The Devil made me do it - honest.

Then and Now by Oldest Man
Chapter 26

Aboard the Catamaran Fickle Muse
6 miles east of Cape May, New Jersey

It was long past sunset. The lights of the Jersey shore were easy to make out just at the horizon while east was black as pitch. Kate was leaning against him, fighting to stay awake. This was the closest they'd been since the hotel in Arlington and he found it hard not to put both arms around her. He kept one on the wheel and wondered about sleeping arrangements.

Kate was in between awake and asleep and wiggled closer to Rick. She wasn't cold, just drawn to his heat like a moth to a flame. He always seemed warmer to her than she was and that's probably why she'd awakened so many mornings practically laying on him.

"Honey, when are you going to pull over and park this thing for the night? I think we both could use something to eat and then some sleep."

Rick laughed and squeezed her tighter before moving his arm from around her.

"See any land around here, Kate? If you're hungry, take over here and I'll go down and pop something into the microwave." He laughed again as she gave him her patented 'asshole' look and took over steering.

Kate couldn't read the dials on the cockpit control panel without a light but figured, from her watch, that they must be off the coast of Virginia by now. Maybe they could pull over and dock in Norfolk? Surely the Navy would have room for a tiny thing like the Fickle Muse? She was hungry and tired and knew that Rick must be feeling tired since he'd done all the work.

The Muse didn't have a microwave but he used the next-best thing to it: hot water and LurpRats. He got Mac 'n Cheese while he splurged and got Kate a Ravioli dinner. Once he got the water boiling he just dumped the packet contents into deep bowls and poured in boiling water and stirred the dehydrated chunks vigorously. He grabbed two beers and went up on deck and handed her a spoon, her bowl and a beer and then retrieved his own and returned to her side.

Her first bite was his undoing. He watched as she tried to figure out what it was she was eating from the various flavors since no one in their right mind could have identified it from it's appearance.

He started to smile, and then squelched a chuckle as her eyes rolled to the left as her brain went into hyper drive cataloguing taste, smell, after-taste, and texture. It was texture that would throw her off. It always did.

"Hey, this is good. What is it?" It was good and she knew that Rick's culinary talents tended to create bizarre concoctions, some of which were actually edible but this was foreign but familiar. It was good.

"Ravioli a la Castle. The taste and smell and nutrition are intact but the actual substance has been dehydrated. It's backpacker's stuff I keep on hand because it doesn't ever go bad. Add boiling water, stir vigorously and thoroughly and you have what you're eating."

"It's good but it looks like – "

"Someone already ate it once? Yeah, the look and texture leave a lot to be desired but it's filling and nutritious and you can get a lot of Lurps in a small space."

"Lurps? Sounds like something you'd invent."

"Hey, now! I'll have you know that these were invented for Long Range Recon Patrols in the Vietnam theater of operations, thus L-R-R-P rations or Lurp-Rats."

"I'll take your word for it. So, what did you get?" She was curious. His looked vaguely like baby spit-up.

"Mac 'n Cheese. Try it." He held out his plastic spoon and offered her a bite that she took gladly.

"Not bad but I think I'll stick to my Ravioli dinner, thank you very much. So, is this typical of meals on the Muse?"

"Nope. Just when I'm lazy or the weather's rough. You saw the refrigerator and freezer. I just wanted to get something into you quickly since we were both so hungry."

She had a rude thought and blushed. 'I wish he'd get something a little more substantial into me.

He knew instantly what she was thinking and that made her smile but she could feel the heat pouring off her face.

"We need to talk about sleeping arrangements, Kate." He looked at her in earnest and that look made her blush even more.

"I'll sleep up here tonight since we need to be extra careful passing the Chesapeake Bay lanes but after that we can set up a schedule – "

"Wait a damned minute, Richard Castle! I didn't come on this floating mancave to sleep alone, damn it. We sleep together wherever we go, understand? We need intimacy to work on our other issues, not distance."

"Fine, but don't bitch tomorrow when you feel like crap. I'm going below to try and call Alexis. I forgot to tell her about the change in plans and I don't want her to worry. Take the wheel. Keep the compass heading and call out if you see anything big on the horizon." He toggled on the cockpit lights and went below.

He called Alexis after checking the time. It was just 10pm in California and he figured she'd be awake.

"Who is this?" She sounded upset and Rick realized he was using his 'new' phone without caller ID.

"It's your father, brat. I'm going to be quick since I'm on the Muse heading south. I'll be out of shore range so don't freak out if you can't reach me for a few days. I'm heading for the Keys and then I'll decide where to head from there."

"Dad, sorry, but I didn't recognize the caller ID. What happened to the immersion therapy?" She dreaded the answer although if he was on the cat heading south, he was running away from her.

"Change of venue. Kate's with me. She doesn't understand the sleeping arrangements so she's going to sleep in the cockpit with me."

"You explained about traffic, right? She doesn't think it's because you don't want to – "

"When has she ever really listened, Lex? I'll explain it but she won't accept it. Wait until tomorrow when she can hardly move around."

"That's mean, Dad, even for you."

"Life's mean, pumpkin. Gotta go. Say hi to Joe for me. And tell him 'no grandkids' until you're married, understand me?"

"Yeah, listen, about that…"

"You're not – "

"No! We just, uh, we're taking a break is all. Seeing other people. I guess I suck at relationships. Must be genetic."

Her words stung him, hurt him and she knew it. "Sorry, Dad. I'm just in the dumps rights now. I – " The signal started to fail as they got further from the coast.

He ran up and pushed Kate to the side and turned the wheel hard over to starboard and handed Kate the cell phone.

"Talk to your daughter. She's in relationship hell and she needs her mom not her worthless genetically-damaging old man. I'm heading east to hold the signal."

"Alexis, it's Kate. Alexis?" All she got was static and then dead air and a display that said 'call dropped – signal lost'.

"Call dropped. What did she say? Joe didn't dump her, did he?" And what's with the genetically-damaging old man' comment?

"Lex said they were 'taking a break' and seeing other people. She's upset and it's all my fault. Bad parenting, bad examples, rotten examples. She says it's genetic."

"Rick, you know she didn't mean – "

"I don't care what she meant, get her back on the phone and talk some sense into her. She and Joe are perfect for one another and he's so nuts about her he'll go along with whatever she wants. It's what happened when she first came back here. It's my fault, damn it. I should have been more supportive and less of a wise ass!"

She knew there was no talking with him now, not when he was in such a dark mood. Kate went below and tried calling Alexis again but got a 'no service'.

She called up to Rick that she still had 'no service' and would keep trying. He nodded while debating dropping the sails and using the diesel but figured the time it took to bring in the sails would negate any gains from speed.

A few minutes later Kate called up to him that she had dial tone and would call Alexis. Castle just nodded and set out to trim sail to drop her speed. He didn't want to lose headway but he didn't want to get too close to shore either.

"Lex, it's Kate. Your dad's upstairs driving the Muse in to shore so talk, Lex. Tell me what's wrong."

"We broke up. Joe asked me to marry him when I graduate and he had a ring and everything. I was going to say 'yes' but then he said something that hurt me so bad that I just told him 'no' and I'm moving out, back to my own place."

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm sure he didn't know that what he said would be hurtful."

"He said he'd never be like my Dad and that he was a one-girl guy. He said that – "

"There's nothing wrong with your father, Alexis Castle, nothing at all! We all cheated on him and we all took advantage of – look, we're working things out, Lex, your father and I. We're going to make this work. We both want it but we have to deal with some problems we have. You need to talk to Joe, Alexis, and explain your father's past relationships and don't you dare pull any punches. And your father is not genetically damaged!"

"He thought I meant that he was – I meant that I was damaged. I knew he was hurt but I wasn't thinking clearly. I'm so afraid of turning into my mother. I saw how she made a mess of my Dad's life. Let me talk to him, Kate. I didn't mean what he thought I did."

"I'll handle your father. You go handle Joe. I expect a report within a few hours, Alexis Castle. Your father is hurting so I'll end this conversation on this note: Do not ever let anyone bad mouth your father. He's a wonderful man and we're both lucky he's been in our lives. Now, go fix it with Joe."

She ended the call and put the phone in her jacket pocket and went back up to the cockpit. Castle had tied off the wheel and was taking in the sail, probably in preparation for changing over to diesel and she held her breath and watched him dance along deck.

The Muse slowed and Castle signaled Beckett to start the engine as he finished furling the mainsail. He was midway between the main mast and the winch that would crank down the jib when the engine kicked in and she gave it full power. The deck seemed to leap from under his feet and he went over the side.

Kate saw him disappear over the side and immediately cut power and then she remembered Rick's comment about a 270 degree turn and she increased power and threw the wheel hard over and scanned the sea for her husband. Watching the compass carefully, she steered straight ahead once she'd turned 270 degrees but there was still no sign of Rick.

She was almost frantic and rummaged through the storage bin beneath the seat and found a large spotlight and a Very pistol. She fired the flare gun and then flicked on the lamp and began a slow scan of the moving surface of the sea.