Summer Mix
Chapter 34
The Castles slept through the afternoon, awaking after the rain had stopped. "Are you in the mood to grill?" Castle asked as they donned fresh clothes.
"Yeah," Kate replied, running her tongue over her upper lip. "The stuff that Joe Murphy brought this morning looked wonderful."
"The beef or the fish?" he inquired.
"How about a little of each, like surf and turf?" Kate proposed.
"You're on," Castle agreed.
Using the generous supply of seasonings from their kitchen cornucopia, Castle put together a rub for the beef and Kate mixed up a quick marinade for the fish. After putting their preparations in the refrigerator to let the flavors infuse, Castle started the charcoal in the grill. While they waited for the coals to come to grilling temperature, a quick peek on the porch revealed the morning's finds had been taken and replaced by another clue scroll, this one bound with two multicolor bands. Kate read it out loud. "Returning where you once have been, you'll find a wonder, not e'er seen. This task you cannot do at night but best in early morning's light. Look not up high but down below, to capture bright the double bow. The proof you'll leave where left before, to raise the tally of your score.
"A double bow," Castle repeated. "Look at the bands on the scroll. They must mean we're supposed to take a picture of a double rainbow."
Kate picked up his thread. "The place we've already seen is the waterfall. We're supposed to go back there early in the morning and then leave the picture on the porch. No wonder there's a printer."
"Handy," Castle agreed. "But that gives us the night to ourselves. There's something I want to do after dinner. Not just that! Well that later," he stuttered at Kate's look. "Kate, do you remember the case that brought you to me out of the storm?"
"Castle, how could I possibly forget that? That's when we found out about Bracken. That was the first time we made love."
"Kate, before we realized the murder was related to your mother's killing, we were making plans for that night, Alexis' graduation night. I'd asked if you wanted to come over and watch a John Woo double feature with me. I was surprised when you said yes."
"I remember," Kate said. "Then everything hit the fan."
"Well I thought we could have the night I planned back then," Castle told her. "It would have been our first real date. I have The Killer and Hard Boiled on my laptop. We could hook it up to the big screen in the sitting room. There's popping corn here. We could use it."
"Castle, it so sweet that you'd remember that. Fine, dinner and a movie - two movies."
The beef came off the grill tender and juicy, the fish, wrapped with vegetables in aluminum packets, moist and flaky. After pairing their entrees with quickly tossed salads, cleaning up and popping corn, the Castles were more than ready to curl up in front of a screen."
Kate was swiping tears from her eyes at the end of The Killer. "You know Castle, I knew how this was going to come out but somehow I was hoping anyway for another ending. I wanted love to triumph and Jenny to get new eyes. I wanted Ah Jong to save her."
"We all love stories of redemption, don't we?" Castle replied. "Well even if Ah Jong couldn't save her eyes, he did die knowing that Jennie loved him. I remember thinking about something like that when Rostoff's men had me. At least I knew you loved me. It kept me going."
"It was the same when Vulcan Simmons had me," Kate said, cradling his face in her palms. "Thinking about you, I could get through anything." Their lips met, only to be interrupted by a burst of static when the video system was without input.
Castle smiled ruefully. "I'll start Hard Boiled. It has a much happier ending."
By the final credits of the next movie, Kate, head on Castle's shoulder, was all smiles. "Tony and Tequila rescuing newborn babies and their mothers amidst a hail of mobster's bullets," Castle recounted smugly, "what could be better than that?"
Kate stuck her hand under Castle's shirt. "I can think of a few things"
Castle smoothed the hair back from her temple. "Tell me about them."
"I think," she purred, reaching for the remote to turn off the screen, "I need to show you." Kate rose and offering both of her hands for support, pulled Castle from his seat. Still holding his hand, she led the way to the bedroom. "Remember my trick with the ice?" she asked, pushing him back on the bed.
Castle's words caught in his throat. He nodded soundlessly.
"I'll be right back," Kate told him.
Kate brought the ice, but Castle was on fire. The frigid touch of her lips set every nerve in his body ablaze. He took the glass from her hand, setting it on the floor. His clothes had already been pushed aside by her electrifying touch. He tore at hers, needing them to disappear more quickly than possible. Kate, was more than willing, moving lithely to aid his fumbling fingers.
It was Castle's turn, a flashback to that first night. She was was like a drug, sparking further craving with every taste and touch. He fingered her scar, so familiar that he had almost forgotten its presence, yet holding unlimited implications. She had survived, they both had survived so much, to come together, be together, to promise everything.
This was the true honeymoon, knowing and feeling all that had come before, remembering the pain but holding fast to the joy, accepting the past but meeting the future with anticipation. The import of it flooded through their veins more profoundly than the lyric of any song could portray.
Castle held his wife for life. She invited him in, lovingly guiding the way. This was the true merging of lives, of hopes, of dreams. The synchrony was complete, each move in harmony, each thought shared. The depth of the journey overcame them, and as the moon and stars shone in the tropical night, they fell softly to earth, enfolded by their dreams.