Rick drove for the first hour or so before they stopped for lunch at the same little diner that Kate's parents had been bringing Kate since her first trip the cabin. The waitress greeted Kate and Zach warmly by name and hit just the right balance of being friendly and attentive while also giving them their privacy.
After they had eaten, Kate and Rick switched seats so Kate could navigate the next two hour drive. The kids fell asleep in the back seat a few minutes after they got back in the car and they travelled in silence for the rest of the journey.
It wasn't tense between them, per say, but there was none of the tender banter that there would have normally been.
Just over three hours after they had left the loft, Kate pulled up the gravel driveway of the Beckett Cabin. She put the car in park and switched off the engine, leaning around to look at the back seat, her heart softening at the sight of her darling son, sleeping peacefully bedside the girl who he seemed so very enamoured with. Alexis was curled in her seat, her hand under her cheek, facing Zach, watching over him, even in sleep.
"You wanna grab our bags?" Kate asked, taking her keys out of the ignition and finding the door key for the cabin, handing it to Rick with a soft smile. "I'll wake Lex but I need to be with Zach when he wakes up. He's been clingy since the hospital."
Rick nodded. "Course." He gently cupped the back of her head and kissed her forehead. He was determined to not let this strange tension ruin their break.
He quickly gathered their luggage and made his way to the house while Kate got out and opened the back door, perching on the edge of the car beside Zach as she gently stroked his leg, bringing him up to wakefulness slowly.
A few hours later, after they had unpacked, explored outside for a few hours and eaten their barbecue dinner, the children were asleep, curled up on the couch beside the fire, their, now cool, hot chocolates sat on the low level coffee table.
Kate watched on with a soft smile, even as she felt the tension creeping between her and Rick. They had never really discussed her meltdown about the Hamptons and she could tell he wasn't completely over it yet, even if neither of them could pinpoint their exact feelings over it.
"Hey, can we talk?" Rick asked quietly, tilting his head to the back door.
Kate sighed before nodding, putting down her mug and following him out of the door, pulling it just short of closed behind her so they could still hear the kids if they needed to.
"Everything okay?" Kate asked, feigning ignorance of the tension between them.
Rick sighed as he leaned against the side of the cabin, looking out over the lake, the mirror surface scattered with stars. "I write best sellers for a living, Kate." He murmured, not looking at her, watching the gentle breeze rustle the leaves instead.
Kate nodded, crossing her arms across her stomach, needing to protect herself despite not knowing why, or from what.
"And, even if I do say so myself, I'm pretty good at it."
"I've read a few of them, I know how good they are." She murmured softly.
Rick nodded, thoughtfully. "Kate, my bank account will, with a bit of luck and provided I don't suddenly lose all motivation or means to write, always have a steady cash flow. A rather high one actually."
Kate tensed beside him. "I can't tell if you're bragging or defending yourself, but I don't want you to do either. I get it, I'll never be in the same financial league as you. Hell I'm lucky I can pay my rent most months. I don't understand why you're telling me about your more than flush monetary situation." She replied defensively.
"For precisely this reason." He murmured, determined not to fight with her. "I bring up money and you automatically go on the defensive. It's not a competition. Money doesn't make me a better person or something."
"No, not better, but you have no idea what I have to go through to put food on the table for my kid. You will never have to. And I am glad! So glad that you never have to."
"So let me help." Rick argued, turning to face her. "Kate let me help you, take a little bit of this away so you can relax every now and again without worrying about how you're gonna pay your bills."
Kate glared at him. "I'm not a charity case. I can look after my self and my son just fine thanks."
Rick sighed exasperatedly. "Kate..."
"No, Rick. You may have had the silver spoon treatment but I know the value of earning every penny and Zach needs to too."
"The silver...?!" He trailed off in offended shock. "Kate I was raised by my single mother who worked every hour god gave to provide for me. I never had a silver spoon Kate. And hell, I may not know what it's like to have to worry where my daughter's next meal is coming from, but I did have to worry where my next meal was coming from when I was a child and shit Kate, if someone had offered to help my mom out, I would have begged her to take it."
"Nice. Throw a little emotional blackmail in there. How dare you? Rick, my son and I got on just fine before you came into the picture, and we'll be just fine after you leave, so butt out okay? I can provide for my son just fine without your handouts."
"That's not what I... Kate, Zach is fine, better than fine, you know I know that. I'm just saying that wouldn't it be nice to not have to scrimp and save to buy him something he needs? I don't mind helping out. I love that kid, and I care about you, and I can help so why won't you let me?"
Kate shook her head. "He's my son rick. Mine. Not your personal charity case. So before you start going all Daddy Warbucks on me, remember that I'm not little orphan Annie in need of saving, okay? I'm perfectly fine without you. You could leave tomorrow and it wouldn't affect how I raise my son in the slightest."
Rick stared at her for a moment before shrugging weakly. "Would it affect you at all Kate? If I up and left would it matter to you even a little bit? Because I care about you Kate. A hell of a lot and I don't understand why you're suddenly so determined to push me out of both of your lives. Maybe you should think about that. Meanwhile, I'm going to get my daughter to bed. If you want me to leave that's fine. I'll go first thing in the morning, but I won't let you punish her by making me smuggle her home in the middle of the night. It's Alexis and Zach's vacation too Kate."
He shook his head finally before retreating back into the cabin.
Kate listened as he gently spoke to his daughter before watching through the crack as he lifted her with ease and grace and carried her to her bed for the night.
Once he'd, presumably, settled her, he did something that made Kate's heart swell even as tears sprung to her eyes.
Rick slowly dragged the blanket from the back of the couch and tucked it around her sleeping child, kissing his forehead before leaving to go to his own bed.
She had a self destructive streak, always had, but that, coupled with the defensive wall she'd built around herself and her son after everything that happened with his father, and she was a ticking time bomb.
She could only hope that this wasn't her timer reaching zero.