Chapter Twenty-Five
Rick came downstairs to find Alexis and Keith in the kitchen helping to prepare dinner. He picked out a few potatoes and quickly washed them. "Pumpkin, can you put these on the grill for me." He watched until she was on the patio. "Keith…I'm not sure how to do this and if I'm reading this situation all wrong let me apologize right now. What are your intentions with regards to my daughter?"
Keith looked uncomfortable and shifted from one foot to the other unable to look at him. "Mr. Castle, I like Alexis, a lot more than any girl ever before. She is not like anyone I've ever met but I've already made plans for after college and they don't include any serious relationships. So I tried to stay away from her. I had Mike put me on another job for the last two days but I missed her so much, too much. I asked him to let me come back. He warned me to never get involved with a client and especially not a client's daughter."
"You know Alexis just turned eighteen and will be starting at Columbia in five weeks."
"Yes sir, I know how much she is looking forward to college. I would never try to interfere with that because I had to work damned hard to put myself through school. Alexis is so smart and focused. We talked about things when I came back today, asked her to let me stay. I will never intentionally hurt her and I won't let anyone else hurt her either. Please don't ask Mike to replace me. I promise you, Alexis is safe with me. Mike said if you were OK with me coming back, I can stay."
"Keith, my daughter worked as an intern at the NYPD 12th precinct, if you hurt her it's not just me you'll have to answer to. Most of the detectives and all the cops at that station will make you wish you were dead. As to you staying on the job, the final decision isn't mine. If Alexis wants you gone, that's it. I'll tell Mike to replace you. Understood?" Keith nodded. "Good, now what do you want to eat?" Rick took out a huge knife and expertly chopped up an ear of raw corn and some potatoes for the skewers but the underlying message came through loud and clear.
Keith looked at Rick surprised but relieved. "A hamburger is fine for me, thank you, Sir." He was stunned when another man walked up behind him, he hadn't heard him coming.
"Great timing Kevin, I was just putting on your steak, beer is out on the patio. This is Keith Nichols; he is a friend of Alexis. Keith, this is Detective Kevin Ryan from the 12th precinct. What would Jenny like for dinner?"
"Steak is her favorite. She is still unpacking. Do I have time to hit the pool before we eat?"
"Sure, it will take at least 30 minutes for your steak and potatoes. I am just putting on turkey skewers for Kate and Alexis but I need one more dinner order. Alexis!"
"Potatoes are on, what else can I do, Dad?"
"The skewers will be ready in a minute. Have you seen your grandmother today? Will you see if she is upstairs and ask if she will be joining us for dinner. If she is, what would she like to eat?"
"Sure Dad." Alexis saw Kate and Jenny coming down the back staircase so she ran up the spiral stairs.
"Jenny, dinner will be ready in about a half an hour, beer and sodas are on the patio. Kevin is in the pool." Kate and Jenny walked outside and each got a beer.
"Dad, Gram isn't upstairs."
"Thank you for checking, sweetie! Here take these out and put them on the grill. I will be out in a minute with the rest."
Dinner was tasty, casual and fun but amazingly no one was pushed, thrown or fell into the pool. After dinner, Rick could see that Jenny and Kevin were getting tired but it was Alexis and Keith that left first. They had been invited to a pool party with a slightly younger crowd. Kevin and Jenny went up to bed shortly after they left.
As Kate and Rick cleaned up, he came up behind her and nuzzled her neck with his almost beard. "Now I have you all to myself."
"Good because I want to know what's wrong, Rick. Is it Keith and Alexis?"
"You know me too well already. I talked to him tonight…I think he is in love with her. She is so young, too young to get serious but then I'm not sure she feels the same about him. Like her mother, I sometimes don't know what she really feels. After all she is a third generation actress. No matter how this plays out, someone is going to get hurt. Love, real love will always outgrow whatever boundaries are placed on it. It cannot be contained or limited, at least not for very long. There will come a time when you need them or they need you and those carefully constructed boundaries will fall." Rick took Kate into his arms and kissed her. She knew he wasn't just talking about Keith and Alexis.
As the kiss ended, Kate placed a hand on his chest "Because the heart wants, what the heart wants."
"My heart wants you." They both said it at the same time. Rick kissed her again and all houghts of the hot tub were gone. Taking her hand, he turned off the lamps around the pool and they walked hand in hand to his room.
The bedroom door was barely shut when Kate took his shirt off and her cover-up quickly followed. She reached for his shorts but Rick caught her hands. "Kate, you can make another of my fantasies come true for me. Since LA I've dreamed of peeling that suit off of you."
"Just how many fantasies do you have about me, Rick? His smile made her shake his head. "Never mind, just don't savor the moment too long or you will be naked on the floor with me on top of you."
"I may be a bit sleep deprived but could you explain why that would that be a bad thing?"
Kate just smiled until he kissed her, his hands buried in her hair. When the kiss slowly ended his hands traced down her neck and caressed both shoulders pushing a strap off one and then the other. He ran his hands down each arm, pushing the straps along the way. As he lifted her hands to be kissed, he removed the straps and exactly as he fantasized, peeled her suit all the way down. As it hit the floor she stepped out of it. "Your turn, Writer Man!"
Rick was otherwise occupied caressing all her newly exposed skin. When Kate reached for the waistband of his shorts, he scooped her up and put her down on the mattress. Stripping off his shorts far too quickly for her taste; Kate voiced her disappointment as Rick settled in beside her. "Slowly Rick, anticipation is half the fun and why is it I never get a chance to ogle you. It's really a good thing you write for a living, you'd starve as a stripper."
"Kate please, I may be ruggedly handsome but this is not a body that women swoon over."
"I disagree but we can argue about that later. For now don't tease me anymore, I need you." Kate pulled him down to her and then into her. They made love to each other until they both drifted into a sated sleep. Sometime later Kate woke. Maybe it was her cop's sixth sense but she felt rather than heard someone enter the house. Rick was deeply asleep and she did not want to disturb him by turning on the light. Kate quickly found and pulled back on her swim suit but couldn't find the cover-up. So she grabbed Rick's robe and smiled at the memory as she tied the robe's belt. She went down the back staircase quietly but was relieved to find Alexis alone in the kitchen making more cookies.
"Something smells really good."
"Making cookies sandwiches, this time chocolate cookies but it's just store bought frosting."
"What are you celebrating and can I join you?"
"Not really celebrating, just needed massive quantities of sugar. I love the turkey tips we had for dinner but a few hours later I am starving again. Please join me."
"Maybe that's what woke me up. I shouldn't be but I"m hungry. So how was your party?"
"The party was fun…."
"But?"
"All the kids just seemed so childish; pushing people in the pool, drinking games."
"Alexis you worked at the coroner's office, that's not a kid's job. You are the oldest eighteen year old I have ever met."
"Grams always tells me I have an old soul. I tried to cut loose and have a party once when Dad had to go to Atlantic City on a case. It started out OK...but more and more people crashed the party and the loft got trashed. I threw everyone out and spent the rest of the night and most of the next day cleaning up and fixing things that got broken…but I never told Dad."
"Your secret is safe with me."
"After all that, it wasn't even fun. I guess being a hell raiser skipped my generation."
"How are things going with Keith? If you don't want to answer…"
"He didn't want to stay either. After we left the party, we just walked the beach and sat on the rocks. Really Kate, we didn't do anything except kiss."
"Is he a good kisser?"
"I like when he kisses me…it's so different than Ashley. I didn't want him to stop tonight." Alexis suddenly realized what she said out loud and blushed. "That came out all wrong."
"You don't owe me any explanations but if you ever need to talk…" The sound of the oven timer interrupted them. "Let's have some milk and cookies. I think I'll skip the frosting this time, at least until I can start jogging again." They sat at the table enjoying their midnight snack.
"How are you feeling, Kate?"
"Much better, the deep muscle pain is getting better every day."
"You should try the hot tub."
"I was going to tonight but your Dad was too tired. I don't know how to work it."
"You still have your suit on under the robe? Good, I have a suit on under this. I wouldn't mind a quick soak. Follow me." Alexis turned on the light closest to the hot tub. "These are the controls; you can set the timer, heat and the force of the bubbles." Removing her dress, Alexis got in. "The water is only warm now but it heats up fast, let me know if it gets too hot."
They sat at opposite ends of the tub, each lost in their own thoughts until Alexis worked up the nerve to ask Kate the one question she needed an answer too. "Kate, when the suspension is over, are you going to resign?"
"I'm just not sure Alexis. I was so angry about the suspension and with Gates, I just quit. I love to solve the puzzle, find the killer and give closure to the victim's family. It's not an easy or fun job most of the time and it can play hell with your personal life."
"You'll always have Dad with you, so you're not alone. He loves you and even though he can be like a kid some times, OK most of the times, he is good at solving the puzzle and it's never boring with him around."
"I do complain about Rick sometimes but you're right. I don't think I'd want to go back to the 12th if Gates won't let your Dad be my partner anymore. He's more than just my partner, Alexis. I love him too."
"If he asks, or maybe I should say when he asks you, will you marry him?"
"Alexis honestly I don't have an answer. I once told your Dad that until I solved my mother's murder, I couldn't even think about a personal life. I think that is why he's never asked. He feels that we will eventually solve her case but now I'm not sure I want to know. I know that finding the answer isn't worth the lives of those who have already died or anyone else I might lose. If I do find her killer, my mother will still be gone. Even if I never look for her killer again, the man that ordered her death is still out there. He may still be after me and if he is, I may be putting you and your family in danger. I need some time to re-think a lot of things. That is why I needed to come here but was so afraid to."
"Kate, if Dad thought he couldn't protect you, me and Grams, he would never have brought you here. I do understand that you have a lot on your mind, so I think I'll head up now and give you some time and space to think. Goodnight, Kate."
Kate got up and hugged Alexis. "Thank you and sleep well." She stayed in the hot tub long after the bubbles stopped, lost in thought about the day's events. Deep down she was glad there was nothing new on her mother's case. It was wonderful to step away from it for a while. She was having too much fun with Rick to leave. Leave and go back to what? Did she want her job back? Did she trust Gates? Who could she trust outside the department to help her? Was Maddox still out there? Kate felt a chill and wasn't sure if the shiver came from the cooling water or thoughts of when or where "The Dragon" would strike at her again. Leaving the hot tub, she dried off and pulled on his robe. Kate inhaled the smell of Rick on it and hurried upstairs, she needed him now.
AN: Sorry for the delay, writing longhand by candle light may look romantic but it is really slow. Thank God, we have power again!