CLOSE TO YOU
RATED M
Is it love? Is it fate?
Where it leads, who can say?
Maybe you and I were meant to be
Chances - Backstreet Boys
CHAPTER ONE
"Mommy, why are you staring at that man?"
Kate looks down at the insistent tug of her hand, and despite squaring her shoulders in defensiveness, she smiles down at her five-year-old. "I'm not staring," she lies, bending over to grip her daughter under her armpits and hoist her onto her hip.
Reagan isn't big by any means, but she's already showing the inherited long limbs that run through the maternal side of the family. When Kate takes a bony elbow to the ribs, she wonders just how much longer she'll be able to hold her daughter without extra padding.
I need to get catcher's gear, she muses, wincing when Reagan squirms.
"Please hold still, sweetie," Kate mutters, rubbing a hand across her back.
Reagan drops her cheek to Kate's shoulder and huffs, a tiny puff of air ruffling across Kate's neck. "Why are you staring?"
Kate rolls her eyes and steps forward when the line moves. According to her dad, Reagan's stubborn streak rivals her own, and unfortunately, even at five, Kate already sees plenty of it.
"I'm not," she repeats, "but if I do stare at someone, it's usually because they look familiar. Like I've seen them before, but I don't know where," she clarifies, answering Reagan's unspoken question.
In fact, she has been staring at the handsome man who's currently flirting with the cashier. She's only seen a glimpse of his profile, but he looks so familiar, and it's bothering her so much. If she didn't have Reagan, she might walk up to him and ask where she knows him from. But she's been teaching her daughter about stranger danger, so she won't.
Instead, she continues moving forward with the line, watching him from the corner of her eye. He glances at her as he steps to the side to wait for his drink, and she sees him do a double-take back to her, can see his brows furrow even in her peripheral vision.
Her thoughts are interrupted by the cashier asking for her order, and by the time Kate pays, the man is gone.
She can't help but glance around the café when she returns the next day, searching for the familiar face. Not that she could linger, anyway; she only has a few minutes to spare, just enough time to grab her latte and get back to the precinct.
She tries not to let the disappointment well in her chest when the man is nowhere to be found.
It's silly; logically, she knows that. She lives in a city of eight million people, visited by millions more every year. What are the odds that she would run into someone she knows?
"Please, Mommy?" Reagan almost begs that weekend, tugging on Kate's hand as they pass the café. "I want cocoa."
Kate raises a brow and looks down at her daughter. They're on their way to Kevin and Jenny's place for a play date, but Kate glances at her watch, fires off a quick text to Jenny that they're stopping for coffee.
"As long as we get drinks for Uncle Kevin and Aunt Jenny, too."
Her eyes sweep across the patrons, a habit from her days as a detective that she refuses to drop, and when she spots a man sitting in the corner, hunched over a laptop, she does her own double-take.
It's him again. The man from before.
Reagan tugs on her hand, and she notices the line moving, steps forward with her daughter in tow.
Kate orders once they're at the front, rattling off her friends' drinks from memory, and after she pays she tightens her grip on her daughter's hand as they move to the side. She feels a tug, and she crouches down so she's at Reagan's level. "What is it?"
Reagan leans in close, cups her hand around her mouth. "That man is here," she whispers, her mouth almost touching Kate's ear.
Kate manages to stifle a chuckle at Reagan's dramatic proclamation. She's not surprised that Reagan had spotted him, too; she may be only five, but she doesn't miss a thing. "What man?" she asks quietly, feigning innocence.
Reagan huffs in annoyance, as if her mom doesn't know exactly what she's talking about. "The man you stared at," she says.
Kate nods in understanding. "I see. Well, we come here a lot," she explains, "so it's normal that we'd see someone more than once. I'm sure some of the people here are saying the same thing about us."
As if on cue, Reagan looks over her shoulder, and her eyes widen. "He's coming over," she whispers loudly.
Kate glances behind her and sees that the familiar stranger is, in fact, approaching them. She stands, a tight grip on Reagan's hand as she pulls herself to her full height.
"I'm sorry to bother you," the man greets her, "but do I know you?"
His voice triggers a memory, but it's fuzzy, just out of reach. "I come here a lot," she offers.
The man shakes his head. "That's not it. I have seen you here," he adds, "but no, I know you from somewhere else. I just can't place it."
Kate hears her drinks called out, and she glances over and notices them on the counter. "Sorry, I might just have one of those faces."
"No." The man shakes his head. "Your face is one of a kind. Oh, that sounded weird." He winces, then shoves his hands in his pockets. "I just mean that you should be unforgettable." He looks over at the drinks. "Do you need a hand?"
Kate shakes her head. "Thanks, but I'll grab a carrier." She looks down when Reagan tugs her hand. "What is it, sweetie?"
"Stranger danger, Mom," Reagan says in her not-quite-subtle way.
Kate feels her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she looks back up at the familiar stranger, finds him smirking at their exchange. "You're right. We need to go anyway," she adds, more for her own benefit. She nods at the man. "Have a good day."
"Rick," he offers, holding out his hand.
She shakes it quickly, tries to ignore the sparks that shoot up her arm when his soft skin meets hers. She hesitates for a moment, then stifles a sigh. "Kate."
The man - Rick - grins down at Reagan. "See? Your mom and I aren't strangers anymore." He studies Kate for another long moment, then shakes his head. "I swear I've met you before. It'll bug me until I figure it out. Well," he continues with a shrug, "I'll let you go. It's nice to meet you, Kate." He nods down at Reagan. "Mini-Kate."
"Reagan!"
Kate sighs when her daughter blurts out her name. Apparently, knowing someone's first name means they're not a stranger anymore. She'll have to revisit the subject.
"Nice to meet you, Rick," she says before Reagan can do anything else, like announce their last name and address to the packed café. "Maybe I'll see you around."
Rick's smile widens. "I hope so."
She spots Rick in the corner a few days later, and when his face brightens upon meeting her gaze, she feels her bad mood lift just a little. He raises his arm in a greeting, and she nods in acknowledgment as she grabs her drink.
A quick glance at her watch tells her she has a few minutes to spare, so once she gets her drink, she winds her way through the maze of tables until she's standing in front of Rick.
"Fancy seeing you here," she teases, gripping the back of the empty chair opposite him.
Rick shuts his laptop and pushes it aside. "You too," he teases back. "No mini-me today?"
"No, she's at daycare. I'm working," she adds.
"Ah, of course. So that must mean you can't join me."
"I'm afraid not. In fact, I need to get back." Kate tries to push down the disappointment. It's unfortunate; she could stay for a few minutes more, but she prefers to be a visible captain, always available to lend a hand to her team.
Rick frowns. "Too bad. Maybe next time?" His blue eyes brighten with optimism. "We could, say, 'accidentally' run into each other at a specified date and time? Around dinnertime on Friday, perhaps?"
Kate's heart sinks at his hopeful tone. "Look, Rick," she starts, trying to ignore how his face falls at her tone. "You seem nice, but I'll be honest, I don't have the time or emotional bandwidth to date, even casually." She curls her fingers around her cup, drawing strength from the warmth that seeps through the paper.
"I understand," Rick says, nodding. "That was presumptuous of me even to assume you're single." He glances at his phone when it buzzes, then turns it face down on the table.
"I am. Mostly because, well…" She shrugs. "Time," she repeats. "I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize," Rick assures her. He looks around the café and shrugs. "For the record, and at the risk of sounding like a creep," he adds with a smirk, "I like this place. I think I'll become a regular. So, unless that statement makes me sound like a stalker and you now feel the need to change your identity, maybe I'll just wave at you from the corner when I see you?"
Kate chuckles. "Well, as long as I don't end up in Witness Protection," she teases back. She glances at her watch and winces. Those few extra minutes went by too fast. "I have to get back. Nice to see you."
Over the next couple of weeks, she makes her trips to the café an almost daily occurrence. True to his word, Rick is there every time, usually in his corner seat, and always looks up when she walks in. They'll chat for a few minutes, but she keeps their interactions brief, never offering more than just surface information.
She does tell him she's a police captain, and his eyes almost bug out of his head like a kid meeting Santa. And he tells her about his job, working in hospital administration to pay the bills as he writes first novel. That's why he sets up shop in the café, he explains; the job is remote, and being at the café eliminates distractions from home.
"Well, except for a tall, gorgeous woman who keeps catching my eye," he teases, giving Kate a once-over as she flushes under his gaze.
He's not shy about his attraction to her, although he does respect her wishes not to have any kind of dating relationship. He doesn't push, doesn't ask her to stay when she's called back to work, and for that, she's grateful.
She doesn't think anything of it when Reagan almost begs for a "special cocoa" one Saturday, and although Kate's dad is with them, she agrees, bundles up her daughter in her winter coat to ward off the early December chill.
Kate doesn't miss the twinkle in her dad's eye when they enter the café, or the figure in the corner rising from a chair.
Jim quirks an eyebrow. "I think you have an admirer," he teases, nudging Kate's arm as she orders drinks for them.
Kate glances up and winces when she sees Rick, almost hovering in the middle of the café, indecision written all over his face.
Reagan tugs on Jim's hand, pulling him away. "That's Rick," she explains, almost skipping in her enthusiasm. "He was a stranger, but now we know his name, so he's not a stranger anymore."
Kate chuckles as she turns back to the cashier and pays. Before she can catch up to her family and save Rick from her dad - or vice versa - the trio joins her by the counter, led of course by a very excited Reagan.
"Mommy, Grandpa says he knows why you know Rick," she announces.
Kate raises her eyebrows. "Is that so?"
Jim smirks and motions towards Rick. "He was one of your nurses when you were in labor," he explains.
Kate's jaw drops. "No kidding?"
"Nope."
"He watched me be born, can you believe it?" Reagan says, throwing her arms around Kate's legs.
Kate sways with the impact, but she's had enough practice that she easily keeps her balance. "That's pretty crazy, huh?" She cups the back of her daughter's head and looks up at Rick. "What took you from the front lines?"
Rick shrugs. "Flexibility, mostly," he explains, tucking his hands in his pockets. "When I got custody of my daughter - she's eight," he adds for Jim's benefit, since Kate already knows he's a single dad, "I knew I needed to be available for her. They let me take the time to take her to school and pick her up. And as long as I have internet and VPN, I can work anywhere."
Reagan bounces back to her grandpa. "I think he comes here because he likes Mommy," she says in one of her loud stage whispers, hiding the exclamation from exactly nobody.
Kate's face warms, and she tries to look everywhere but Rick or her dad. When she catches Rick's eye, though, and notices the tenderness in his gaze, she offers a small smile. "Is that so?" she asks her daughter.
Rick shrugs, his eyes locked on her. "She's not wrong," he admits in a soft voice.
Their gazing contest is interrupted by the call of Kate's name, and she startles, turning towards the counter. Once she and her family have their drinks, she faces Rick again, notes the pink tint on his cheeks.
"Well, we have shopping," she explains, tilting her head towards the door.
Rick glances at his watch and frowns. "And I have to pick up Alexis from her friend's house." He turns to Jim and holds out his hand. "Nice to meet you. Well, to see you again, anyway."
Jim chuckles. "Likewise."
"Bye, Rick!" Reagan calls out as she leads her grandpa to the door.
Kate hangs behind for a moment, chuckling as she lifts her drink to her lips. "Leave it to my dad to remember you," she says once she and Rick are alone.
Rick grins. "I'm glad he did. It's not often that I run into a former patient." He shrugs. "Anyway, your mini-me seems way too excited about shopping," he teases.
"Oh, she hates it. She's in it for the cocoa," Kate admits with a laugh. There's a loud knock on the window, and she and Rick turn in unison to find the girl in question with her palms against the glass, Kate's dad looking exasperated already. "I better get out there," she jokes.
She hesitates for a moment, painfully aware of her audience. She's tempted to do something silly, like kiss Rick on the cheek, but if she does that in front of her dad, she'll never hear the end of it.
Instead, she reaches out a hand, gives his bicep - oh jeez, what a bicep - a light squeeze. "See you later, Rick."
A/N: This is my (under the wire) contribution for Castle Ficathon 2022. It's nine chapters in total.
A/N 2: Please note that the M rated content starts in chapter four. I've done my best to contain that content to independent scenes (plus one entire chapter), so if it's not your thing, I hope you'll still consider reading this and just skipping over what you'd rather not read. I hope everyone enjoys!