Chapter 6

It'd been less than a week since Rick had visited Kate's office in the name of business, and because curiosity had gotten the better of her hesitance, she'd already managed to read three of his books. Not only had she read them, in fact, but, to her surprise, she'd actually kind of liked them.

Mystery novels weren't her cup of tea, generally speaking. Their section of the bookstore wasn't one she tended to linger in, but rather pass through, and there were but a few of the genre to be found in her personal library. Something about the brush he used to paint his words, though, had her wanting to continue nibbling on the hook. She was having fun, and Kate hadn't allowed herself much fun, of late. Unknowingly, Rick was beginning to remind her how good it felt when she did.

She was midway through a glass of cabernet that evening when Madison finally arrived at the restaurant for their arranged rendezvous, late as was her friend's way and apologetic for it as always, though seemingly she remained uninterested in making any earnest effort at reforming the habit.

"I know, I know," Madison shook her head after being led to the table by the hostess.

She had multiple shopping bags in each hand and a purse the size of a Buick dangling from her wrist. Only the left side of her blouse had come untucked from her skirt somewhere along the way and was hanging loose, and she was wearing sunglasses, large ones, though the day's sun had already come and gone. In short, she was chaos walking.

"Let me guess. You're sorry for being late. Again." Kate liked her. Ever since their high school days of shared rebellion she'd had a soft spot for her, but for a woman who'd done so well for her adult self, at least in the world of business, she was painfully short on order. She always seemed to be in a million places and doing a million things at once. Kate found the entire package tiring, quite frankly. "I guess I don't need to ask why I've been sitting here alone."

"Becks," Madison theatrically stretched across three syllables as she dropped the bags into a heap, "there was a sale at Bergdorf's, and I mean a sale. You wouldn't believe the stuff I got." When she reached toward the floor, Kate halted her, told her to sit. "And I am sorry. You know I'm trying to be better."

Absent any evidence to support it, Kate knew no such thing.

"I ordered you one," Kate informed, sliding a full glass of wine her tardy friend's way, all the while a part of her wishing she'd downed it herself. "Did you also stop and have your eyes dilated on the way here?"

"Oh, pfff, sorry." Madison giggled, pulled off her sunglasses. "You know what's funny? I don't even remember putting these on today. To Amex cards and clearance sales," she said and held out her glass. "So, I've been dying to know since you called. Tell me this big thing you wanted to talk to me about."

"It's not…" Kate felt her jaw harden. "I never said it was a big thing, Maddie."

"Well, to me it sounded big. Whatever it is, tell me, tell me."

Kate tried. She did. She could swear to that and reasonably believe it to be the truth. She spent the better part of two days and nights swimming through her pool of clients with Rick in mind, contemplating, comparing, aligning her charts and graphs and all the other arithmetic she practiced in search of a fit, but in the end, no one stood out. No one seemed right.

It was a failure, to be sure, and a sort she wasn't accustomed to because it rarely happened. To get beyond an initial meeting with a client and then not be able to provide him or her with a single viable candidate was a tough pill to swallow.

But she was stuck; that was the reality, and she was ticked about it, and that same devil on her shoulder that'd already made his mischievous presence known was so sure he knew why. Furthermore, it seemed he had no intention of letting her forget it.

"So, I met someone that-"

"Finally!" Madison blurted out and won turned heads from several of the tables nearby. "Oh, my god, can I just say that it is nuts how long you've been single. What's he like? I want every single detail."

Kate's regret was piling up like snow in a blizzard.

"Let me finish, Maddie," she admonished and got a mouthed-only apology in return. "I met someone that I'm going to give your number to. You've asked me to set you up a few times, I know, but this might finally be the right fit."

It wouldn't be, and Kate knew it. Yet, there she was, doing it anyway.

"Now I really want every single detail. Becks, you've never set me up before. I think I might cry for the second time today. They were Gucci boots, and they were art," she explained with something resembling prayer hands when Kate's forehead crinkled. "I'm fine. I'm ready. What's he like?"

Rick's voice came drifting in first. It always did whenever she thought of him-which wasn't infrequent-but this time, to her chagrin, it was promptly drowned out.

"Is he hot? Is he in a band? Does he have a six-pack?"

Kate had one of the three answers for certain, but as with Lanie, she attempted to mute her response.

"It was a meeting, Maddie. I didn't ask him to take his shirt off. As for the band, music didn't come up, but Rick is attractive, I guess."

"You guess? Becks, come on."

Kate swallowed a drawn-out sip of wine. "He is attractive, okay? Is that better? It'll be one date. If you don't think he is, you don't have to marry him."

"You know who needs a date?" She pointed an accusatory finger at Kate. "You do. You need someone to take you out and then take you home, and I'm not talking about the peck-on-the-cheek kind of take you home. You are way too stressed." Then, just like that, her unnecessary and unhelpful concern passed. "Does this Rick have a decent bank account? What does he do?"

Kate chose the easier road on that one, the road she figured came with less potential follow-up questions.

"Same as you. He owns a restaurant."

When Madison's mouth fell open, Kate knew it was the right decision to omit the part about Rick being a former author of some acclaim. She was nowhere near in the right frame of mind to handle the giddiness that revelation would undoubtedly have ignited.

As it was, she was already half ready to crawl under the table and hide.

xxxx

Kate put off calling Rick until just before she was ready to leave her office for home the next day, and despite having all those hours behind her to have prepared herself for it, she still hoped he wouldn't answer, that she could drop Madison's number in his voicemail, wish them a good time, hang up, and be done with it.

The universe chose not to gift her that pass.

"You waited almost a week to call." He answered without a formal greeting, threw her off-balance immediately. "I was beginning to think mine was just another number in your little black book."

Kate rolled her eyes, but there was the hint of a smile in them when she did.

"I just got a shipment of new vacuums in. I thought you might be interested," she joked. "Jesus, what is that sound?"

There was an awful racket in the background, metal on metal, clanging and banging.

Rick plugged a finger in his opposite ear and yelled into the phone. "My mother is baking. Whenever she does that, it sounds like a highway crew has taken over the place. Mother!" he hollered to no avail. "I'd invite you to come over, but then she might make you eat one of whatever she's jackhammering into existence. As for your vacuums, I think I've made it pretty clear how interested I am."

The noise stopped just as he began the thought, so it boomed into the room, earned an arched eyebrow from Martha, his mother, whom he waved off.

"Anyway," Kate said, brushing by the remark, "the reason I was calling was to pass along a phone number."

"Oh, so you've found the next ex-Mrs. Castle, have you? I'm all ears." The clanging and banging erupted again. "Hang on!"

Rick tossed Martha a look and then retreated to his bedroom, shut himself inside.

"I don't know. It's bad. I might need to just move after she's done with this batch. The loft might be uninhabitable. Got a spare room? I'm kidding," he broke into the deafening silence. "We can share."

"The number. Her name is Madison," Kate replied in a fluster. "She's got-"

"Hey," he cut in, "do you want to go sit and have a coffee or something? You can tell me about…" In seconds he'd already forgotten the name. "Madison, thank you," he said when she filled in the blank. "We're becoming friends, maybe, you and I, aren't we? Friends go out for coffee. Plus, if I don't get out of here, I could end up suffering some sort of permanent damage, as I imagine my beautiful kitchen is as we speak."

"I don't know. I was just about to head home with a stack of stuff still to go through."

Rick wandered into his closet and stepped into a pair of laceless sneakers, picked a blazer to go over his grey tee that bore a silhouette of the Millennium Falcon.

"Isn't that why later was invented? Come on. Come meet me, and afterward, as envious as I'll be, you can go home with your stack. If not for the coffee which, to sweeten the deal, I'll pay for, then do it for the future health of my hearing."

Kate glanced down at the papers she had pinned beneath her fist. They amounted to little more than a few file folders, truth be told, and hardly represented the mountain of work her tone had suggested. Besides that, more work wasn't exactly something she was thrilled about. The day had already felt hours too long.

"Where?" she asked and knew it was an unwise idea even as she did.

"Write down this address," Rick instructed with gladness in his voice. "Give me a 30-minute head start? There's a stop I have to make first."

Before she could agree or otherwise, he was gone, so she used the bit of extra time to her benefit. Feeling overdressed for coffee in her tailored, eggplant-hued suit, she untucked the satin blouse she wore underneath and pulled her hair up into a loose bun to try and appear more casual. She even went so far as to wipe her lips clean of the faded lipstick that remained.

There was no need for her to wear lipstick for a friend after all.

When she climbed out of the taxi at the address Rick had given her, the shop-aptly and succinctly named Brewed-was all but dark, save for a lone industrial light that hung from the ceiling above the bar, which she was able to see through the front window. There were no customers. There were no employees. The place was clearly closed, but as she dug into her purse for her phone, the door pushed open.

"Hi." It was Rick, wearing a smile. "Your caffeine awaits, fair Kate," he announced and offered his hand, which she elected not to take, and he wisely opted not to fight. "Come inside."

"Is it open?"

"It is for us." He took a step backward and allowed her to pass, locked the door again behind them. "I know a guy, or a gal in this case." Kate followed him toward the bar. "Being in the restaurant biz, I've made a few friends in high places. I'd definitely call it a perk. Just a little coffee humor," he grinned when she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Your friend owns this place?" "You look really nice today."

They spoke over one another, yet each managed to register the other's words.

"Thank you," Kate responded first. "It's just a"-she looked down at her body-"suit I have."

She sensed his gaze and somehow that turned her brain to mush, because talking in normal sentences about simple things suddenly became impossible.

"Well," Rick said, "the suit suits, and my friend does own this place. She lets me steal the keys for special occasions. You know, like celebrating intact eardrums." He grabbed his earlobe and gave it a playful tug. "Pull up a stool, tell me what I can make for you. Anything you want, name it."

Oh, what a dangerous prompt it was for that little devil of hers.