Stay in Touch
Chapter 20
It doesn't surprise Kate that Rick picks her up in a luxury sedan. She knows he can afford one, possibly a fleet of them, and the size and ratings fit with his concern for safely transporting his daughter. Rick had let her know that he'd taken Alexis to camp the day before, and he and Kate would have the beach house to themselves. As he loads her bags into the trunk, her eyebrows flick upwards. "You didn't bring much luggage for yourself."
He shrugs. "I keep things at the house. It was easier that way when Alexis was little, and I had to cart all her baby stuff. There wasn't room for much else. As she got older, I just kept up the habit. And sometimes there's comfort in the old and familiar."
"I know what you mean. I have a Briny Peacocks sweatshirt that my mother bought for me when I was sixteen and obsessed with the group. It's all stretched out and keeps falling off one shoulder, but I still wear it."
Rick quirks a smile, as they climb into the car and he starts the engine. "I have a T-shirt that Alexis has tried to sneak into the trash three times because it's full of stains from when she spit up on me as an infant. To me, those spots are a badge of honor. But I promise I won't wear it to dinner. I'm not that gross. Not usually, anyway. I do have a fondness for creepy Halloween costumes, the bloodier, the better."
"I've always like Halloween too. It's a time when I can be whoever I want to be, warrior, astronaut, mermaid, or all three."
Rick grins. "That's a combination I would love to see. What do you do, smack the evil aliens with your tail?"
"Something like that. Maybe I can demonstrate in your pool."
"That's definitely something I'd like to see. The traffic shouldn't be too heavy, according to the last report I heard. With any luck, we can be poolside in a couple of hours. Any preferences for music on the drive? You can choose a radio station, or there are a bunch of CDs in the storage compartment in the console. Feel free to peruse them."
Kate flips through a stack of plastic cases. "Ooh, Coltrane! A man after my own heart."
"I hope so," Castle mutters under his breath as she inserts the disc and leans back against the soft leather of her seat to bask in the cool jazz.
"We're here," Rick announces, pulling up in front of what appears to Kate to be more of a mansion than a beach house. The one that her parents rented could fit in a corner of Rick's place and hardly be noticed. She can't help feeling a little intimidated as Rick walks around the car to open her door.
"This really is magnificent."
"It's okay. You should see Shapiro's place half a mile down the road. You could put up a whole band in it. I think that he actually did once when he was defending a rock star who got out of hand and smashed up the stage at the Rocky Shores Theater. For me, the extra room comes in handy when Alexis has her girlfriends out here. And mother has brought a beau or two to this abode as well." Carrying the part of Kate's luggage she didn't immediately grab herself, he leads the way into the house and up a flight of stairs. "I have four guest rooms. You can pick whichever one appeals to you. The housekeeper keeps them all made up, and each pair shares a bathroom, which would, of course, be all yours for the duration. The one between the pink bedroom and the violet bedroom has a massaging shower if you're fond of that sort of thing."
Kate peeks into the violet room. She hadn't known what to expect. Except for the wallpaper which features tiny bunches of delicate purple flowers, the furnishings are more practical than fussy, with a rag rug that looks washable, over a hardwood floor, and a sturdy queen-sized bed and matching dresser that can more than accommodate her things with space left over. "This one will be great."
"Glad you approve. I'll leave you to get settled and see what I can rustle up for lunch. Greta always likes to leave a surprise or two when she stocks the fridge and the pantry. Some of them are more of an adventure than others."
Rick tentatively sticks his head into the 20 cubic foot side by side refrigerator freezer. Things look pretty normal. There are the usual staples and an array of soft drinks, including a pitcher of lemonade. He checks a paper-wrapped package. Lox! Damn, he doesn't even know if Kate likes smoked salmon - or any kind of fish for that matter. He can ask, and if she does, they can have it for breakfast in the morning, to go with the bagels and cream cheese Greta has thoughtfully provided. But that doesn't help with lunch.
He checks the freezer and spots his favorite ribeyes. Perfect! He knows that Kate has a taste for red meat. She was about to prepare steaks when the two of them had to rush off to get a tape player. But he doesn't know how she likes them. He heads for the stairs to find out.
The door to the violet bedroom is closed, and he raps on it softly. Responding to Kate's call to come in, he pushes it open. Kate has changed into a long flowy cover-up. Seeing something that feminine on the uber-serious cop is surprising and intriguing. More than intriguing. Sexy as hell. Nothing shows, but everything is suggested. He swallows before he can get a word out. "I was just wondering how you like your meat - your steak - rare, medium, or well done?"
Kate turns to him, the curve of her breasts outlined by the thin fabric. "Still mooing if you can manage it. I like something I can get my teeth into."
Rick's mouth goes dry. "I wouldn't doubt it for a second. Ready to bite back, it will be."
"Anything I can do to help?"
Rick can think of any number of things, none of which he is about to voice. He decides to go for something less arousing. "You could work on the salad."
Kate follows him back to the kitchen and begins washing and drying leaves from the head of Romaine lettuce he hands her from the refrigerator. As he puts the steaks on the grill at the back of the stove, he watches Kate tear the greens into pieces before she searches out tomatoes and a serrated knife.
"You've done that before."
"My mother was a great cook, but she didn't have time to do much in the kitchen except for Sunday morning brunches. My Nonna made sure I learned the basics. Oh, I never answered your question about Italian. I do speak it, conversationally, or at least I did when I was younger. Nonna took me back to our family in Italy one summer. None of my cousins spoke more English than they could pick up from American movies, so I learned pretty fast. Then Nonna helped me fill in the gaps. I try to use the language in Italian restaurants and watch Italian movies without the subtitles to keep it up as well as I can."
Rick flips the steaks. "Another layer to the Kate Beckett story. I look forward to getting to know many more."