes, Beth grabbed a towel and quickly rubbed her suddenly happy dog. Clicking off the leash, she said, "Now be a good dog and guard the house." Frisco barked once as he ran into the living room.

Grabbing her purse from the laundry room, she quickly checked it as she rejoined him. "Okay, we'll probably be 10 minutes late, but I don't think Amy will care much. She usually doesn't serve dinner until 8, 8:30. Oh, my comb's upstairs, I'll be right back!"

Carlton just nodded as she ran upstairs, Frisco quick to follow her. Less than a minute later, she was back and putting her shoes on. "Okay. Let me think of the quickest route." She started mumbling as she went into the laundry room to grab her coat.

"Do you want me to drive?" Carlton asked as he followed her.

"Would you? I still need to fix my hair and my makeup."

"Yeah, of course. As long as you give me directions."

"Alright. We just need to open the gate first." She grabbed an umbrella as they exited.

When they finally pulled up to the apartment building, they were running close to 20 minutes late between the rain and traffic. Beth was messing with her hair and her purse as Carlton parked on the curb. Turning off the engine, he observed Beth's nervous fidgeting and glances towards the building. Reaching over, her covered her hand with his own. "Are you okay?"

Smiling, she nodded, "Yeah. I'm just nervous because I know for certain that 3 questions are going to come up: What is the relationship between us, why am I moving to Santa Barbara, and what happened with Fred. I'm not sure which one I'm afraid of most."

"You'll be fine. You said that Amy knows everything and between her and me, we'll buffer it well."

"I know. I just wish I knew what Kevin had said about his brother. Amy told me not to worry about it, but Bobby and Fred were getting along pretty well, so I don't know what his reaction will be." Beth's breathing started to increase.

"Hey, I told you that I've got your back." He rubbed her arm, causing her to look at him again. "If you feel too overwhelmed, then we'll leave, no point in suffering."

"You're right." She took a deep breath as she glance at her watch. "Come on, Amy's apartment has a front view, so if they saw us pull up, they'll wonder what we're up to."

Carlton groaned as she gave him a suggestive smile. "Can't you be serious?"

"Yes, but I'd rather not. Besides, if you think I'm bad, just wait. It's going to get crazy in there. Although, they tend to behave themselves when we have company."

Carlton shook his head as they got out of the car. It had stopped raining about 5 minutes ago but he wasn't taking any chances and took the umbrella with him. As he joined Beth on the other side of the car, she was messing with her hair again. "You look fine."

She smiled as she took his hand and led the way up the sidewalk. "I know but my mom is a big critic and she hates it when I cut my hair, she doesn't like it short."

"It's not that short." Her hair stopped right above her shoulder and was layered.

"I know, but like I said, my family is weird." She sighed as she walked into the front foyer and pressed the button that said 'Gilbert'.

They barely had to wait a second when a voice said, "Stop. Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see."

Giggling, Beth winked at Carlton as she replied, "Ask me the questions, bridge keeper. I am not afraid."

"What... is your name?"

"My name is Lady Elizabeth of Cleveland."

"What... is your quest?"

"To have dinner with my family."

"What... is your favourite colour?"

"Lavender."

"Go on. Off you go." The buzzer for the door sounded and Beth opened it.

"Thank you bridge keeper."

"Just be lucky I didn't ask you anything harder."

Carlton shook his head, "Wow. That was, interesting."

Beth laughed as she led him to the stairs. "It's one of my family's favorite movies, and Amy does this to me every time I come to visit."

"Does she always ask the same questions?"

"Oh no. Sometimes she asks about the swallows or coconuts or other nonsense from the movie."

"Has she ever not let you up if you got something wrong?"

"Well, no. But she has made me suffer for it. Sometimes it's as simple as having to pay for lunch the next time we go out."

"What about her? Do you ever get one over on her?" Carlton asked as they started walking down a hallway.

"Once, but nothing really happened because it was a silly mistake. I don't really mind." Beth said as they stopped at one of the doors. "Well, here we go. Are you ready?"

"No."

She laughed at his honesty and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before knocking.

The door opened almost immediately to reveal Amy carrying a little boy who Beth had said was about 19 months. "Finally," Amy laughed as she gave Beth a side hug. "I was getting worried! You're usually a few minutes early."

"Sorry, I took Frisco for a walk and ended up getting lost." She took the toddler and gave him a hug. "And how is young Adam doing?" The boy giggled as he hid from Carlton into her shoulder.

Amy laughed as she ushered them inside before shutting the door. "Being a little menace and starting on his terrible twos early. He keeps leaving his toys everywhere and walking away. I swear, he has less patience than me. I don't know what's going to happen when baby number two comes along and I can't give him all of my attention."

"Well, good luck with that." Turning slightly, she looked at Carlton. "Hey Adam, do you want to meet a friend of mine?" Adam turned his head slightly to peek at Carlton before hiding again. Laughing, Beth rubbed his back. "Adam, this is Carlton but I bet if you're a good boy, you can call him Carly."

Carlton glared at Beth as she smiled smugly at him. When Adam turned for another peek, Carlton quickly pasted on a pained smile. "Sure, you can call me Carly."

Adam giggled as he twisted around and tried to jump from Beth to Carlton. Startled, Carlton barely caught him as little arms wrapped around his neck.

"Aww, smile!" Carlton looked up in time to see Beth taking a picture. "You guys are so cute together!"

"I'm really not a kid person," Carlton said softly as Adam squirmed in his arms a bit.

"I think you're a natural," Beth grinned as she took another picture.

Amy laughed as she reached forward and pried Adam off. "I think Carlton might be more camera shy than you."

"Yeah, just a bit. But that doesn't stop me from taking his picture." Beth smiled as she patted his cheek. "I'm teaching Carly here to loosen up a bit."

Growling, Carlton grabbed her by the middle as she tried to squirm away. "You think I need to loosen up?" He managed to tickle her a few times.

Giggling, Beth twisted around and placed her arms around his neck. "Yes, yes I do."

Adam laughed and started chanting, "Carly, Carly, Carly!" making Beth smile again as she wiggled away from him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a minion to teach."

Amy laughed as she passed Adam over. "Everyone else is in the dining room and Jo and Bobby should be here by 8. They wanted to go to the evening church service."

Nodding, Beth detoured to the couch as she bounced Adam and started chanting with him, "Carly, Carly, Carly!"

"Beth!" Amy scolded. "You can't avoid them all night."

Sighing, Beth asked Adam, "Will you be my shield tonight?" Adam shook his head as he started reaching for Amy. "Traitor," Beth mumbled as she passed over Adam and took Carlton's hand. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Nodding, Carlton squeezed her hand as he was led to the sliding doors.