Castle was walking down the street toward his car. He had picked Alexis up from school to take her out for lunch. When she rejected his offer to let her play hooky, he wasn't even a little surprised. At 13 years old, his daughter was probably more mature than he'd ever been. . . definitely more mature than he has ever been. Either way, he had just dropped her back off at school and was trying to make it back to his car.
That was when he saw her: Gina, his ex-wife, walking toward him.
Perfect, he thought, just what I needed. Though their divorce hadn't been strictly recent, he still didn't like seeing her flaunt her new boy toy in front of him. He was 99% sure it was just to make him jealous; if anything it annoyed him. Yes, their marriage hadn't worked out; yes, he was sad; yes, he had moved on; no, HE DID NOT NEED TO BE REMINDED OF THIS.
In a pathetic attempt to buy some time, Castle turned around and took a few steps. Just as he was about to turn again and face the music, a stunning brunette popped around the corner, nearly running into him.
"Geez," she said shortly. Then, remembering her manners, she smiled at him a little and said, "Sorry, I didn't see you there."
He smiled at her much more widely than he should have and whispered, "Perfect!"
The stranger looked at him in confusion. Before she could respond, though, Castle was rambling a mile a minute. "Listen, my newly ex-wife is about to round this corner with her new boyfriend and I need you to go along with what I'm about to do, okay? It has nothing to do with jealousy, I just need her off my back and out of my face."
Clearly, the woman was still stunned because her eyes were wide and she couldn't respond but to shake her head.
"What's your name?" he asked quickly.
"K-Kate," the woman stuttered. What was happening?!
Just at that moment, she saw a busty blonde with a much younger, very muscular man round the corner, their laughter just a little too forced to be real. She looked back to the man before her sympathetically, only to realize that he was down on one knee.
Her eyes shot wide when he grabbed her hand and looked up at her with an expression that nearly stopped her heart.
"Kate," he began. Oh, this was way too real, but seemed to be working. The offending couple had stopped cold in their tracks. "It seems like we just met," she had to stop herself from laughing, "but I can't imagine my life without you. You are so beautiful inside and out and I want to spend the rest of my life trying to make you as happy as you've made me."
Her heart stopped and her throat became tight. Why? THIS WASN'T REAL!
Squeezing her hand a little, he asked, "Kate, will you marry me?"
Frozen to her spot, Kate chanced a glance at the blonde. She was white-knuckling her youngster's t-shirt and openly glaring at them.
Pulling herself together, wanting to help out this stranger, she tried her hardest to force some tears and breathily said, "Yes! Yes, of course I'll marry you, Rick!"
If looks could kill, Kate would have to arrest the blonde on the spot. As Rick pulled her into a tight hug, swaying her back and forth, she noted the blonde's face contorting in rage. She pulled her stud with her, storming off around the corner to the sounds of Castle and Kate laughing.
Once they were out of sight, Kate said quietly, in case the couple was still near, "They're gone."
She could feel the tension leave him as he let out a breath and let her go. The change on his face made him look younger—he was so relieved. "I'm so sorry about that, but, hey, you were great. You can cry on command?!" He was impressed.
Kate smiled and looked at the ground, hiding behind her hair. "Yeah, I guess so. I never really tried until now. She just looked so smug and. . ." failing to find the word, Kate waved her hand in the air and scrunched her face before adding, "ugh!"
"I know," Castle said after a chuckle. Then, thinking a moment, he continued, "Listen, I just dropped my daughter off at school so I have the next few hours off. Would you maybe let me buy you some ice cream?"
When she didn't immediately answer, he continued. "You know, because I forgot to actually get you an engagement ring and whatnot." His hands were in his pocket and he shrugged his shoulders. It was extremely adorable.
Kate laughed, thinking that he was pretty charming and she couldn't deny that there was something there between them. "Yeah," she said hesitantly. "I could go for some ice cream." The paperwork would be there when she got back.
Castle smiled at her as they began to walk toward the nearby ice cream parlor. A few minutes into the conversation, Castle abruptly changed the subject. "So, how'd you know my name was Rick?"