The drive was tiring, and the last forty-five minutes or so were definitely what did it. But it was well worth it for the sight.
Twisting, turning, and weaving up through the woods woke her up. She hasn't been talkative, barely saying anything but she's probably following his lead. He could have used the excuse that with the heavily curving road, he needs to focus on driving, but it would have just been an excuse. He was careful to watch her out of the corner of his eye after she took his sweater out from under her ear and placed it delicately in her lap, her hands barely leaving the folds of the fabric. Her head was turning with every turn the road made, looking through the woods, dipping her head down to see how high up the canopy went, practically jumping in her seat when she saw the first sparkle of the lake glisten through the thicket of trees. She's probably forgotten all about the night before, all about their fight, locking the keys in the car, the long drive up here... why she brought him up here in the first place.
"I can't wait for tonight." She mutters in a small voice, still brimming with amazement, now trying to catch as much of the lake glistening through the trees as she can.
Rick looks up the road and sees the lodge a mile or so in the distance. Even from this far away, it looks massive. "Why?" He asks, knowing she said something for a response.
And it's his simple response that's enough to draw her eyes away from her window and back toward him. She sees him still focused on the road and smiles. "The stars."
Stars, he doesn't think about things like that too often. But actually getting to see stars would be pretty great. They're miles away from any big light sources, he can only imagine how many show up in a sky like this. The Hamptons, sure you can see a few, but it's only two hours or so away from New York, so on a clear night with no moon, they might get a few of the brightest ones.
He smiles with her, still looking at the road as they exit the woods and finally arrive at the lodge. "We're here." He points out, not knowing where her mind is right now.
Kate looks up from his sweater, getting broken out of her daydream about him holding her at the waist from behind on the balcony of their top floor suite, his lips in her hair as she holds open a book of constellations, both of them trying to find as many as they can. The first thing she sees is the sheer size of the resort.
It's massive.
The entire outside is made up of what looks like unpolished wood, at first, giving off an impressive rustic feeling to the entire building. But at the center of the building is a massive entryway, shaped in an archway at least a hundred feet tall, with an intricate framework running through the glass at the top to form the shape of an evergreen tree, its roots running down the large glass work to the bottom, where the two doors of the entryway are framed by two of the center roots of the tree. It's brightly lit inside by an equally impressive chandelier hanging over a fountain. The chandelier is made almost entirely of animal horns, looking as if almost every point on the outside has a bright, glimmering light shining from it.
"Wow..." she breathes in sheer amazement as Rick slowly pulls into the parking lot.
Rick decides to take an unoccupied spot in the lower part of the lot that dips down from the entrance. She probably doesn't plan on sightseeing today, parking down here for the day, or maybe even a few days, would be a safe bet. Stopping the car in an empty spot, they both sigh heavily, seeming to ready their legs to stand up out of the car after another five-plus hours. Both swinging their doors open in unison, Rick making sure to grab the keys intently before he stands up, they both climb out, again, Rick holding the keys between his finger and thumb hard directly in front of him as he does, and only lets them fall when they both close their doors and waits a few seconds.
With a firm nod, he slips the keys into the pocket of his slacks and goes to the trunk to meet her. Turning around the corner of the car, he sees her stretch... and feels his body clench.
The sleeves of her well-worn teal blue hoodie are rolled up, her hair is back in a frizzy, low hanging ponytail, and her make-up is practically gone. But as she reaches her arms to the sky with her fingers laced together and stretches her back as much as she can, exposing her midriff and belly button from the top of her slacks, his arms tingle... ache... for her tight, perfectly shaped body to be in them. Even with her face twisting together as if she just put something way too sour in her mouth, his lips all but tremble to kiss her again.
Even now, in this brief moment, a small part of him is telling himself to beg for any amount of forgiveness she'll give him. To fall to his knees and grovel at her feet. Just to have her again. She's just... she's just so god damn gorgeous. Everything about her, every part of her just makes him crazy.
He's forced to look away when her arms fall back down to her sides and she finishes her stretching. He reaches into his pocket and finds the button on the keychain to open the trunk and pushes it open. He reaches in and grabs her dark velvet suitcase along with her toiletry case with both hands and hauls them out. And she's returning the favor by taking his suitcase, much larger than her's, from the other side in both hands and heaving it out setting it on the ground. They look at each other, give one another a small nod and an even smaller smile, and grab their respective suitcases, then turn to head up to the lodge.
Kate takes the left side, leaving Rick to fall into step with her after a couple of strides up the parking lot. Almost immediately, she turns to gaze over the top of the woods, toward the large, glistening lake shimmering beautifully in the overlook of the lodge. Her eyes rove over the woods, spanning as far as she can see off in the distance. She can feel a smile pull the ends of her mouth up as her jaw falls open in amazement. The sight, in all its breathtaking beauty, fills her with hope.
They're going to be fine. Better than fine. They're going to be better than ever. Just look at this place!
Rick's eyes are mostly taking in the sight of the lodge itself. He never got the chance to really look into what the place offers, or even what the room offers, but this place already looks amazing.
They reach the entrance, both of them looking up to gawk at the framework display in the glass before heading inside. They walk in and the air is a step cooler than the warmer, more humid air outside. The smell isn't stuffy or empty. It smells fresh of pine, even of fruit. The floor is made up of cool-looking tile work, stemming out from the center fountain toward the entrance, the pattern on the tile showing yet another evergreen tree, with the name of the lodge inlaid into the tile in gilded tile in the center. The next thing both of them see is the even larger window directly opposite the entrance, this one totally clear of any intricate designs or framework except for four pieces of wood going up in sections and another one near the top, showing off the view of the lake below.
Both Rick and Kate have the thought, and both turn to give the other a smile and an amazed lift of the brow as if to silently ask 'can you really believe we're here.'
It only lasts a quick moment before Kate pulls her smile back and Rick turns toward the intricate tile work under his feet. "So I'll go check us in?" She asks and Rick nods, waiting a moment for a response, but follows her when she doesn't offer one. Once past the fountain, headed toward the long reception desk off to the left of the large picture window, he digs for his wallet in his back pocket onehanded, then fumbles for his card while still pulling his suitcase behind him. Kate watches him out of the corner of her eye at first, then looks over fully when he hands her the card.
She glances quickly between him and the card. "What's that for?"
Rick shakes his head as if he just got asked the dumbest question yet. "Beckett," he chuckles, "unless you have a trust fund stashed away somewhere or have another millionaire boyfriend, pardon me for saying but I'm not sure even a decorated homicide detective of the NYPD could afford to stay here for as long as we plan to, much less in the presidential suite, that, by the way you booked by using my name." He points out. Kate only gives him a deadpan stare, not thinking he took his saying 'another millionaire boyfriend' to heart.
He did. He thought of it too quick. He thought of it backhandedly and said it to be backhanded. She could have one if she wanted. She probably wanted one at one point.
"And it's my name that's on the card, so you don't really have a choice anyway." He shrugs, waving the card in the air.
She sighs through her nostrils and takes the card in pinching fingers and thumb, not giving him a sassy remark like she usually would to try and come out of the exchange at least even-handed as she normally would.
Kate widens her gate to get ahead of him as she heads for the reception desk to check them in, giving him clear sign that she wants to do it alone after his little speech.
Great, Rick thinks as he stops just as his feet hit the carpet where the tilework ends, it's already started.
He sighs heavily and watches her stride toward the reception desk, looking angry and frustrated. Maybe she did pick up on his backhanded jab he slipped in. Rick just shakes his head, feeling a little annoyed, and leaves his suitcase near the fountain and turns to explore. He moves around the fountain and heads toward the right, where most of the ambient noise and talking is coming from. Coming to where the large hallway starts, he sees a small plastic plaque, outlining a small, simple map of this wing of the resort, along with everything it has to offer. Auditorium/theatre is the first on the list, followed by studio one, then two and three, meeting hall is next on the list, next to the theatre on the map, then spa and pool/ outdoor pool at the end of the wing.
"Hmm," Rick hums to himself. A lot on offer already. He meanders away from the plaque to take a few steps down the hallway to explore. The door to the auditorium is open, a sign hung from the door. Curious, he takes a few steps toward the sign to read it, but stops dead when he's able to read it. His brow pinches, his annoyance boiling over from mild and manageable to just being angry. He looks behind him and finds her still at the reception desk, checking them in, the woman behind the counter pointing at a large packet eagerly, then takes another step forward to lean in, looking into the auditorium, a large theatre with red felt chairs like any theatre would have, looking like an equal number of men and women slowly meandering near the stage, some others coupled together in seats, scattered around.
Couples therapy, he repeats angrily in his head, turning away and gritting his teeth.
She knew about this. This is why she wanted to come to this specific resort.
He knows how it works. He went through about four different courses with Gina, none of them helpful. The only ones Gina found helpful were the ones that said she was right about everything and he just needed to be happy about it. The last one is the one that was so bad, they found out the thing both of them wanted the most was a divorce.
"Mmmmm..." he groans in frustration, turning back toward the lobby.
As he's marching through the lobby, forcing himself to take a few breathes, a voice appears in his mind. Maybe it'll be good for them, maybe they do need that "neutral third party" to help them work things out, but just as before, he doubts they'll be neutral. In his experience, they never are. A woman will blame him for everything, and a man will take one look at Kate and do everything he can to break them up so he can get his shot at her.
In his experience, anyway.
But maybe she didn't know about it. She didn't mention anything on the drive up. But... would she mention something like this?
By the time he takes his last, long, slow breath, he's calmed himself down enough to not give away that he's upset about something. At least until later.
He's standing next to his suitcase by the time she turns around with a large packet in one hand, grabbing her suitcase handle with the other. She finds him right away and gives him a small smile, nodding her head to call him over.
"Hey," she starts once she's a few feet away. "So we're all checked in, got our room keys, a list of everything going on," I'm sure, he thinks bitterly to himself, "of everything they have, some things to do around the area. The lady made the room sound amazing." She says and flips over the laminated folder in her hand.
Rick musters up a smile. "How about we go check it out then?" He asks her, managing to lift his brow to fuel her excitement.
The smile she flashes up is genuine... and so beautiful. In that moment, his anger dissipates. Suddenly, he feels his anger at all her scheming and plotting vanish at the sight of her bright, beautiful smile. His heart feels light, fluttering around in his chest as her eyes sparkle.
He forces himself to look away once she moves toward the hallway opposite of the one he explored. He follows behind her, her stride now light and eager instead of hard and frustrated when he last saw it. He shakes his head, forcing himself again to look away. He feels he has the right to be angry. She just makes it so damn hard sometimes.
They make it to the elevator and once inside, Kate stops to look for the button for the top floor. She presses it and looks around the elevator, walls covered in the most realistic wood paneling she's ever seen, with a gilded hand railing running the walls of the inside. Kate is brimming with anxiousness, excitement, amazement, and joy the higher the elevator climbs. This place is amazing. She was offered to be shown a picture of the view from one of the two balconies the suite had, but she refused, not wanting to spoil that moment. She was shown all the hiking trails, a newly installed zip line, the massive lake, including all that the lodge itself had to offer. And the suite... it's going to be incredible.
But something is aching, like a dull throbbing muscle. She can feel him, he's practically ebbing with impatience. She chances a few glances in his direction as the elevator climbs, but he's not looking at her. He's barely looked at her the whole way up here. Her head dips down to look at her feet, a quick thought entering her head saying that maybe he just needs to see the room, see the view from the balcony, and they'll be fine.
The elevator finally chimes and slows to a stop. Kate tries to control her smile and is the first out, dragging her suitcase with her. He follows at a much more controlled pace a distance behind her. Taking a right out of the elevator, she heads straight for the door at the end of the short hallway, the hallway itself only having three doors, with the other two opposite each other along the wall. She stops, the key card in her hand, having to try it a few times because the excitement is throwing off the action. After a few tries, she finally hears the door unlock, her smile brightens, and she pushes the door open, taking a step inside at the same time.
Her breath stops at the sight.
"Oh my god..." she sighs, feeling him close behind her.
The room is absolutely beautiful.
The first room is large. The kitchen is to the left of the entrance, a long island with black and white granite countertops, opposite that a row of cupboards painted the same realistic rustic wood of the elevator, going so well with granite countertops. The recessed lighting gives the room a light that casts just the right amount of shadows. Off to the right, is a long bar, a large selection of wines, vodkas, and whiskeys on the racks and shelves, with four leather-bound barstools along the bar. Near the sliding door to the balcony, shaded with blinds, is a small sitting area, with an off-white couch sitting facing the TV, perpendicular to the sliding door, and a matching recliner next to it on the far side.
"Wow..." he says behind her. A full kitchen and a full bar? Maybe this trip won't be so bad.
Her eyes find a set of double doors on the wall to the right and her excitement bubbles. She darts inside, dragging her suitcase only a few feet before leaving it behind, latches onto the two gilded, slender hands, cranks down, and swings both the doors open. Once again, her breath is gone.
The bed is absolutely massive, sitting along the right wall to face the other sliding door to the second balcony, also covered with the blinds. The sheets look so soft and comfortable, an inviting shade of dark red, with a headboard of glazed, intricate woodwork. There's a door slightly ajar on the other side of the room, showing the bathroom, and a large dresser and vanity along the wall directly to her left.
"Holy crap..." she says loudly, trying to call his attention. She can hear him meandering around, some glass clinking from what sounds like the bar. "Hey Castle!"
"Holy crap!" He says even louder. She looks behind her and finds him behind the bar, going through the bottles, having pulled one off the shelf. He looks at her with a straightened brow, looking at her. "I own a bar and these guys have a way better selection than I do. You have any idea how much a case of this stuff goes for?" He asks her, lifting up the bottle in his hands.
She feels a small smile grace her features and draws her hand in, waving him over. "Come over here."
He sets the bottle down to the bar and quickly heads over next to her, looking over the bedroom. "Uh..." is all he manages as his eyes find the bed, "... that bed is... pretty big."
Her lip finds the inside of her teeth, her skin flushing warmly. All the things they could do in a bed like that.
"Speaking of which," he starts, his voice lowered, more cautious, "I was thinking... you know, neither of us really got a good night sleep and we both look pretty tired from the drive up." She looks up at him. "How about we take a nap? Just so we're both on the same sleep schedule."
She smiles, her lips closed and nods. "Sure, but um..." she says, looking down to his hand at his side, "first," she takes his hand, "follow me."
She turns out of the bedroom and heads through the room, tugging him in tow behind her. Her memory sends a violent flash through her entire body, suddenly feeling her clothes wet, cold, and clingy, but her body feeling excited, tingling, and very, very anxious. She feels her hair wet and stringy. Most of all she feels her lips, her jaw, her cheek, her neck... her scar... all marked with the incredible, hot, romantic trail of his lips. The last time she grabbed his hand and lead him anywhere, their very first night together.
God, that was such an incredible night.
She's broken out of her memory by the side of the blinds in front of her. Her heart palpitates with excitement as she lets go of his hand, finds the handle of the sliding door with one hand, and the pull rod of the blinds with the other, pulling them both open at the same time.
What she sees... she'll remember forever. Her body almost goes limp at the incredible view from the top floor of the resort, looking out high over the massive lake and the outstretch of woods as far as she can see, going off into the horizon. Her amazed smile shines as much as it can across her face, slowly pacing out to the edge of the balcony, leaning against the twisted metal of the railing. "Oh my god..." she breathes again. She feels him slowly come up behind her, coming to stand next to her to her right. "It's uh..." She says, getting choked up. They're really here, together. "It's really something, huh?"
He smiles a soft smile as the breeze blows through his hair softly, his eyes looking over to her. "It's um..." he says, dipping his head, then looking over to her while she stays looking out over the balcony, "it's gorgeous."
She closes her agape mouth and smiles, looking over to him. His smile seems real. Soft, maybe a bit stoic, but... real. "Hey," she says suddenly, leaning back off the railing and digging her phone out. "Why don't we uh..." she shrugs, holding her phone and getting a thought, "take a picture?"
He flashes another small, soft smirk. "Sure." He tells her, taking a small step forward as she goes to the camera on her phone.
She steps in the rest of the way one he opens his arm to her, falling into his side with ease as she holds her phone out. Feeling his arm around her again, feeling his firm body against her, just feeling herself be this close to him...
They both muster up as big a smile as they can for the picture and she snaps it.
After a few seconds, he steps away from her. "I'm gonna go unpack a little bit."
Her eyes burning, she nods. "Go ahead."
Once he disappears inside the room, she turns around with her phone still in her hand.
She can almost cry at the sight of this picture they just took. Their smiles, their eyes, their body language... everything about them in this picture... it's like they don't even know each other. Their smiles are so dull and diplomatic, so lifeless and mechanical. It isn't until she swipes her thumb across the screen that she actually does feel herself cry. The last picture she took is of them. But... it's of them at the loft. It was her day off, it was in the morning, and they were making breakfast. She has a dollop of flour on her nose, her cheeks and forehead spattered with a light dusting, and him looking much the same. But he's hugging her from the side, his nose pressed into her neck and he's smiling... god, he's smiling so brightly, so happily against her skin. She has her arm around his neck and her fingers in the messy spikes of his hair, with her own hair up in a messy bun. And she... she has the brightest smile splitting her face in two, the brightest light shining in her eyes.
She finally feels the tears flood her eyes and spill over onto her cheeks, swiping back over to the couple that they are now.
On a heavy, emotional sigh, she looks up from her phone, swatting the tears away.
That's why they're here.