CHAPTER 24

A quarter after 5 Tuesday night found Beth and Carlton in the kitchen while Henry was outside, checking the RV. Beth had been pacing, as best she could with her crutches, for the last few minutes. Carlton just watched her as she ranted, hoping that she wouldn't fall.

"Why did I agree to dinner with my parents? There's no way that I can hide the fact that I'm suffering from amnesia. My mom was a nurse for goodness sake! And she's pretty smart too, she'll know that something's up. Oh my god, this must be one of the stupidest things that I've ever done. We don't even have proper seats! Just some folding chairs that have been in my basement for as long as I can remember. Gah! I should have changed the venue to a restaurant or something. Then, depending on the place, we would only be there for an hour, two max, and my mom would be less likely to start something…."

Finally having heard enough, Carlton got up and stood in her path. "Will you please stop pacing. You're giving me a headache."

Beth blushed and bit her lip. "Sorry! I just, I don't know if I can do this!"

"Oh course you can. You've got Henry, Amy and I all on your side. Besides, last time wasn't so bad."

"You told me that last time we had the awkward mentioning of Fred. What else happened?"

"First, you need to sit down before you fall down." Carlton said as he gently led her to one of the kitchen stools. Sighing, he took the seat next to her. "Okay. So last weekend, we went to Amy's to have dinner with your family. You explained how we met and become friends. That you had decided to stay in Santa Barbara but hadn't found an apartment yet and have been staying with me. Your mother questioned everything…."

"Of course she did," Beth interrupted as she shook her head.

"Including our relationship." Carlton continued. "You were upset and turned to alcohol and got drunk. By the time dinner was over, you were pretty wasted and managed to hide it well, until you got sick and ran from the table."

"Oh god! I never get drunk! I must have been having a really bad night."

"Yeah. Amy fed some line about you catching the flu from your sister's kids. As we were trying to leave quietly, your mother called you aside. You never told me what was discussed but by the way you stormed out of the kitchen and kissed me, it's not very hard to guess. Especially when you called back to your mother something about if anything happened it would be your fault not mine. Then we left."

"Oh God!" Beth groaned as she covered her face with both hands. "I can't believe I did that! She must hate me for it."

"I don't think so, but she did call you the next morning to check up on you and supposedly called my boss to find out more about me."

"Seriously? Wow. I would have loved to have heard that phone conversation."

"All I know is that a few days later, I got a call from Chief Vick telling me not to have overprotective mothers calling her to check up on me and that I'd better watch my back. I think I'm actually more afraid of what she'll say to me than to you."

"Oh, don't worry Carly!" Beth smiled as she patted his hand. "You'll have me, Amy and Henry there to back you up if needed."

Carlton just glared at her as they heard a car pull up.

While they were eating, they went through the normal pleasantries of introductions and checking on everyone's health before it turned to the weather, where Pat and Harry seemed to talk about every major blizzard that they lived through including a few that happened in April.

Once everyone was done eating, Pat finally turned to Beth and said, "I don't see why you're selling this nice house. You never know when you'll have the time or money to buy another one in this market. Why don't you just rent it out to someone for the next few months until you get back?"

Beth leaned against Carlton as best she could in the folding chairs and crossed her arms. "Mom, I'm moving to Santa Barbara, as in permanently for the foreseeable future. I don't need this house weighing me down. It's bad enough that it'll probably take a few years to sell it anyways."

Pat laughed softly. "Trust me, out of all my children, you are the one who would miss the snow too much. If anything, it would be Josephine moving out of cold Northern Ohio since she never enjoyed the snow. I'm surprised that she hasn't convince Eric to have their wedding someplace warmer. At least she's getting a July wedding, although there's still over a year for that."

"Mom, I honestly don't care what Jo does, we are two totally different people. And no matter what you say, you're not going to change my mind."

Pat huffed, "Maybe if Fred was still in the picture, you wouldn't have run off. I don't know what you did to drive him away but I always said that he was one of the best things that ever happened to you."

Beth stiffened as silence rang throughout the room. Amy finally broke it and said, "Mom, that's not what happened and I think it's time I take you and dad home."

"How about you tell me then." Pat said, ignoring Amy. "By the looks on everyone's faces, Harry and I seem to be the only ones out of the loop. I think that I deserve to know the truth…"

"Dammit Mom!" Beth yelled as she stood up. "You don't deserve to know anything! I'm 30 years old and can take care of stuff without my mother's help! You don't know a damn thing about what happened with Fred!"

"Maybe if you would explain it to me…"

"Fine! You want to know?"

"Yes, I would like to know."

"Beth…" Carlton warned.

"No, Carlton. If she wants to know, then I'll tell her." Beth sent a stubborn look at Carlton before turning back to her mother. "Last spring, I knew something was up with Fred but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and just stayed more alert. Then in June, he came over real late, drunk as a skunk. I didn't feel right about sending him away so I let him sleep on the couch. Big mistake. He tried to have sex with me and when I refused, he hit me, multiple times. So when I got the chance, I ran. Out of the house, out of the city, out of the state! I thought that it was over but then he came after me in Santa Barbara. So don't you dare tell me that he was the best thing that ever happened to me, because you are so wrong. The best thing that happened to me is walking out of that cop bar with Carlton because I finally found someplace that I felt accepted and wasn't living in one of my sibling's shadows. If you still think that I'm making a mistake to move halfway across the country to be happy, then screw you. I don't need your criticism. I've had enough of it these past few decades." Brushing back a few tears, Beth grabbed her crutches. "I hope you can find your way to the door for the last time." And with that, she made for the stairs.

"I hope you're happy, mom." Amy said as she shook her head and followed her sister.

Carlton sighed was about to start cleaning up when he heard Henry growl, "You need to apologize."

"Excuse me?" Pat scoffed. "But this is MY daughter's house…"

"Exactly." Henry interrupted as he leaned forward. "Your daughter's house, where you are currently a guest. You are also her mother and shouldn't be upsetting her like that, especially in her own home. Beth has been through a lot these past few days, this past year, and she does not need you tearing her down like that."

"Maybe if she had told me what had been going on in the first place…"

"She shouldn't have to. Like she said, she's 30 years old and can figure things out without you. Sure, she made mistakes, but so does everyone. You should be giving her support without her having to ask. When she is ready, she'll tell you about what else happened with Fred but only if she knows that you're not going to belittle her or tell her that what she did was wrong. She knows she messed up but a lot of it wasn't her fault. Now you need to apologize to her before it's too late. I know you two have a lot of issues but if you let her leave without at least starting the healing process, then you're going to regret it for a long time and it will be even harder to start mending fences the longer you wait. Trust me, I've been there."

After a few seconds of silence, Harry said, "Honey, he's right. I hate how you two seem to buttheads all the time for no apparent reason. You really do need to go talk to her."

"And please do not bring up Fred, because she will not want to talk about it," Henry added.

Finally, Pat sighed and got up without a word. A few minutes after she went upstairs, Pat came back down and grabbed her coat. "Harry, we're leaving." She said before heading towards the door.

The door had barely closed behind Pat when Amy came downstairs, shaking her head. "I don't know what the hell happened, but it looked like my mom had a big heaping of humble pie."

Henry smiled as he continued to clear off the table. "I just stated my opinion and told her the truth."

"Well thank you." Amy gave him quick hug. "It means a lot to me and Beth."

"Is she okay?" Carlton asked.

"Maybe. You should probably go check on her. Now I've got to go before my mom yells at me for keeping them waiting in the cold so long, although I'll probably get an earful in the car anyways. Have a nice trip and don't be afraid to visit. I've enjoyed both of your companies. So long."

"Bye Amy," Carlton replied as he headed for the stairs. Looking through the doorways, he found Beth in the only room that still had furniture in it, which happened to be the room that Carlton had been staying in. She was lying on the bed with Frisco on one side and Murphy on her stomach.

As he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, Beth didn't even glance at him once, opting to stare at the ceiling. After a minute, he asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head and sighed, "No."

"It might help."

She scoffed and finally looked at him. "I highly doubt it."

He nodded and took her hand. "Just so you know, Henry had your back, big time. For a second there, I was afraid that there was going to be a physical fight and I wasn't sure who was going to throw the first punch."

Beth laughed as she started to play with his hand in hers. "I thought I heard Henry's voice, but it was too far away to make anything out." She sighed and looked away. "I think my mom's afraid that if I move so far away, that she'll never hear from me again. I would barely see her once a month before, but now I have a legitimate excuse not to talk to her. I was always the one pushing away and she would try and find someway to keep us connected. I know it must have been hard for her after the accident. She not only lost her mother, but was losing one of her daughters as well. And I just don't know how to keep her involved in my life without feeling like she's suffocating me. It's not fair to either one of us or my siblings who sometimes get stuck in the middle. Hopefully she'll understand that I need this distance between us to figure things out. Who knows, I might come back here in a few years or I might stay out in Santa Barbara. I just know that this is the right thing to do and I don't know how to tell her that."

They sat in silence for a few seconds until Carlton said, "I'm pretty sure you just told her tonight."

"Yeah." Beth laughed as she looked him in the eye. "It wasn't the most elegant approach, but I guess I did get the message across. And I meant it, the part about me walking out of that bar with you. Because I would either be still traveling or dead."

"Don't, don't say that." Carlton whispered.

"But it's true." She wiped a tear away. "I came into that bar to get drunk. It was a week after my 30th birthday and I was feeling all depressed about where my life was and how I didn't know if I could continue going like that. I was halfway through the door when I realized that it seemed more like a family establishment, so I was just staying for dinner and would go back to my hotel room to get drunk alone. But then something about you caught my attention. You had this sadness about you and I felt like I had to get you talking." She laughed shakily. "But of course, you weren't having it. I was thinking about giving up and going to a different bar when that guy started hitting on me. Once you defended me, I knew that I had to keep trying, to get under that gruff shell that you didn't seem to let anyone see you without. So, yeah. It was the best moment of my life, walking out of there with you, because you saved my life, Carlton Lassiter. In more ways than one." She choked out the last bit as she finally let the tears fall.

Mindful of the pets, Carlton reached down and pulled her into a very awkward, one-armed hug. "I think you saved my life too. Or at least made it more bearable."

Beth just laughed as she wrapped her arms around him.