CHAPTER 13

Since Adam had fallen asleep while they were in the Natural History Museum, Beth decided to just drive around, pointing out certain places that meant something to her. They went by all 5 of the houses that her family had lived in growing up, her grandma's house, a few schools and then just places she enjoyed. They had just stopped at a Starbucks so Carlton could run in for some warm drinks, when Beth's phone went off.

Smiling, Beth quickly answered as she parked, "Hey sis! We're maybe 20 minutes away. Okay. He's actually asleep right now but he was very well behaved. Yeah, see ya soon. Bye." Beth turned to Carlton. "Amy said that they're ready for us, so if you still want that coffee, you should hurry up."

"Of course I'll need coffee," He mumbled as he got out and crossed the parking lot.

As they neared Beth's house, they noticed that not a lot of cars were parked on the street. Seeing Bobby waving them into her driveway, Beth quickly pulled in.

Bobby rounded the car and opened the door for Beth, "Good Afternoon, Madame. I hope that you had a lovely time."

Beth laughed as she turned off the car and got out. "It was interesting to say the least. So, are you the valet or something?"

"Yep. Me, Dan and Eric all got assigned to parking cars in the empty lot a block over. I was also told to take care of getting Adam out so that you two can go straight inside."

"Alright, if you say so." Beth stepped back as Bobby opened the back door and woke up Adam before fiddling with the car seat. "Do you need any help?"

"No, you guys go right ahead. I'll be in momentarily. Ah-ha! Ow" Bobby finally got the car seat to unbuckle, only to hit his head on the door frame, causing Adam to laugh.

"Are you okay?" Beth smiled as she tried not to laugh.

"Yeah, as long as Adam is happy." Bobby rubbed his head before picking up Adam. "Right buddy?"

"Come on Carlton," Beth laughed as she headed for the front door while Bobby and Adam went to the back.

Taking Carlton's hand somewhat tightly, Beth took a deep breath as she opened the door and stepped in.

Right away, they were met by about 30 people gathered in Beth's living room. The song "Bye, Bye Birdie" was playing and a giant banner, hung near the stairs, said, "So long and thanks for all the fish!" with fish crossed out and music written above it.

Laughing, Beth let go of Carlton and went to hug both Susie and Amy. "Oh my gosh, you guys are so silly!"

"You just realized that?" Amy teased as she returned the hug.

"No, I've known it for years. I'm just making sure that you two know since I won't be around to remind you." Stepping back, Beth took a look around the room and addressed the crowd "Wow. I didn't expect so many people to show up. But, um, thank you all for coming. As most of you know, I'm moving to California next week. I already have a job lined up and have made lots of new friends."

Beth gave Carlton a big smile before continuing. "Cleveland will always be my home and I will try to visit a few times a year, but you all know how I am about airplanes." She smiled as a few people laughed. "But if any of you are in the Santa Barbara/Los Angeles area, feel free to call me. I'll try and find some way to hang out. So, that's about it. Have fun socializing and be sure to enjoy some of this delicious food that my siblings have so graciously provided."

"Yay!" Adam exclaimed, causing the whole room to laugh.

As someone put the music back on, everyone broke off into groups, including several people surrounding Beth. After placing his coat in the closet, Carlton leaned against the wall and just watched as Beth talked and laughed with people.

It was a couple minutes before Amy broke away from the group and joined Carlton. "So, how are you enjoying the snow?"

Carlton shook his head, "I've experienced snow plenty of times before. Just because it never snows in Santa Barbara, doesn't mean that I haven't been places that have it. I use to ice skate in the mountains when I was a kid."

"Okay, I'll give you that. But we're suppose to be getting a lot of snow in the next couple of days, possible blizzard conditions."

Carlton turned and glared at Amy, "Are you trying to scare me off or something?"

Amy grinned back and said, "Oh no, I wouldn't dream of that. Beth would probably kill me if I did. I'm just giving you a heads up."

Carlton shook his head as he turned back to the rest of the room. "You two are way too much alike. It's actually a bit scary."

Amy laughed as she looked around the room, her eyes finally landing on Dan and Adam. "So, how was it today? Did Adam drive you crazy or anything?"

"Not really. He kept trying to run off and we'd have to chase him, but other then that, he was well behaved."

"Good, I'm glad. You know, Adam really seems to like you. Have you ever thought about having kids?"

Carlton laughed nervously as he made sure that no one else was listening. "Wow, that's a, um, very complicated and personal subject."

"I'm sorry. If you don't want to talk about it, then I totally understand. It's not always easy talking to someone that you barely know about something so personal. Or even someone that you've known forever. Beth didn't feel comfortable confiding in me until she was about 23. Even recently, she still won't tell me everything." Amy said sadly as she looked down and rubbed her stomach.

Carlton sighed before saying, "Look, there was a lot going on. And, I guess, she just didn't want to burden you since she knew that you had Adam to worry about. I think that at first, she only trusted me because of the badge."

"Yeah. Beth has a habit of only seeing the good in people. That might have been one of the reasons that she never told me, so she wouldn't have to admit that she was wrong."

Carlton nodded as he looked over at Beth, who was laughing with her friends. They stood in silence for a while until Adam came running over, saying, "Mama, mama, mama!"

Smiling, Amy reached down and picked Adam up. "You always have such great timing, don't ya buddy?" Adam giggled as he clung to her.

Dan came over, smiling, "Sorry about that, but you know how it is when he gets restless."

"That's alright," Amy leaned over and gave Dan a kiss. "He's probably hungry right now." Turning to Carlton, she said, "Feel free to meet new people. Most of them are very friendly."

"Thanks for the advice." Taking a look around, Carlton asked, "Where are the pets?"

"Oh, they're in your room. But you can probably let Frisco out, if you want."

"Okay." Once they were gone, Carlton headed upstairs.

After watching Frisco run around in the snow and then letting him back in, Carlton went into the dining room, where the food and beverages were. Grabbing a cup of coffee, he sat down in the kitchen and started petting Frisco.

After a few quiet minutes, he heard laughter as Beth and a couple people came into the room. "Oh, there you guys are!" Beth said as she bent down to pet Frisco. "And how's my buddy doing?"

"Frisco's been very well behaved," Carlton commented.

"I was actually talking about you, but it's good to know that Frisco has been good." Beth grinned widely as Carlton just glared back.

"That wasn't very nice," One of Beth's friends said.

"I know, Dianne. But since Shawn isn't here to tense Carlton, somebody has to do it," Beth said innocently as she went over and ruffled Carlton's hair. "And he's being such a good sport, too."

Carlton swatted her hand away and growled, "Don't make me get my gun!"

Beth stuck out her tongue before turning back to her two friends. "Speaking of guns and officers, this is Jake Gordon and his wife Dianne. Jake is a chief deputy and Dianne is an architect. Guys, this is Carlton Lassiter, he's head detective in Santa Barbara."

They politely shook hands before Beth started talking again. "Carlton, I figured that you and Jake would have a few things in common, mostly comparing types of guns. Anyways, I'll catch you guys later. Come on Dianne, Frisco. Let's see who else is here."

Once they were gone, Carlton asked, "So, chief deputy. Second in command, right?"

"Yes sir."

"That's mighty impressive for one so young."

Jake laughed as he grabbed a can of soda. "Well, it's a fairly small county and I have been with the department for 8 years now. When the opportunity came around last year, I had to at least try and I guess I got lucky."

"Luck barely has anything to do with it. You must have a good record and a good campaign."

"Like I said, fairly small towns, so not a lot of activity, and I also had Amy and Beth supporting me."

Carlton nodded as he sat back down. Waiting until Jake also took a seat, he asked, "So, how long have you known Beth?"

Jake laughed, "It seems like forever. We met sometime in middle school, were on the soccer team together, but that was about it. I was more friends with Amy than Beth, even though Beth and I were in the same year. It wasn't until 10th grade that we started hanging out in groups, mainly because of Amy. We became good friends our last year of high school and afterwards. Once I joined the police force and moved away, I didn't get to see them so often. That's when we started having air soft regularly once a month."

"Oh, so that's why Beth is so good at it."

"Well, when I was growing up, my brothers and I would play air soft in the woods near my house and invite our friends over. Amy and Bobby came over all the time but Beth refused to go. Once I moved away, we finally convinced her to at least hang out with us, even if she didn't want to play. Now, Beth isn't one for sitting out on the sidelines. So during the third time, she decided to play. She's really good at the hiding part and not getting hit, just not so much on the hitting people part."

"I know what you mean. The few times that we've played paintball, she would be hesitant to shot people. But once she got into it, she's actually a good shot."

"Really? I might have to convince her to play with us whenever she's in town."

"Just be careful. I've taken her to the gun range a few times as well and her aim and confidence has definitely improved."

"Ah, it'll be nice to have some new competition since my best opponents aren't here anymore. My brother is currently in the army, so I hardly get to see him, let alone play against him. Kevin won't come anymore since his brother Fred was locked up." Jake sighed as he stared at his can. "I wish Fred hadn't gotten away with it in June."

Carlton stared at Jake before whispering, "You know what happened in June?"

Jake shrugged, "Yeah, well Beth had called me to ask for my advice and I told her to press charges. Then when Kevin told me that his brother wouldn't be around for a while, I got curious, did some investigating."

"You better not have broken any laws."

"No, I first asked Bobby what he knew. Bobby can be very talkative and told me how Beth was in California and Fred had gone there to try and win her back. I knew right away that something was wrong, so I ask Amy who told me that Beth was fine, everything was taken care of." Jake looked up at Carlton and studied him for a bit. "I guess I have you to thank for taking care of my friend."

"She's my friend, too you know."

Jake laughed, "Yeah I know. Those March twins have that affect on people, whether they realize it or not."

Carlton raised an eyebrow, "You call them the March twins?"

"Yeah, it was a nickname for them in high school since they would usually always hangout together. Beth even convinced Amy to join their church choir since they were in need of altos. But once Beth graduated from high school, Amy dropped out."

"Beth mentioned once that Amy sings."

"Only for fun, like karaoke or in the car."

Amy walked in at that point and stared at the two of them. "Just because I don't have the guts to get up in front of a crowd like Beth, doesn't mean that I'm not a good singer. Now you two better stick to a subject that you know, like guns." She then smiled brightly before grabbing a soda can and leaving.

Jake laughed as Carlton asked, "How does she do that?"

"Ears like a hawk, that one. So, what type of gun do you own?"

Carlton shook his head before answering, "You really expect me to be head detective and only own one gun?"

"Sorry, I should know better than that. I have 4 guns myself, all different."

Author's Note:In case you didn't catch it, there's a little nod to Muppet Treasure Island, probably my favorite Muppet movie ever, only in competition with Muppet Christmas Carol.