"You want to come with me? To Dutzow?"

"Um, I don't know." Carrie shrugged.

"I'm going to the parish picnic. We'd be gone all day." He knew how to sell the idea to her.

"You want me to go? Really?"

"Yeah." Ben smiled at her, the idea appealing to him more and more. "You like German food, don't you?"

Carrie nodded, "Wurst is good."

He rolled his eyes at her joke. "Good. We'll leave in 20, OK?"

"I have to ask . . ." Carrie trailed off, Ben knew the rest of this speech. It would depend on Lana's mood.

"Just tell her that you are going somewhere with me." Carrie nodded, a little surprised that Ben seemed to know what she and her mother were fighting about. She changed course, walking toward the backdoor of her house.

"Bring a jacket. We're taking my jeep." "OK," Carrie yelled back as she walked into her house.

Thirty minutes later Carrie walked back out of the door, apologizing. "I know, I know, I'm late." Ben was waiting in the jeep, ready to pull out of the driveway. He wasn't angry that she was late. He had come to expect it. "Yeah, well, I told you 20 because I wanted to leave in 30."

"Whatever." Her smart-ass answer was overridden by her smile. Once inside she inspected the interior. "Nice." It was Carrie's first time to ride in Ben's jeep. His Grandpa bought it for him and had it in the driveway when Ben got home from Army camp in July. It was used, probably even an old military jeep, but the seats had been recovered, the radio replaced and everything had been cleaned to a shine. He already had the heater running, so it was almost too warm for her to wear her jacket.

As they pulled out of the driveway, Ben turned toward Carrie. He hesitated to say it, because he knew she thought he was such an old man, but, safety was safety, "Seatbelt."

Carrie smirked as she pulled her belt across and hooked it, resisting the urge to give him grief. Since it was just the two of them and they had an hour's drive, she didn't want to make him mad.

They drove without talking. Carrie fiddled with the radio dials and heater settings and was amazed that Ben resisted the urge to reset everything. He was being very unBen-like. He normally hated it if someone messed with his stuff. She decided to stop pushing his buttons, literally.

Carrie finally broke the silence, "Do you always get up and run so early?"

"During the week, yeah."

"So why today?" He knew she wasn't just making conversation; she was digging, and he wasn't sure he wanted to discuss his problem with Joelle with her. He deflected, "Why were you out so early?"

Carrie shook her head, declining to answer. She stared out the side window for a few minutes, then said, "She makes me crazy."

Ben didn't reply, hoping she would continue.

Carrie rubbed her forehead, debating whether or not to confide in Ben, "She's pushing me to go to homecoming."

"Hmm." Ben couldn't think of a better reply because he couldn't see the problem.

Carrie looked over at him, shook her head and sighed, "Never mind."

"No," he pleaded, "Come on. Tell me what's up." She didn't want to tell him her secrets. The fewer people who knew, the less chance anyone would tell. That seemed to be true for so many things in life.

Against his best judgment, Ben started to bargain, "I'll tell you why I was running this morning." After he made the offer he realized that he kind of wanted to tell her. Maybe he could use a girl's perspective. If she could look past her opinion of Joelle, Carrie might be able to help him.

"Alright, spill." "Joelle wouldn't come with me today because the picnic is at a Catholic church." Not wanting Carrie to brand her as narrow-minded he added, "And there will be alcohol there."

"She can't go to another church?"

"She can. I mean, I don't know. It's never come up before."

"She knows you're Catholic, right?"

"Yeah, but we always go to her church together on Sunday, and ... we just never really talk about it." "You go out with the most religious girl in our school and you never talk about religion?" Carrie didn't bother to hide the shock in her voice. When she looked at Ben he had his irritated face on, staring straight ahead, mouth in a straight line. She needed to change direction. "Sorry. OK, so I'm trying to understand. She couldn't or wouldn't go?"

Ben considered, then answered, "Couldn't."

"So her parents wouldn't let her."

"I guess ... yeah," Ben examined that angle.

"But she wanted to come with you, right?"

Ben smiled a little and nodded, "Yeah." Carrie could feel his relief. Despite being one of the smartest kids in their school, Ben sometimes couldn't see the obvious when it came to people. Realizing that she had just cleared Joelle of any wrong doing, Carrie had to add, "And the alcohol, it's going to jump out and get her?"

Ben sighed, "Funny."

"Like they are going to give a 16-year-old a beer, especially if she doesn't want one."