CHAPTER 19

When Carlton came back, Amy was telling Beth about Adam. "He loves the snow so much! Yesterday after church, we went sledding and he had so much fun going down on Dan's lap. He wanted to go down by himself but we wouldn't let him because of all the big kids there, so he threw this massive tantrum. We ended up going home early, where he continued his tantrum for about a half hour, until he had cried himself to sleep."

Beth laughed as she turned to Carlton in the doorway. "Are you coming in or are you going to act like a guard dog and stand by the door all day?"

Carlton growled, which only made her laugh harder. "If you're just going to make fun of me, I can just leave."

"No! Don't do that! I'll be good, ish." Beth smiled before scooting over and patting the empty space on her bed. "Come on, join us."

Shaking his head, Carlton walked over and took his previous seat in the chair next to Amy. Beth sighed as she reached for her cup.

"So, after your mysterious departure with the doctor," Beth began. "Amy was just filling me in on some of the more important stuff that has happened recently, including telling me the date. I just can't believe that I'm missing over 2 months of memories!" She huffed and shook her head.

"Don't worry, they'll come back in time. Just be patient." Carlton said.

"Be patient? You should know me well enough by now, I am a very impatient person when it comes to things that matter to me. And believe me, getting my memories back is very important!"

Before anyone could comment, a candy stripper knocked and came in. "Good morning! I heard that I need to bring in 2 trays, is that correct?"

"Yeah," Carlton said regretfully.

The candy stripper smiled as she brought in two trays, handing one to Carlton before grabbing the rolling table and placed it over Beth's lap with her tray. "Enjoy. I should be back in an hour to collect the leftovers. Bye."

Looking down at his tray, Carlton frowned as he tried to figure out how to hold his tray and eat with one hand.

As if sensing his dilemma, Beth sighed and said, "Come on, you can share my table."

"No, it's okay. I'll figure something out."

"Carlton! Stop being so stubborn and get up here! I don't bite, most of the time anyways."

Seeing the stubborn look Beth was giving him, Carlton sighed as he carefully got up and walked around the bed. Without asking, Beth took his tray and set it with hers. Once he sat, she patted his head and said, "Good boy, Lassie!"

Carlton growled, "You better be glad that I don't have my gun or I would have shot you for that."

"No you wouldn't have, so stop lying. Here, I'll even butter your toast for you."

Amy laughed as she stood up. "Listen, I've got to go pick Adam up and see if our parents are awake yet. I should be back in an hour."

"Oh, please don't tell me that you told them!" Beth practically whined as she continued buttering.

"Not yet, but I'm going to have to eventually."

"Why? This is nothing major."

Amy scoffed as she crossed her arms, "Nothing major? Beth! You crashed your car and ended up in the hospital with a sprained ankle and memory loss. This isn't something that you can sweep under the rug."

"Technically, Carlton crashed the car and I should be walking out of here tonight. Well, walking with crutches, but it's still not that bad."

"You have amnesia and it might take weeks for you to get your memory back! How are you going to fake that?"

"It's only 2 months worth of memories, no big deal. Besides, you said that I was suppose to leave in a couple days. I could totally avoid them for that long. Carlton can catch me up on some of the major points just in case, right Carlton?" She asked as she looked at him, putting the toast down.

Carlton shook his head. "Leave me out of your argument."

Amy sighed as she put on her coat, "I have to tell them something today because you know, one way or another, they will find out and then all of us are going to be in trouble."

"Yeah I know." Beth played with her food before saying, "You need to go home and sleep, okay? I'll be fine. I've got Carlton here and plenty of doctors and nurses. Don't come back until after lunch."

"Fine. I'll try to bring you guys some food or something. Bye."

"Bye!" Beth smiled slightly as she watched her sister leave. As soon as the door closed, she sighed and started on her own breakfast. They ate in silence for a couple minutes until Beth asked, "So, when's the date?"

Carlton raised an eyebrow as he drank some orange juice, asking, "What date?"

"Our wedding date?"

He nearly choked on the juice and it took him a few seconds to stop coughing in order to get out, "W-what? Why, why would you even think that?"

"I just, just assumed that we had to be getting serious if I decided to stay in Santa Barbara and you came all the way out to Cleveland to meet my family. Especially if you're still here after meeting them. So, we aren't getting married?" She blushed and refused to look at him, opting to play with her food instead.

Carlton nervously ran a hand through his hair. "No, we're just friends, good friends. You decided that you liked Santa Barbara so you've been staying in my guestroom for the past few months. You said that you needed help to pack and move and I have plenty of unused vacation time so I came with you. We decided together that we weren't cut out to date."

"But we did kiss, I have a vague memory that we kissed," Beth asked softly as she glanced at him. "Or am I just imagining it."

He blushed as he nodded. "Yeah. A very spur of the moment thing that had more to do with too many emotions and adrenaline than an attraction."

"Maybe on your end, but I think that I'm very attracted to you."

"That, that may be so," Carlton coughed nervously. "But now would not be the best time to start anything. After you get your memories back and we get you re-settled in Santa Barbara, we can revisit this, if you still want to."

Beth sighed as she went back to her food. "Okay, fair enough."

Tapping his fingers nervously as they lapsed into silence, Carlton finally said "Look, it's just that you told me yourself that you needed a friend more than a boyfriend or l-lover. And right now, I believe that the same thing is true: you really just need a friend."

"For everything there is a season," she said quietly.

"Yeah, exactly."

She turned to him and smiled slightly, "Thanks Carlton."

"You're welcome."

"So," she pushed her food away and moved the table closer to him. "Amy and Dan know, and eventually so will my parents. Anyone else?"

"O'Hara knows because she's my emergency contact. And since I'm apparently your emergency contact…."

"What?"

"Yeah, I was just as surprised as you when they told me last night. Since O'Hara didn't have any of your family's numbers and I wasn't awake yet when the hospital called her, she asked Henry to come. He should be here by lunch."

Beth sighed, "Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this? There is no reason for him to come all the way out here."

"By the time I called O'Hara, he had already left. At first, I was against the idea of him coming out but then I realized that neither one of us will be driving anytime soon. So I guess it's better than waiting for one of your siblings to drive us, especially if you still want to leave before the end of the week."

"Oh yeah, I definitely want to leave before the end of the week." She laughed.

"Really? With everything that's going on, I thought that you might want to hang around here a little while. You know, be in familiar surroundings until you get your memories back."

"No way, Jose! I've always wanted to get out, I am not going to risk being stuck here just because of a little memory loss. If you and Amy both say that I was planning on moving to Santa Barbara, then I guess that's what I'm going to do and nothing you or my parents say is going to stop me!"

Carlton chuckled as he pushed the rest of the uneaten food away. "Okay, whatever you want."

"Good! Now, let's see what's on television. Where's the remote?"

Sighing, Carlton got up and got the remote off the dresser. He was about to sit down in one of the chairs when Beth stopped him.

"Can you…I mean, if it's not too much trouble, can you stay up here. On the bed with me." She bit her lip and looked at him nervously.

"Sure," he nodded as he stood to walk back around the bed.

"I mean, if you're not comfortable with it, I totally understand. I don't want to pressure you into anything…." She started rambling.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, Carlton said, "It's fine. I understand completely that you feel insecure and just want some comfort. We've shared beds before."

"Really?" Beth asked suggestively.

Sighing, Carlton sat down next to her. "Yes, but nothing even close to romantic. Kind of like a little kid crawling into bed with their parents."

"Eww, don't ever compare our relationship as parent and kid. You just killed any sexual fantasies." She gently pushed his shoulder before shuddering and turning away.

"I wasn't trying to." He shoved back lightly. "Besides, you're the one that has compared me to your father a few times."

Beth paused for a second before nodding, "Yeah, I guess I could see the similarities between the two of you. And from the pictures I've seen, my dad was kind of cute, back when you guys were both in high school together."

"Okay, stop right there!" Carlton put a hand up in front of her smirking face. "I've met your father, and he's at least 25 years older than me. So you're either insinuating that I look 25 years older than I really am or your father looks 25 years younger than he is. Either way, you're very wrong and I hope that it's just your memory loss talking."

Beth just laughed as she turned on the television. Once she found a show that she liked, an old time musical, she settled against Carlton's shoulder. Shaking his head, Carlton just wrapped his arm around her, glad that at least some things hadn't changed.