Ruthie saw them enter the room. They looked radiant, happy. It had been almost a decade, since she'd met the woman in the couple. She'd chatted her up, after seeing her arrive on the arm of Richard Castle that night. Those two had turned that MADT gala into the most interesting one of those affairs, which she'd ever attended. Poor Rachel had been so upset, when Kate Beckett and some other officers had marched Rachel's boyfriend out in handcuffs. Who would have thought the lady cop would have married the White Whale?
An Operation Smile event had been where she met Zach. She was lucky to marry him, but he's not nearly as rich or quite as handsome as the White Whale. Still, he's a good man, and she loves him. Each time Zach was distracted by a conversation, she felt compelled to scan the crowd for the Castles. She saw Kate whisper to her husband and head in the direction of the ladies' room. Ruthie followed Kate's example and made her way to the same room.
When Kate exited a stall, Ruthie was washing her hands like she had used the facilities. When Kate approached the sink next to Ruth's, it gave Ruth the opportunity to talk to Mrs. Castle. "Kate, I haven't seen you since the MADT gala all those years ago. How are you?"
Kate looked at the woman next to her and remembered her in an instant. Their conversation, all those years ago, was certainly memorable. "Ruthie? What a surprise." Always the detective, Kate scanned Ruth and noticed her wedding rings. "It's been years since that MADT fundraiser."
"When we met that night, I had no idea you were a detective. Seeing an arrest in the middle of the charity auction, made it a dramatic evening," Ruth punctuated her comment with a raised eyebrow.
"We're not here on police business tonight. Rick is always happy to do anything to support the library," Kate responded with a smile.
"My husband, Zach Nolan, is on the library board. He told me that your husband donated a set of signed copies of the Nikki Heat series for the silent auction. I told him about the date auction at the MADT gala. I don't think the books will bring in nearly as much money as that date," Ruth laughed.
Kate laughed, too. She remembered how much Rick had groused about having to go on the date with the woman who had bid $7000. "I don't think he has to worry about his mother showing up to auction him off tonight. She's babysitting our daughter."
"I remember that evening better than any I've spent at one of these charity events. It was definitely a surprising night," Ruth tried to extend the conversation.
"I have to thank you for sharing that nickname you told me about. I've teased Castle with it a few times over the years."
"The ladies of the circuit were not happy with you, when the first Nikki Heat book came out. We knew the White Whale was off the market, once we read that book," Ruth tried to lead Kate into sharing something about her husband with her comment.
"We weren't together until years after that, but he finally wore me down." Kate was trying to work her way out of this conversation. Her relationship with Rick had been well documented, when she had arrested Bracken. Rick had explained it as a way for Page Six to garner attention in the midst of the scandal about the Senator. Someone had even sold Page Six a picture of her in Rick's arms, with Esposito loading Bracken into the car in the background. "It was nice to see you again, Ruth."
"It's nice to see you too, Kate. I hope The White Whale is living up to his reputation."
Ruth was desperate to get a tidbit from Kate, but she blushed at what she'd said.
Kate smiled at Ruth. She noticed that the woman was actually blushing. With a smile and a wink, Kate answered, innuendo lacing her tone, "You have no idea."
A/N: Found a prompt I'd written for myself: "Ruthie runs into Kate at a charity event". I wanted to put it on tumblr as a Fluffy Friday thing, but I don't know how to post something this long on tumblr. Hope you enjoy it. I'll get back to writing BHE tonight. I hope to post a new chapter of that soon.
