Return To Maine Chapter 6
A/N: To those of you that caught my mistake. Thank you! Richard Castle's Estate was probably in northern New York, but according to my research the town of Southampton is largely in New York, but also partially lies in Long Island ( Rhode Island? Really? What was I thinking?). In season 7.01 "Driven" when he disappeared, according to the dialogue, the car that took him was heading south off the island, so for this story, I am going with Long Island. My apologies for this huge mistake.
After feasting on a scrumptious dinner of beef pot roast that was so tender and juicy it practically fell off the fork, creamy mashed potatoes, fresh garden salad and savory steamed vegetables, Kate brewed a pot of coffee while she loaded the dishwasher. Rick had gone to the car to bring their bags in.
"So, did you enjoy dinner?" Rick asked as he entered the room, coming up behind her and dropping a kiss to the side of her neck.
"Yes, I did! Lori did an amazing job." she answered, handing him a cup of coffee.
"Yes, she did. Ready for dessert?" he asked, moving to the fridge.
"Dessert?"
"Well, we can't have a dinner like that without coffee and dessert, can we?"
"I suppose not."
"Besides, Lori's feelings may be hurt if she found out we didn't try her fresh blueberry pie."
"Fresh?"
"Yeah. Mike and his family own some acreage on the other side of town where they have a small farm and they grow their own fresh vegetables and apparently they grow blueberries, too."
He removed the pie from the fridge, cut two slices before putting it back, and placing the pie slices into the microwave for warming and removing a half gallon of vanilla ice cream from the freezer to top off the pie.
Setting their plates and coffee on a tray, they moved to the living room and settled on the couch.
"So, it seems that you and Mike are becoming buds now. Thank you." she said, accepting the ice cream topped pie he was offering her.
"Well, I wouldn't say that exactly, but he seems like a nice enough guy. I reached out to him to ask if he knew of anyone in the area that needed a part time job. He asked me what type of job I was looking for, so I told him."
"So that's how you came about hiring his daughter?"
"Well, not only his daughter, but his son, too,"
"Wait! How many kids does he have?"
"Just two. Lori, the youngest, is 19 and will be starring Bangor U in the fall and Brad will be beginning his third year there."
"So you hired both kids to do what exactly?"
"Well, I figured both kids could use some extra money for tuition, clothes or whatever they need, so yeah, I hired both kids. Obviously, Lori will handle any errands, and the house, cooking, if needed and cleaning as needed. Brad will come by twice a week. Once to take care of the lawn and grounds and maintenance to the lawn equipment and check the property for vandalism."
"Wow! Sounds like you have it all figured out."
"Well, at least for the time being." he answered, forking a piece of pie into his mouth.
"Do the kids know your identity?" Kate asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Not as Richard Castle. They know me to be Alex Rodgers. So, I talked to each one of them by phone, agreed on a wage and wired the money from my personal account under my birth name to the store."
"So, just to be clear, you have two separate accounts under both your names? Or do you have more aliases I know nothing about?" she teased, winking at him, taking a bite of pie.
"Uhh, no more aliases, but I have 3 separate accounts. I have an account under each name plus one more. Look, I need you to do me a favor when you get back to town."
"Okay. What is it?" she asked, taking another bite of pie.
Rick sat his coffee cup on the coffee table before them, knowing that she would not like his answer and bracing himself for the worse, but he had to tell her.
"I, uh, I set up an account in your name at New Amsterdam Bank and need you to sign the paperwork." There! It was out there now.
Kate coughed, choking on the piece of pie she had just swallowed whole, her eyes tearing up. "You did what?"
"It's not what it looks like, okay? I should have done it years ago. I opened an account in your name so you could get ⅓ rd of the royalties from the Nikki Heat series and I think you deserve them."
Why did he think he owed her something? Kate wondered. Her brow furrowed in concentration.
"Kate, say something, please. Just please don't be mad at me." he pleaded when she didn't respond.
Finally, she sighed heavily and set her plate on the table before her.
He inhaled sharply thinking that she was going to walk away when she stood, but then she turned and straddled his lap instead and looped her arms around his neck.
"You don't owe me anything Rick, and I'm not the type of woman who…"
He placed his index finger against her lips to stop her protest. " No, I know you're not. That would make you like Meredith and if you were like her, I wouldn't be here. I know that monetary and material possessions mean nothing to you and I love you even more for that. Wish I could say the same thing about Ryan and Esposito… I don't love them as much."
She laughed at his joke. "God, I hope not. If you do, we have a serious problem. I won't be in competition between them."
He chuckled. "No competition, I love the boys as brothers, but I'm a one woman man."
"Glad to hear that." she smirked at him.
"But seriously, Kate. I know that you're an independent woman and I respect that, but let's face it. I could have an accident, get ran over by a bus or by an 18 wheeler for that matter and I'd want you to have enough money to do whatever you wanted to do. Is that a crime?"
"No, and I love that you want to do that for me, but Rick…"
"There's no strings attached, no stipulations to how the money i s spent. I just want you to have it and if you don't want it for yourself, you can donate it to your mother's college fund. I just want you to have that extra security."
"I don't know, babe."
"Well, can we at least agree that it's my money to do or give to anyone I see fit?"
"Of course it is. There's no question about that."
"Consider it a gift then and it's considered very rude to return a gift."
"A gift? Like an anniversary gift? So how much money are we talking about here?"
He hesitated, looking much like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Rick?"
He swallowed past the lump in his throat, his adam's apple bobbing and looked sheepishly at her. He inhaled sharply before answering, "$250,000."
"What? Are you kidding me? That's a staggering amount! That's way too much for an 8 month anniversary gift, don't you think?"
"It's not an anniversary gift."
"Then what is it, Rick?"
His hand trembled as he clasped her hand in his and brought it to his trembling lips, pressing a kiss to her palm.
"The truth is I love you, Kate and i can't imagine my life without you and being away from you this long has been so miserable… I don't even want to draw breath without you so I've been wondering, day dreaming about us going to the next level and getting married and as my wife, you'd have access to all of my accounts anyway so why not start a separate account in your name so that if anything happened to me..."
To say that she was astounded would have been an understatement.
"So, you're proposing?" she stammered, not sure that either one of them was ready for this at this time.
"What would you say if I was?"
"Jeez Rick, I don't know. That I'd have to think about it? I love you, Rick and I want a future with you, too, but 8 months isn't a long time. I guess I'd have to say let's give us some more time and revisit this in another 6 months or a year."
"So, does that mean that you'll accept the money and sign the paperwork at the bank?"
"I know that you did this as an act of love and I love you even more for wanting to do this for me, the fact that you love and trust me enough to do this. So yes, I'll think about it, but I make no promises."
"Thank you. I promise that I didn't bring this up to pressure you or for any other reason than to just be with you and celebrate our anniversary."
"I know. I don't love you for your money, or fame or prestige. I love you for the man that you are, for just being you. We're on the same page here. As for any future proposals, my answer to you is always going to be yes, but let's not go ring shopping just yet. Let's just give ourselves a little more time to enjoy the here and now. You're my one and done and I love you so much."
He cupped her face in his palms and drew her in for a long, slow kiss crushing her to him that left them both breathless.
"God, I've missed you!" he murmured against the side of her neck where he was trailing white hot kisses, the soft brush of his beard against her neck sending shivers of desire washing over her.
She moaned as his lips found the hollow of her neck at her pulse and sucked her in.
His hand magically appeared at her breast beneath her light sweater and bra. He was so adept at that.
She gasped as his as his fingers found her breast and gently squeezed, the warmth and softness of the pad of his thumb teasing her nipple. God, how she loved and needed him.
She reclaimed his lips in a fiery kiss, pouring all her love and longing into it, rocking her hips into his. "I've missed you so much. I love you and need…" she whispered, sensuously, her voice cracking with raw need, her breathing heavy and labored.
"I know. I need you too, but not down here. Let's get our dishes to the kitchen and retire upstairs where we'll be more comfortable."
"Okay." she agreed, punctuating her one word answer with a soft kiss to his lips.
Reluctantly, she slid off his lap extending her hand to him, wiggling her fingers.
He rose, taking her hand and curled his arm around around her waist and headed to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, she loaded their pie plates, cups, saucers, and silverware into the dishwasher while Rick emptied, washed , and set up the coffeemaker for use in the morning.
Having finished, Rick took her hand and they left the kitchen hand in hand, switching off lights and blowing out candles as they went.
A/N: I know that this isn't the chapter you all were looking for, but ended this one here to set up chapter 7, which will teeter in between T and M, but hoping that it will be more T rating. The next chapter will also have a brief mention of Ryan and Esposito, but no more than that. Once I get this edited and posted, I will begin work on the next chapter and get it posted, hopefully by the middle of the week and if not then no later than Sunday.
Hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend. Happy Labor Day if you celebrate.