Recluse: Chapter 7
DISCLAIMER: Most of these characters are not mine at all, but they are memorable. Thank you, Mr. Marlowe. The others? Yeah, they're mine
Friday afternoon – September 5, 2014, 5:03 p.m., Castle's Island Home in Connecticut
"Dad, let's go," an excited Alexis Castle calls out, wading through the water to the long, sleek thirty-five foot craft that bobs up and down, some fifteen feet from the dock. The tide is out a bit today – probably why her dad opted to build another boat dock on the open-ocean side of the island.
She carries with her the fairly large basket of food, with her father in tow behind her, carrying a small, portable ice chest filled with ice and drinks. Kate Beckett is a few steps behind him with additional foodstuffs.
It is Alexis' first visit in almost three weeks, and Kate has decided that a night on the water – just the three of them – will do all some good. She plans on going perhaps a mile or two further out into the Sound before dropping anchor – still well in sight of land, but far enough to feel out on the water. Samantha will be arriving tomorrow, and that will mean another late afternoon and evening without Castle. She wants to make the most of this time, this evening.
Alexis is unable to keep the smirk from her face as she approaches the craft, her eyes on the boat's name inscribed in large black letters. A few more steps and she places the basket on the back ledge, and grabs the ladder, climbing aboard. She turns and takes the ice cooler from her father, grunting with its weight. She then takes the additional food bag from Kate, along with a duffel bag of board games they plan on playing late into the evening.
There are smiles aplenty between the three as Alexis fires up the engine – a broad smile painting her still slightly-freckled face, and the long red strands of hair begin to rise in the wind as they pick up speed, pulling away from Cutthroat Island, as her father has named their home. Not the most original name, but he has certainly gotten into character with his own private, pirate playground. Unbeknownst to Alexis or Kate, he has even gone as far to bury treasure on the island – having acquired a beautiful white gold necklace, with a two carat diamond with a matching pink tourmaline stone wrapped inside a heart. It's a gift he plans on giving to his detective very soon. That had been a good day, just a week ago, when he had awakened before Kate and managed to sneak out and bury the piece inside a small, mock treasure chest. He had built up a sweat, rushing to the spot and digging a shallow hole – no more than three feet deep – and placing the item there.
Of course, retracing his steps, counting each one while trying to take shorter, Beckett-like steps had been more difficult than he imagined. Still, he had pulled it off, and has created a map of the island and the gift's current resting place on his laptop.
Moreover, the playful jaunt had – at least temporarily – unleashed the writer's previously paralyzed imagination, and now an outline for a new series of novels has been created.
Of course, who will publish these new works, once he completes the first one, is a huge question mark now. True to her prediction, Black Pawn had dumped their prize star almost three months ago. No matter, it had been an expected move. Gina's warning had been disappointing, of course, but it also had served to remove the harsh sting once it actually occurred.
Now on the boat, Castle and Kate sit back, relaxing, holding hands, both watching the spray of red hair in front of them navigating the long craft. She is humming, singing something neither of them can make out.
Kate feels his fingers along hers, and she fights to restrain herself as she notices his fingers playing with the engagement ring still on her finger. She risks a glance his way, and sees he is deep in thought, his eyes firmly on the jewelry piece.
"We have to do something about this," he tells her, his voice just above the small roar of the engine. "It looks lonely there, without its mate."
Alexis offers a quick glance over her shoulder, having heard her father's words. She smiles to herself, nodding her head.
She had asked him, just a few hours ago, late this morning upon her arrival, about that very topic, and had . . . well, admonished is probably the correct term. She had admonished him for avoiding the subject with Kate.
"I haven't been avoiding the subject, Alexis," he had attempted – feebly – to argue. "I just haven't –"
"You haven't been yourself, I know, Dad," she completes for him. "And all of us understand that. But you have a woman out there who has dropped everything, and everyone – just to be with you, to take care of you. This is the same woman who you have complained – rightly so – that sprints away faster than an Olympian at the slightest obstacle. Yet here she is, deep undercover with you out here. You owe it to her to at least talk about it."
"I know, pumpkin," he had countered. "It's just –"
"It's just, nothing, Dad," Alexis had countered herself, knowing that she is pushing it a bit. But she thinks her dad kind of needs a push right now.
"She deserves to know what you are thinking, one way or the other," his daughter had told him. "If it were me, and some man were avoiding the topic with me . . . what would you be telling me to do?"
She had been right, of course. Regardless of where his head is – and has been – she deserves to know what is going on. And of course, he still wants to marry this woman – probably more than anything in the world. Especially after the past month or so – as things have been pleasantly different, better, even despite his current challenges. And that – for him – is the issue.
He just feels unworthy of her. He's a murderer. A monster. His very humanity has been tested by the universe and he failed miserably.
He doesn't even know how to broach the subject with her. But Alexis is right – tonight needs to be the night they at least start talking about it again. He continues fingering the ring, eyes fixated on the shining diamond, his mind traveling back to when he placed it on her finger.
"It is still beautiful," he hears Kate tell him, and he feels pangs of guilt for letting it go this far.
"It's beautiful but lonely," he repeats. "It needs a companion."
"I need a companion," she tells him, in a moment of rare vulnerability from his detective. "I was beginning to wonder if you still wanted this."
"I have wanted this for years, Kate," he tells her, now turning to face her. "Don't ever question that – even when everything I may be doing screams otherwise, never question how much I love and need you."
To her credit, Alexis is trying to tune the private moment out, now humming even louder to drown out the poignant conversation behind her. She is partially successful.
"I'm glad to hear that," Kate tells him. "So . . ."
She lets the question hang in the warm breeze, her body now used to the rhythmic bumping of the craft on the ocean.
"So, how does later this month sound to you?" he asks, a fantastic idea now bouncing around his head. Okay, fantastic from his point of view. It remains to be seen what she will think about it, but given a few things he has already done . . .
"Yeah, this will be so cool, so epic," he thinks to himself. She doesn't know his thoughts, of course, but her heart erupts as she sees the flicker of excitement dancing in his eyes. She has seen remnants of this, of course, in the past couple of weeks, but here as dusk approaches – now over three months after his ordeal - she finally sees the full-beam power of her fiancée re-surface. It's about damn time, too.
"Seriously?" she asks, excitement growing. "This month? But what about –"
"Will this month work or not, m'lady?" he asks, his trademark smirk finding its place, bringing a broader smile to her face.
"Sure, Castle, why not?" she tells him, smiling in agreement. "But –"
"No buts," he interrupts. "Leave the details to me. It's not like I have anything to do anyway. It will be fun and it will be good for me."
"Hey Castle," she inserts, "it's not like my plate is full either. I could –"
"You could just make yourself stunningly beautiful and extraordinary, just like you always do," he smiles. "I will take care of the rest."
He turns his attention to their 'captain', cupping his hands around his mouth for effect.
"Ahoy Captain, I'd say we're about where we need to be," he says with a broad, infectious smile. "Drop anchor anywhere you like."
"Aye aye, skipper," Alexis chimes back, half turning and giving a mock salute. She turns back to the open water with a smile, and lets the smooth craft glide another hundred or so yards before throttling the engine down. She takes a deep breath of sea air, eyes closed, and her smile still bright. Opening her eyes, she looks eastward, towards the open ocean and glances upward at the stars now sprinkled across the sky, downward to the horizon.
She steps back off the bridge and glances at the couple, who – still cuddled together – are watching her with broad smiles of their own.
"What?" she asks, almost defensively but more playfully. "Is something on me?" she jokes, glancing down at her backside, and then the back of her legs.
"No," he smiles – and there is just a tad hint of sadness there – as he gazes at his young daughter. "Just watching my pumpkin grow up right before my eyes," he says, and feels a supportive squeeze in his hand from Kate.
"Okay, who's hungry?" Kate asks loudly, warding off the potential downpour of tears between father and daughter.
"Me!" shouts Alexis, drawing yet another smile from her dad.
"Good," Kate replies, standing and reaching down for the basket filled with food. Alexis reaches down and flips a switch, turning soft music on, and seconds later, the cabin lights come on. They will stay out here a few hours before returning to within a hundred yards of the island docks before dropping anchor for the evening.