Couples

Chapter 96

Holding Lily firmly with his left hand, Rick extends his right one to Chef Christine Azaria. "Great to meet you. The dish you made sent my wife into ecstasy." He looks down at Lily, firmly clutching a pumpkin-shaped cookie. "You impressed her too."

Christine's enthusiastic handshake goes a little long before she silently urges herself to let go. "Mr. Castle, it's such an honor to meet you. I saw you at the con in New Jersey when you were moderating the Star Trek versus Star Wars panel."

Rick wiggles his brows. "That did get a little heated, didn't it? At least it wasn't phaser against lightsaber. That would have made a mess, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would," Christine agrees, feeling her tension release.

"I take it you're a science fiction fan," Rick continues.

"I am," Christine confirms, her eyes flicking to Auchincloss, who gives her an encouraging nod. "I actually write a little of it."

Sensing where the conversation is heading, Rick decides to give the new chef-author a break. "I'd love to read some of your work."

Christine jams her hands in the pockets of her chef's coat to keep from raising them in triumph. "Would you? I'd love that. I could use some honest advice."

"Then honest advice is what you will get," Rick assures her.

"Vice," Lily echoes.

Rick smiles at his daughter. "Different kind of story, at least I hope so."

The toddler holds up her well-nibbled cookie for Christine to see. "Punkin."

"It certainly is, " Christine agrees. "Did the Great Pumpkin bring that for you?"

Lily throws the new chef a disbelieving look and points to Auchincloss and the oven. "Bake."

Christine chuckles, shifting her gaze back to Rick. "Maybe we should give her the recipe."

Rick brushes orange crumbs from Lily's face. "Give her another year or two, and she just might be turning them out. But I think she needs to run around a little. We'll pop over to the pocket park across the street. Chef Auchincloss can give you my email, Chef Azaria. You can attach whatever you want me to read."

"I will," Christine promises.

Since Walker Buck is familiar with Kate's face, Ryan and Esposito take on surveillance of the landscaper. Kate stakes out Gina Lorenzo. It could be a long day. Gina's Restorations opened early, and customers have been steadily in and out. The Mercedes registered to Gina Lorenzo occupies the spot nearest the door in the small parking lot. Kate assumes that it will stay there as long as Gina is inside.

Kate considers that it might help to strike up a non-threatening conversation with her target. Johanna Beckett had always meant to get a chair that survived from Jim Beckett's dormitory days re-covered, but she'd never lived to see it done. As far as Kate knows, the chair is still in storage. Somehow she thinks both her mom and dad would be tickled if she uses it to help solve a case. As soon as Kate's off shift, she can arrange to have it trucked to Gina's. She hopes that Gina's work lives up to its reputation.

Rick grins down at a sleeping Lily. Between the trip to Imagination Patch and her runs around the park, she was asleep in his arms even before he laid her on her back. She should be out for a while, long enough for him to skim through whatever Christine sent to him. He's hopeful. She has the light in her eyes that he occasionally sees in nascent but talented writers. They can often use some guidance but sometimes go on to delight the reading public. He presses his lips softly to the top of Lily's head before walking as softly as he can to his office.

Propping his feet on his desk, he lays his laptop across his thighs and opens his private email. At the top of his list is a Chef Azaria, he assumes is Christine. Sure enough, it contains a gushing thank you and a large attachment. Obviously, Christine has spent considerable time at her keyboard. That goes a long way to proving she's serious about her writing. It's a good sign.

When Rick glances up from his computer, he's surprised to see Kate staring down at him. "I didn't hear you come in."

The corner of Kate's mouth quirks. "I can see that. I didn't see anything on in the kitchen, though. You want to order in?"

"No need. Chef Auchincloss gave me some of his new pot pies to bring home. All we need to do is warm them up in the oven. He gave me a toddler version for Lily, too. He's working on kids' stuff for the new place so that Lily will be one of his tasters. But so far, she's liked everything he's tried out on her." Rick checks the time. "Wow, Lily's been napping for more than two hours. She should be up any second. Would you mind preheating the oven to 350? I'd really like to finish reading to the end of this story."

"What is it?" Kate inquires.

"A tale from our new hire at Imagination Patch. If I'm not mistaken, I may be witnessing a star being born."

"As a writer or a chef?"

"From what we've tasted and what I've read," Rick declares, "both." Giggles emanate from the baby monitor. "Lily's up."

Kate beams at the sound. "I'll turn on the oven and check on her."

Jim Beckett unlocks his storage unit and gazes around. He smiles at the boxes of baseball memorabilia he has no room to stow in his home. Some of his cards are doubtless worth a fortune right now, but he has no wish to sell them. They're links to the happy times he spent at the ballpark with Kate and sometimes even Johanna. He still has some of Johanna's old case files, too. Kate went through them when she was investigating Johanna's murder, but they had nothing to do with the battling lawyer's death. They were trophies of cases won, and people freed from the bondage of being too poor or unschooled to fight trumped-up charges. Johanna got them out of jail and often found them jobs as well.

He turns slowly, viewing pieces of unneeded furniture he didn't want to give away or throw out. There's the chair Kate mentioned. He remembers Johanna saying she wanted it restored. She even had a list of possible upholsterers for the job when she died. She'd wanted it done by a Christmas long ago. So now it can be done by another Christmas. And maybe it will even help Kate solve a case.

He checks the little notebook in his pocket. He's carried pads like it for years to make notes on both cases and baseball games. The note he took when Kate called says that a truck will be coming to get it tomorrow morning, to finally fulfill Johanna's vision. All Jim has to do is provide access. He'll be back – with bells on.

Chef Benedict Auchincloss arrives at Imagination Patch even earlier than usual. Christine's already had a chance to inspect the kitchen and locate the tools and ingredients she's most likely to need, but he wants to make sure nothing's missing. He can and probably will have to direct her as his sous chef. But the less he has to do so, the better. He'll be more confident doing his work for his Pot Pie Palace – or whatever he finally ends up calling it, and she'll be more confident left on her own.

Christine is quirky. Quirky doesn't usually appeal to Benedict, but Christine does. Perhaps it's the quality of her work. But whatever the reason, he's glad she'll be in his kitchen.