Chapter 20
"You thought I forgot, didn't you?"
"Wha- I...I didn't say anything of the sort. Nothing."
"Exactly. You didn't say anything. No encouragement. No I'm-trying-to-be-stealthy-but-I'm-so-not reminders. Nothing. You thought I forgot."
He really hadn't forgotten. Had prepared for this year even. True there was some scrambling last minute and even a little extra gathering/ordering of supplies once they'd arrived.
He was prepared. He just hoped she would be too.
"Honestly Richard, it hadn't crossed my mind. Though, you have been somewhat distracted lately...Kate actually agreeing to come..." The matriarch's hand continued to make small circles in the air above her head despite the strands of lights currently draped over her arm and dangling to the ground. "I hope you were able to adjust accordingly?"
He took a length of lights and draped them around the nails near his head, still there from years of use. It had been a good idea to go with the galvanized ring shanks. These suckers really held up. "I knew she would come," he grumbled as he continued stringing.
He hadn't known. How could he? Kate Beckett was like a wild stallion that couldn't be tamed. She was a wave on the ocean, coming and going as she pleased. Like a cowlick that couldn't be tamped down...no. She was a fierce tigress.
Yeah, he hadn't known. But he had hoped.
"You couldn't have known. Darling, if there's one thing I know about that girl it's that Kate Beckett thinks for herself."
"Exactly," he agreed. "But I knew," he insisted. It was fun to get Kate all riled up, but it would always be fun to get the first woman in his life flustered and he'd had decades of practicing it. "Trust me Mother, I have everything," the step ladder wobbled a bit as he reached several inches above his head, "under," his left hand shot out but found no purchase and he overcompensated leaning to the right , "control."
He smiled up at her from the ground and held up his hands, fingers still clutching the nails, to show her that he hadn't injured himself past what would most certainly end up a bruised backside. He stood, carefully, and brushed a hand along the back of his seat before climbing back up the ladder and continuing to drape lighted strands from nails long embedded in the trees.
"I didn't forget."
Much to her surprise, it hadn't been very hard for Alexis to talk Kate into stopping for lunch. Her Dad had asked her to stall for a bit and lunch had seemed a perfectly natural avenue for doing just that. Kate yielded to Alexis when it came to picking a place to eat (not that there were many places to choose from) and they ended up back at Luci's café for soup and sandwiches.
Alexis stirred her creamy tomato basil and inhaled deeply. "Mmm. Luci really knows how to make a good soup." Innocent enough start to a conversation. Not that there was anything to be nervous about. Alexis really had no idea what her father was up to, nor did she fear Kate as she once might have. After their talk and her observations with Kate and her dad, Alexis was finally feeling safe. Like she was able to let go a little and be comfortable around the detective. Just. Be.
Like a family.
Kate smiled around her spoon and swallowed the thick and creamy concoction. "She sure does. Do you have a favorite?" she asked, glancing at her own Harlequin soup, pondering the deep green of the broccoli soup and the warm orange of the butternut squash. Mmm this stuff was so good. For real home made. Incredible.
Huh.
Two very different sides to an extraordinary meal. Each beautiful and delicious in its own right, but together...even better. The blending of two soups. Kind of like the blending of Castle's family and her own individual self to that family. This would make an excellent engagement party dish.
Engagement party? Whoa Kate. Slow down.
Lunch.
It's just lunch.
She lifted her chin toward the large chalkboard wall that boasted at least 20 varieties of soup (though only five were available on a rotating daily basis).
"Mhmm," Alexis hummed and nodded, thinking. She indicated the list with a wave of her hand, a gesture Kate had noticed the girl's grandmother use somewhat frequently. "Everything is really good. But I personally think that the Chicken Corn Chowder is excellent. Though the Five Alarm Chili is exceptional too...that's Dad's favorite..." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, licked her lip. "At least... he always makes sure he gets a bowl of it while we're up here every year." She shrugged and stirred her soup, blowing in vain attempt to cool it off faster.
Kate tore a piece of crust off of her incredibly delicious grilled cheddar on sourdough and dragged it through her soup. "Your dad likes things spicy?" She popped it in her mouth and groaned. This was seriously good food. She hadn't realized how hungry she'd been until Alexis suggested that they stop for lunch before returning to the cabin. Luci's was an excellent choice. Though the only other places she'd noticed were the semi-fancy restaurant attached to the butcher's shop, and the small hot dog stand by the hardware store. Luci's was the coziest by far.
"He likes Five Alarm Chili...He says he can handle it, but he nearly always has tears in his eyes by the time he finishes a bowl." She laughed. "It's become his thing. He has to have it at least once before we head back to the city. A few years ago I went through a cross-stitching phase. I gave him an embroidered handkerchief that said 'Five Alarm Relief" and had a little fire truck on it as a gag gift. I'm pretty sure he brings it with him whenever he eats here."
Kate smiled warmly. "Actually that sounds familiar. I'd bet it's safe to say that he uses that hankie more often than just as Five Alarm Relief." She was certain that she'd seen the firetruck emblazoned handkerchief make appearances at Remy's, whilst eating takeout at the precinct, she was pretty sure she'd even seen it at her apartment a time or two. Hadn't thought anything of it. But this...This little outing had turned out to be better than anticipated in a number of ways. For all of them, Kate supposed.
Castle had long ago scaled the walls she'd built up around herself, but the writer's little girl was eking out her own little space in the detective's heart and it wasn't feeling as scary as she had previously imagined.
It wasn't very late. The time was only half past five, but darkness had crept over the village as if it were the dead of night. Alexis piloted the truck on the road back towards MARC. All of the day's purchases were secured tightly and covered with a tarp in the back, barely jostling as they made their way up the unlit road.
Until suddenly it wasn't so unlit.
Kate rubbed her eyes and blinked furiously a few time to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
Sure enough there was a lit snowman waving at them on the side of the road. She turned to Alexis for an explanation, but the girl was smiling and continuing to guide them up the not quite so dark as expected mountain. Fiery icicles hung glistening above their heads to either side, a Christmas moose with a red bow tie peeked out from behind a tree and Kate felt laughter bubble up and spill out as the winter wonderland continued to unfold before them.
Silly, unpredictable, wonderful man.
Alexis parked the car, not in the garage as Kate expected, rather in front of the cabin where they'd parked the first day here. What now appeared to be a candy cane garden. Magical.
"Please tell me that he didn't..."
Alexis laughed. "Don't worry. He does this every year. The only thing new about this particular situation is..."
"You," a rich baritone contributed from the darkness behind her.
Kate whirled around to find a grinning Castle leaning against the porch railing. She felt moisture in her eyes and swiped at them before abandoning Alexis and the truck and flinging herself into his waiting embrace. He tilted his head to press a gentle kiss to her lips. His finger traced her cheeks catching the tears she hadn't been able to keep from escaping.
"Please tell me these aren't sad tears. I simply couldn't bear it if I-" She silenced him with another kiss and hugged his neck tightly.
She framed his cheeks with her slim hands. "Silly man. Don't you recognize tears of joy when you see them?"
"Silly man. Don't you recognize tears of joy when you see them?"
Love.
He was so in love with this woman.
True this was all a part of their annual traditions, but he was nearly giddy when thought of what her reaction might when she saw it. She did not disappoint. In fact, he hadn't been quite sure what her reaction was initially. He'd seen the tear and immediately thought the worst. Which was stupid really. The magnanimous smile on her face should have been where he'd taken his clue. She tugged on his face and pulled away ever so slightly. "Hey. I love it." Kissed him again.
He moved to draw her inside, "There's hot cider waiting..." but she wrenched out of his grip and turned back to the truck. "I'm sorry, I've got to take care of some things and then..." She ran finger down his forehead, down his nose and chest, "I would love nothing more than to curl up with a nice..."
"I'm nice..." He'd play along.
"...hot..."
"I've been told that I'm hot." Flattering.
"...cup of cider." Tease.
"Cider?"
"And if there's an incredibly attractive benefactor waiting for me on the couch, I might be convinced to cuddle by the fire for a bit."
"NOBODY SIT ON THE COUCH! I NEED THE COUCH VACATED IMMEDIATELY." His voice boomed through the open door and Kate saw a flash of curly red hair streak from the general direction of the couch into the kitchen. Poor Martha. She hadn't meant for her to lose her comfy spot in the living room. Alexis appeared by Martha's side and took her grandmother's arm, pulling her towards the stairs. Martha turned and winked at Kate and the duo were gone before she could utter her thanks.
"Let me at least bring your things inside." He tried once again to usher her into the warmth of the cabin but she resisted still.
She stopped him with a hand to the chest. "No Castle. I appreciate your chivalry, but there are some things shouldn't see yet." At the look on his face she added, "and if you try to sneak a peek...well...just don't. You don't know what will or won't happen if you try to ruin my surprises."
"I wouldn't dream of it." Of course he would dream of it. Seemed all of his dream lately starred the one and only extraordinarily beautiful and all around otherwise phenomenal Katherine Beckett.
Oh he would dream.
"You may dream. Just don't ruin it ok?"
May. "You are so hot."
She pecked his nose. "Go warm up my spot. I'll see you in a few minutes."
Oh yes. He would dream the best of dreams.