Stepping out of the shower, she pulls a purple long-sleeved shirt over herself and pulls her wet, stringy hair out of the seam. She didn't need a shower, but it's a good way to waste away thirty minutes of the day. A way to zone out completely and shut out the nagging strings of constant thought that plague her when she's just watching TV, infinite scrolling her phone, or sitting in the coffee shop doing the same thing.

Beckett shakes out her wet hair and pads across the motel room, over to her suitcase sitting open on the table next to the TV, along with an open styrofoam box from her dinner of an ill-prepared cheeseburger from one of the chain restaurants nearby that have customer pick-up. The fries are stale, but they were close to getting there anyway when she got them. It's hard to stay motivated during the day, to stay at it and be confident that she'll get him back when all she's doing is sitting around waiting for the next morning to come for her next opportunity to try and scale the Berlin Wall he built around his heart.

Padding over to her suitcase, she lazily stops in front of it and finds his tan flannel sitting nestled safely in the top left corner, mostly untouched since she took it from his drawer.

She has to fight the temptation to slip it on herself every single night, just to feel some part of him around her when she closes her eyes. She doesn't want it to lose any part of him, afraid she'll act like a leech and just turn it into any old shirt, instead of his. With a shaky sigh, Beckett takes the soft, worn, warm fabric in her fingers and pulls it out from between a pair of jeans and holds it tenderly in her palms, turning around to lean back against the edge of the table.

It only takes a moment for her to close her eyes and press the inside of the shirt to her nose, inhaling the scent the hint of his cologne and the natural scent still have. Old book pages, hardwood, a crisp scotch, and just a hint of her favorite wine that she left on him. She hates herself she can't remember the night he took this shirt off and put it in his drawer. There were so many nights they stripped each other bare, he could have left this shirt in his drawer after any one of them.

Giving him that drawer was such a big step. Not just for them, but for her. Giving him a place of his own in her sanctuary, her place to go for privacy, where she could truly be herself and didn't have to pretend for anyone. A small, yet huge gesture for her to make to show him that what they had wasn't a fling, or that they were just boyfriend and girlfriend like some high school romance, or that she was ready for him to be out of her life at a moments notice like she was with everyone else, always having one foot out the door.

Giving him that drawer was a way to show him that he was it for her, that she wanted him to be it for her, that she was on board one hundred percent with their relationship, that he had a real, meaningful place in her life. She always thought that for him, that would be the best part of the gift. After everything that happened with his gift and the mix up with Gates, she thought the best gift she could give him was a sign that she was in it with both feet for him.

How did it all go so wrong so quickly?

After a minute, she pulls the shirt from her face and starts to fold it back up. As she shakes out the fabric as carefully as she can, a knock comes wrapping on her door.

She doesn't know anybody here. She didn't order anything. She already paid for the room for another day. And her back-up pice is still in a lockbox in her storage unit in New York. Her mind flips a switch and she's sneaking over to the window where the curtains are pulled closed, moving over to the wall and peaking outside in as small a motion as she can manage to see who's knocking.

When she sees who's outside, looking up and down the doors of the motel rooms, then back around to her Impala parked right outside, her heart warms and she feels a smile form on her face. She jumps over to the door and pulls the locks off and whips it open as quickly as she can. "Dad!"

Jim's eyes whip around over his shoulder after he had turned back to head toward the check-in counter, and seem to light up. "Hey, sweetie," he softly exclaims and extends his arms.

Beckett smiles brightly and feels genuinely happy for the first time in what feels like a lifetime and throws her arms around her father's neck. When he puts his arms around her and hugs her, she can almost feel her eyes burn. It's the kind of love and affection she can only get from him, the kind of safety and comfort she can only ever get from her dad, the kind of acceptance and nurturing she can only get from her dad.

It isn't until he has his arms around her that she realizes just how much she needs all of that right now.

"Oh..." Jim sighs softly as he pets her back and pushes her back and smiles at her, "How've you been, Katie?"

"Dad," she chuckles, ignoring his question. "What are you doing out here?"

Jim just smiles and rubs his daughter's arm. "Why don't we get some coffee and talk about it."


Kate whips open the door to the coffee shop, still stunned. "Dad, I thought you were kidding."

Jim just smirks softly, his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans as he steps up the steps and through the door she holds open for him. "Katie, I'm in my sixties. Why would I be kidding about retiring?"

She smiles happily, overjoyed that for the first time in a really long time she doesn't have to force a smile like this one, and steps up to the counter. "Hey, Beth."

"Hey, Kate!" Beth greets her happily, looking over to her dad. "Another newcomer in town?" She asks, smiling over to her father.

Kate smiles and steps off to the side, "Beth, this is my father, Jim."

Beth's smile brightens across her face as she reaches over the counter to shake her dad's hand. They exchange pleasantries for a moment before Jim hangs his hand from his pocket again.

"Should I get your usual?" She asks her, fingers already poking the touchpad of the register.

"Actually, just two coffees will be fine this time." She says. When Beth smiles and gives her a nod, looking down to the register, Kate looks over to Barbra and points over to a table near the right side of the shop in front of a window out into the brick alleyway between the buildings. Barbra nods and waves for her to go and sit down.

"So," Jim starts as he takes a seat across from her, "how've you been, sweetie?" He asks her and folds his hands together.

She mirrors him and looks down to the table. She knows he's eyeing her for a real answer. After a childhood like hers, she knows he's gotten a sixth sense and can pull her lies out of her. She can be neutral, but she can't lie. "Rick isn't exactly making it easy." She says in a low voice, not wanting to let Beth and Barbra know anything just because she can't control the volume of her own voice.

Jim chuckles and shakes his head a bit. "Katie, I didn't ask how Rick was doing." He tells her, gaining her eyes. "I asked how you were doing."

Kate nods and takes a deep breath to relax herself as Barbra sets two black mugs with green handles down in front of them. "It's been difficult." She admits, folding the mug in her hands. "Finding out that he wanted us to get married broke me pretty hard." She says in as steady a voice as she can give him, reaching up to her neck to pull the chain of her necklace out, taking hold of the engagement ring and looking down to the sparkle of the diamonds again.

Jim looks down to the ring in her fingers, "He gave you the ring?" He asks.

She nods, not looking away. "He tossed it at me when I told him I thought he was breaking up with me. I tried giving it back to him but he said that he didn't want it."

Jim reaches over the table and takes the ring from her, examining it. "Hmm..." he hums softly, "not as extravagant as something I would have expected from Rick, to be honest."

She smiles brightly and nods, "No, it's... it's very uh..." she trails off, not finding the right words.

"Very you?" He says for her.

She nods, taking the ring back. She has a hard time thinking that he didn't just go to a jewelry store and randomly pick something out to give to her. When it came to things like this, Castle was always more thoughtful and put as much real effort into it as he could. After a moment of reflection, she slips the ring back underneath her shirt. "Anyway, I've been trying to get him to work things out with me. I've told him that I'm not going anywhere and that I'm here until he takes me back..." she explains, looking down to the coffee, "and that I love him. But he still seems like he wants nothing to do with me."

Jim gives her a moment before pressing further. "Have you told him about your job in DC?"

Kate can only swallow thickly over her nerves and keep her eyes glued to her coffee.

"Oh, Katie..." Jim sighs.

"Dad, I can't." She says in a soiled voice, defending herself. When he looks back up to her, she can tell he's waiting for her rebuttal just as an excuse to let her have it just like he did when she was a teenager. "It's more complicated than just me telling him the truth." She tells him in a hushed voice. "I'm under strict orders not to tell anyone about what happened. I could spend the rest of my life in federal lockup for even mentioning it to you."

"Why do I feel like you're making up excuses, Katie?" Jim fires back at her.

"Dad," she looks at him seriously, lowering her voice even more "what I did... I'm at risk even talking about it now."

Jim chuckles, not believing her. "Come on, Kate. It's not like they're listening to us." When all she does is stare back at him with a stone-faced expression with her lips in a thin line, he lowers his gaze. "Be serious, Kate."

"They have ways, Dad." She warns him, her voice barely above a whisper. "I've used them before."

Jim breathes a sigh and nods. "Okay," he says, lifting his brow. "Then tell him as much of the truth as you can."

"Dad," she shakes her head.

"Katie," he stops her seriously, "I understand what he meant to you. But ask yourself why he's shutting you out."

She swallows thickly again, deciding to take a long sip of her coffee, draining a quarter of it in the span of a few sips. "Because he doesn't love me anymore?" She throws out, hoping it's the answer he's looking for.

Jim softens his eyes toward her, conveying understanding. "Because he doesn't trust you not to hurt him again." When he tells her that, she feels her throat close and her heart ache painfully. Her eyes drift shut and she cranes her neck. "Katie, you can't earn that kind of trust back by lying to him."

"Dad," she tries again, "he thinks I didn't take a job in the NYPD because I wanted to be with him. He thinks that I lied to him because I was worried about how he'd see me if I told him I passed up a job for him. If I tell him the truth..." she says with a closed throat, "that I was fired... and that I wasn't allowed back at the NYPD... I know that he'll think I see him as my last choice and I'll never get him back." She tells him, finally admitting out loud why she can't be as honest as he can be with him. "And then I really have lost everything."

Jim looks over to his daughter, breathing a small breath and giving her a nod. "Katie..." he starts, "if you want what the two of you had back, being honest with him is a risk you'll have to take."

Kate nods, reaching up to clutch her necklace through her shirt.

"But," Jim starts in a lighter, more upbeat tone, "in the meantime, I'm kind of eager to get my retirement started." He says, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Well," Kate says, the tone of the conversation shifting suddenly, "I'm getting shown the house this afternoon and I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up taking it." She tells him, lifting her cup up to her lips again. "Why don't we rent it together?" She shrugs.

Jim smiles over the rim of his mug. "You'd really want me living that close?" He tests her.

Kate rolls her eyes, "Dad, I spent eighteen years living with you. It'll be like old times." Jim smiles and nods, seeming happy at the arrangement as Barbra comes back around the counter to refill their mugs. "But what will you do in the meantime?"

Jim shrugs and sets his mug down. "I don't know, maybe... just go with what your mother and I had planned." He says, quickly looking up to Barbra with a smile before looking back toward Kate. "Maybe settle down here in town and open a shop somewhere."

"You thinking of settling down here?" Barbra asks as she fills his mug with fresh coffee.

"That's right," Jim smiles.

Barbra smirks as she fills up Kate's mug. "Do you fish?"


The next morning, Kate is sitting in the same green patio chair, Sasha sitting calmly with her side up against her legs, mewling her head lazily into her fingers as she pets her.

She takes another sip of her coffee and sees him come out through the trees, his muscles glistening with sweat as they do every morning. Kate checks her watch and sees she only has a few minutes. "Hey," she greets him as Sasha gets up with her tail wagging to welcome her master home.

Rick bends down and puts his hands in Sasha's fur, deciding not to respond for a moment.

He's more stonefaced than he was yesterday. Kate chuckles as he takes the seat across from her. "I thought we established that stone-walling me won't get rid of me."

"I just have nothing to say, that's all." He says, leaning back and laying his arm on the table, his fingers instinctively finding the shape of the cup sitting near him.

"That's okay," she says with a content smile. "I uh..." she starts, "I signed the lease... one year, but the landlord said he was willing to accept an offer on the place." She tells him, looking over to him. "My dad and I are having our stuff sent down here and we're going to be moving in tomorrow, but we're still talking about whether or not to settle down there."

Castle's brow pinches and he finds himself looking over to her in curiosity. "Your dad?"

A smile engulfs her features and Rick's heart skips a beat when he sees it. A real, genuine smile like that always gets to him. "He flew in overnight and came by my motel yesterday morning." She explains with a smile. "He was talking about retiring when I left New York but it turns out he was serious, so... he decided to move out here with me."

She's... she's really moving out here? It was one thing when she was just living out of a suitcase in a motel, or even just renting a place nearby, but... she's never put it in real terms that she's staying.

"Well," she says with a smile, looking over to him after checking her watch, "I better go." She stands up. "I have to meet my dad at the store to sign the papers."

When she starts to walk away, she hears him turn in the chair. "Wait," he stops her, and she bites her bottom lip in joy, "store, what store?"

She turns with a softer smile. "A bait and tackle shop on the other side of the lake." She says with a nod toward the lake. "Barbra's godfather is looking to retire and he doesn't have anyone to leave the store to, so my dad and I went down yesterday afternoon and talked to him and made him an offer."

"Wait," Rick shakes his head, "so you're opening a fishing store here?"

Kate nods, a soft smile still playing across her face. "Just in case you were waiting for me to flake out and give up, well... you don't have to worry about that."

Rick can only clench his jaw, watching her smile still softly play on her features.

"My dad and I agreed that he'd go in early in the morning and open up and I'll go in later and close up, so I'll be coming by every morning before I go in. So if ever you and Alexis want a boat rental, let me know." She says, still smiling confidently. "I'll hook you up. See you tomorrow?" She says, lifting her cup slightly.

All he can do is give her a small nod as she turns around and makes for her car.