Aftermath Chapter 3

A week after Lanie spent the evening comforting Beckett, Castle sat stretched out on a lounge chair on the back patio of his house in the Hamptons. The patio overlooked the beach and Castle found the light breeze and the smell of the salt air conducive to writing, so his laptop sat on his lap and jiggled slightly as he tapped on the keys. Since he had arrived with Gina, he had knocked out three chapters of Naked Heat and was presently in the middle of a fourth. The two of them were getting along great, just as they did when they first met. While Castle did miss the precinct and the daily challenge of solving murders, as well as Alexis and his mother, his renewed connection with Gina and focus on Nikki Heat seemed to fill the void. A nagging voice at the back of his head kept asking for how long they would suffice, but every time he was able to push those thoughts away and get to work. He was well past his deadline and his livelihood depended on getting the book finished.

He hadn't spoken to his mother at all, which wasn't unusual given the hectic schedule of someone in a theatrical production, but he had spoken to Alexis three times, and each time she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely. He also heard male voices in the background of each phone call, which made him cringe, but there wasn't much he could do about it. She had to be there, and he had to be here. Plus, if anything did happen, he knew some cops and a Medical Examiner he could call on to make it look like an accident. Besides his mother, he also hadn't spoken to Captain Montgomery, Ryan or Esposito, or even Kate at all since leaving the precinct after his going-away pizza and beer party. He did notice that Lanie had called him when he was in the shower one day. He left her a voice mail in response, but hadn't heard back.

As he paused to work through a new scene in his mind, he heard Gina call him from inside the house. He decided that he could pick up where he left off later, so he saved the file, closed the lid of his laptop and stood to go into the house only to find that Gina had come out to find him.

"There you are," she said as she dropped her purse by the door that led into the house's spacious family room. "Get a lot done today?"

"Yeah, actually. About a chapter and half," Castle answered. "Not as much as I'd wanted to, but it's still progress."

"Good." Gina said matter-of-factly. There was then an awkward silence as she looked at him as if she was debating with herself about what to say or do next. "I wasn't interrupting anything was I, because if you're on a roll, I wouldn't -"

"No, no. It's fine. I was just trying to work out a new scene when you came out here anyway."

"What's the scene?"

"It's a more funny one where Rook takes revenge on Heat, Raley, and Ochoa for playing a series of pranks on him. It's totally hilarious!" Castle's eyes positively lit up with delight as he spoke.

Gina took a step closer to him, putting her squarely in his personal space, and grinned. "I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself again."

Castle couldn't help but pick up on a slightly seductive tone in his ex-wife's voice. His brow furrowed slightly as he also suspected that Gina was holding back on something. "Is something going on because you've never been worried about interrupting me while I was writing before?"

Inside, Gina knew he had seen right through her like a pane of glass, but the corporate knock-em-dead instincts that she had spent so long honing took over quickly enabling her to cover herself. "No, nothing's going on. I'm just proud of the progress you've made on the book. I gotta be honest though, I was really getting concerned that this one would never see the light of day and we'd have to take back that advance and the press would be bad, and … you know. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera."

"Right, of course. A lot of things were starting to get to me too, but I think that getting out of the city, the change of scenery, it all really made a difference."

"Great," Gina said and smiled the million-dollar smile that was what originally attracted Castle to her. He couldn't help but smile back, if for no other reason than to fill the second awkward silence that had crept up between them.

"You know what, let me take you out to celebrate how much work you've gotten done," Gina suggested.

A little voice sounded off in Castle's brain that this was not a good idea. On the surface, Gina was intelligent, savvy, and charming, but Castle also knew she had a darker side that resembled a manipulative corporate killer. Still, they had been getting along really well so far and that whole time she hadn't so much as hinted at a desire to rekindle their romance. Then something Beckett had once told him when he'd had the actress Ellie Monroe throwing herself at him crossed his mind. Maybe Gina was interested in more than just his getting the book done. Maybe she'd sensed that he and Beckett were getting too close and she'd ingratiated herself to him just enough so that he'd invite her to the Hamptons with him.

Beckett. No, put THAT out of your mind, he told himself. She's off limits with Demming now. Probably on a beach somewhere in a skimpy two-piece bikini making googly eyes at him as she rubs sunscreen over his chiseled shoulders. She's happy with him, so you have to let that go. And isn't that the reason you invited Gina to come with you in the first place? To move on? To give Beckett her space? Judging from the fact that you haven't heard from her since arriving here, it's a safe bet that it worked.

"C'mon Rick. I think you deserve it. I've cracked the whip and you've responded. Don't you think that you've earned a little dinner on me?" Gina kept her eyes and voice casual and relaxed, so as to disguise any appearance of begging – or her real purpose.

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Listen, I'm your publisher, so I order you to take the night off and join me for dinner at the Blue and White Tavern."

Castle's eyes flew open at the mention of his favorite restaurant that was only a short drive away from his house. "The Blue and White? Why didn't you say so! I'll go pretty up!" He snatched up his laptop and practically skipped off the porch and into the house

"Our reservation is at 7:30, so make it snappy," Gina called after him. She then turned and gazed out over the ocean at the sun that had just begun to set. Like putty in my hands, she thought, and turned around and headed into the house to get ready herself.