The door slammed softly. After adjusting her clothes, Kate walked to the exit without looking back. Castle followed her frail back with a faint glance, turned off the air conditioner, took a good sniff. He seemed to be wrong in thinking she wasn't wearing makeup. Kate's presence added a subtle but seductively chic tinge of spicy bitterness to the coffee-creamy tones of the freshener.

"Holy crap, she smells incredible, inimitable and enchanting! Cherry, for crying out loud! You can't disrespect a scent like that!"

Smiling contentedly, Castle lowered his chin to his arms crossed over the "torpedo" to get a closer look at Beckett. Her head was elevated with unusual grace, and gently placing her shoes on the heat-soaked asphalt, Kate swayed her hips like a mannequin. Certainly Beckett knew her worth, and her step alone was worth even more.

"Nice girl and unusual, but, alas, not for me!"

Castle leaned back in his chair regretfully, stroking the dimple on his chin thoughtfully. He was an excellent judge of women and knew for sure that ladies like Beckett, charming and easygoing, with a sharp mind and sparkling humor were distinguished by firm principles of life. They are not interested at all in fleeting, unnecessary acquaintances, and if they continue them, it is only for the sake of their own goal. Because that's what it's all about, isn't it? And who is "he" now? A way or... More likely yes than no, and Castle grinned bitterly. Behind him there had long been a trail of indestructible heartthrob, but his gut told him that Kate Beckett was not the kind of woman who met for the sake of animal lust. There was more to Catherine than just her good looks and cheerful disposition. Something so appealing that there was no intelligible explanation. Then, how to act, how to behave with her? He liked Beckett almost immediately, but two weeks of unpretentious flirting, with which acquaintances usually begin, would hardly bring him closer to the secrets of her soul. Because she is really unusual, atypical, and definitely mysterious. Of course, he will certainly invite her to the movies or the theater, even take her out to a cafe for a fun chat, but it is quite possible that this gorgeous Beckett is not free, and their acquaintance will stop in two weeks where it began. And anyway, would he be able to prove himself properly? Could he get her attention enough to keep her around? Castle himself did not know that. After all, they were so different: she - proud, independent and poised, and he - unimaginable prankster without a steady income.

"Ehhh!" - Rick twisted his head sadly, as if he were swatting away flies. Hand on heart, there certainly wasn't much to brag about. A fatherless childhood, a failed marriage, caustic reviews from critics, and more than modest book royalties. Plus a bunch of worthless love novels, and that's just to keep from being all alone.

"Oops, but wait a minute!" Rick suddenly cut himself off. - And how can you talk about loneliness when I have my mother and Alexis! I'd do anything for them, and especially for my daughter. Because a tender, unselfish, and fervent love for children is the most important part of me! Because Alexis is my best work!"

Smiling benignly, Rick sat for a while longer, eyes closed in pleasure, sniffing at the unfamiliar tantalizing scent, when he suddenly jumped up as if scalded.

"Idiot! How could I have forgotten about THIS?!"

Blaming himself, Rick jumped out of the car and hurried after Beckett, who had almost reached the porch.

The distance to Kate Castle covered in seconds, and they collided, grasping the doorknob almost simultaneously-she by the frosted plastic, and he over her hand. Beckett recoiled in surprise, the thin lines of her eyebrows arched in surprise, barely managing to grab her purse that had slid off her shoulder.

Castle was momentarily embarrassed. He jerked his hand away and stepped back, shrugging innocently, just short of sniffing his nose. Rick was gasping for breath, but his face was cute as a child's - simple-hearted, with a handful of apologies in his eyes.

-Er, Alexis was waiting for me there. And I'm sorry, Kate, if I seem so awkward to you! Alas, it's in the nature of Papa Bear. - and Castle pounded his fist on his chest.

Her eyes flashed a curly top and a smack of grease on her temple, and then Castle's palm pushed the flap open in a hilarious bow with an effort. Kate pressed her lips together in an amused chuckle and slid weightlessly inside.

The hallway was still empty and cool, only now the whirring of the air conditioning was joined by the sound of a working television. Kate reached the open door to the break room and involuntarily slowed her pace. The room was very small, if not tiny. It barely fit a large television set on a wobbly nightstand and a squeezed couch against the opposite wall, where Pumpkin sat. Resting her chin on the worn sofa cushion, Alexis greedily caught glimpses of images, giggling merrily and squirming with pleasure.

They seemed to be showing something about Donald the duckling, and Kate could hear him whimpering and Pluto barking. Not to distract the girl, Kate put her finger to her lips, turning to Rachel, but with a loud cry of "Kate, wait!" Pumpkin tossed the pillow aside and ran out into the hallway, bristling on the linoleum with the buckles of her straps.

- Are you leaving already? - With her fingers tenaciously grasping Kate's palm, Alexis pressed her cheek to her wrist. - She leaned her cheek against her wrist. Why?

Alexis arched her eyebrows in anguish, quietly rubbing the hem of Beckett's blouse, looking with such genuine sadness that it was suddenly transferred to Kate. Her breasts felt like a hoop, but she found the strength to smile benevolently. Beckett squatted down, drew Pumpkin to her in a friendly way, and stroked her soft curls affectionately.

- I'm sorry, baby, but I have to go.

Alexis distinctly sobbed in response. She wrapped her arms around Kate's neck and dug the tip of her nose into her shoulder, dropping a tiny tear behind the lapel of her blouse. The first tear was followed by another, and then another, and the sobs grew louder and louder. It seemed as if a little longer and the driving school would drown in the children's grief.

"Oh, my God!" - frankly, Kate was even a little confused. She had had to deal with little ones before, to see both children's tears and the way adults comforted their children, but now for some reason it was happening to her. And she needed help now. Kate looked up at Rick questioningly. He was leaning against the counter, his muscular arms folded across his chest, staring at them with unspeakable tenderness. Noticing the genuine amazement in Beckett's eyes, he smiled sadly.

- Alexis, Kate is in a hurry to get to class. She's studying to become a lawyer, just like her mother.

- Is she coming again? - Letting go of Beckett's neck, Pumpkin smeared tears down her cheek with her palm, pushed back her lip resentfully, moving her gaze full of chagrin from Kate to her father and back. She felt as if her favorite toy had been taken away from her.

- He'll be here," Rick said, as if he'd been wrong, "but he'll be studying at Mr. Kessler's.

Frankly, Castle didn't expect Beckett to play along with him at all. After all, they were strangers, and even a mutual sympathy, like a spark between them, did not mean anything. But something was bothering him, hurting his soul, and after a short brainstorm Castle clearly understood the reason for what was happening - never since his and Meredith's divorce had Alexis reacted this way to any of his passions, and what to do in such a situation, Rick had no idea. Maybe try to reduce the whole thing to a joke? And then, seeing a genuinely confused Kate, and a sniffling daughter, Castle bitterly realized that this idea was not entirely successful.

There was a short pause, lengthening by the minute, and none of the adults dared to interrupt it. Pumpkin went first. She dropped her hands without a word and suddenly rushed back into the room, grabbing something from the drawer of her desk.

- Write down how to call you, please," Alexis slipped a pencil and a piece of paper into Kate's hand.

Still keeping her composure, Beckett slowly straightened, wrinkled her forehead in deep thought, and measured her eyes on the family. In comparing the looks of father and daughter, there was a one hundred percent resemblance: raised eyebrows in a silent plea, sadly twitching corners of lips, and childlike, transparent, sad eyes.

"Good trick, win-win!" - Mandy's fervent admonition came to mind, but considering Castle's correct, vulgarity-free demeanor, we could risk remaining friends. And it's quite remarkable that Castle's restraint beautifies him, because she, Beckett, knows how to stand up for herself. So let ignorance be his good fortune.

Kate smiled at Castle on duty and carefully wrote down the phone number. She gave Alexis a friendly pat on the head with a light kiss on the forehead and headed for the exit, hoping for at least temporary relief. Who would have thought that the moment of farewell would touch her to the core!

- Does this mean we'll never see each other again? - Alexis mumbled sadly as she watched Kate walk away, and turned to her father for support, but Castle just shook his head helplessly.

- I can hardly claim Kessler's place. It's his income, not mine.

Turning around, Rick rested his chest heavily on the reception desk, staring over Rachel's shoulder at the greasy stain on the lemon wall. There seemed to be a universal sadness on Castle's face. Rachel looked up at him with her obese eyes, hesitated for a moment, then suddenly slammed the lid of her laptop shut with determination and rattled her chair loudly. She waddled from foot to foot like a duck, grabbed a packet of chips, tearing them up as she went, and dashed out from behind the counter.

- Miss, wait," Rachel shoved a few slices into her mouth and crunched her jaws.

Kate stopped at the door, not quite sure what the unfriendly-looking woman wanted from her, but she took a nail in her teeth and made a reassuring wave of her hand.

- I'll see what I can do in your case.

And with a sly chuckle Rachel poked her chubby fist into Rick's side. He grunted foolishly; grabbed the "sore" spot, arched with an inexpressibly comical look, and somehow Beckett's enduring grief was gone. And her heart was visibly relieved, too. That's usually what happens when one's deepest desires finally come true.

Pressing her hand to her chest in appreciation, Beckett bowed lightly to all three of them.

- I get it. See you tomorrow, then...

...Mom, Dad, hi! How are you?" Kate flew into the light-filled living room, but Dad was alone. He was sitting at the table with the paper he'd always been reading, and he was leisurely distracted. He smiled understandingly when he saw his daughter pleased with herself.

- How was the first lesson? And how did the grandfather behave?

Kate gave her father a peck on the cheek and laughed infectiously.

- He was "Mr. Oblivion" himself - a big bald head, glasses falling off his nose with a broken shackle, and an ill-fitting dentures that he was constantly correcting. He also had stiff joints in his hands, and when "Grandpa" drove, he wore something like big clothespins around his wrists.

Sensing a catch, Jim smiled modestly.

-So you had no luck with the instructor? How did you get along with him? Or did your dialogues consisted only of the words "left", "right", "gas", "brake"?

- Nah, I didn't just talk to him," Kate laughed, "because he's got a granddaughter who's a wonderful little red-haired naughty girl. When she speaks so sweetly and expressively, it makes me want to go back to my childhood.

- Back to childhood? - Now Jim laughed, too. He even put the paper away. When Kate hugged him by the shoulders, he patted his daughter's arm in a paternal way.

- Well, how was it?

- It was great, Daddy. I'd even say I'm pretty happy with everything, but I'll let that be my little secret. By the way, where's Mom?

- She's in her office, going over the new case files. She categorically refused my help and generally asked me not to disturb her today. She didn't even want to have dinner. You girls are proud, aren't you?

- And determined, too! - Kate kissed her father on the cheek again.

- "You'll find a can at the gas station," Jim ironically parried, and added after Kate disappeared into the kitchen. - There's pork and beans in there.

Beckett finished her dinner in no time, washed the dishes, and then went up to her mother's room. Joanna was sitting at her desk, piled head to toe with papers, filling out some form.

Sneaking up quietly, Kate threw her arms around her mother's shoulders and put her lips to her mother's cheek.

- Good evening," she saw the hand-drawn diagram on the table, all in squares and circles, and raised an eyebrow with interest. - Mother, what is it?

And she pointed her index finger at a small black square marked "John Doe," to which Joanna pressed her lips vaguely.

- It was given to me by a customer.

- Isn't it dangerous?" Kate shot an anxious glance at the piles of papers and stacks of various files spread across the table.

- No, it's no more dangerous than past cases," Joanna smiled encouragingly.

- What's the case here?

- My client is charged with the murder of an undercover FBI agent.

- And he didn't do it?

- No, he says it was his contact through whom he planned to report to the FBI cases of kidnapping mobsters and then extorting money from them. Unfortunately, corrupt cops followed him and tried to kidnap my client. The agent, on the other hand, tried to defend the accused, but was shot and killed. The client said that he had some suspicions about the attack, but he didn't want to say anything specific yet, he was afraid.

- Mom, are you sure nothing's gonna happen to you? - Kate was really worried. She put her mother in a tight hug and pressed her cheek to hers.

- Everything will be all right, my daughter," Joanna patted Kate's hand encouragingly, "because the truth is on my side. Now go and rest and don't worry. By the way, how are you doing?

- Mmm," Kate said, smiling dreamily, "I've had a lot of good looks and criticisms, but the instructor said that technically I'm not a total failure.

- Technically?

- Yes. It seems to be one of his catchphrases, and in general, he is an unusual man. More like an oddball: he loves video game consoles, comic books and sci-fi movies, often acts like a kid, but in life he's a sensible man with strong views.

- Is he single?

- Divorced, but he's great with women. And he has a daughter he adores. Good night, Mother.

They hugged each other one last time.

Kate ducked into her room, still hot from the midday sun, but already overshadowed by the coming dusk.

Beckett tossed her bag on the chair beside the desk, changed into her home clothes, and flopped into bed with her hands under her head. Unbelieving herself, Kate felt strangely light and strangely well. Smiling as if she'd been to a universal feast, she thought back over the day, all of it, down to the smallest episode.

Castle turned out to be an excellent conversationalist, moderately cheerful, moderately tactful and composed. His speech was devoid of unnecessary colorfulness or crude jargon, and impressed by its coherence, logic and clarity of thought. Rick had a phenomenal observation, the ability to subtly notice the almost imperceptible, but important moments in the conversation. And his voice, what a mesmerizing voice he had!

Beckett, sitting comfortably, stared fixedly at the snow-white ceiling and smiled dreamily. Yes, it was as if she had fallen out of the rhythm of life for those two hours, and she was ashamed to admit to herself that she wished she could stay there. Castle's charms were frenzied, and what was it worth just saying good-bye to Alexis!

"Pumpkin!" - Kate scrolled through their dialogue one more time, and then a vague uneasiness touched her soul. Frowning, Kate sat abruptly on the edge of the bed, propping her chin up with her hands resting on her knees. She stared blankly at the bookcase, almost indistinguishable in the half-light, then jumped up sharply and circled the room, biting her lips sadly. She stopped at the window, propped her arms at her sides, and listened to the rustling of the leaves. Something was troubling Beckett, and to make sense of it, she strained to remember every word Pumpkin said.

"My father's new girlfriend - I think that's what Alexis called me? Hmmm! There's something about that appeal! Albeit not particularly wealthy, the sociable, smiling, and damn charming Castle can't help but be in steady demand. And he would hardly be ashamed of it. God, was Mandy right after all? What was it Castle himself said?"

- Technically, there is a demand for me! - Beckett blurted out a sentence that stuck in her memory, and everything immediately began to make sense. Kate cursed profusely, mannishly, and jumped into bed, curled up helplessly, cradling the pillow underneath her.

- Stupid, stuffed fool! - She was mad at herself, baring her teeth at the soft fabric. - After all, she had sworn not to make worthless acquaintances, and then why were these "fiery" looks? No reason at all! I went there to study, and he - to teach, so let each do his business!

- That's it, study, just study and no scheming! - Kate ordered herself, and muttered to herself, half asleep, "He's got a great daughter, though!