With my other story invading my brain, I have no idea how I got this one out
To say that Kate Beckett is worried about what might happen this weekend is saying it mildly. From the moment they left the city in the shiny new Silver Maserati that Rick bought after the latest bestselling launch of the ongoing tales of Nikki and Rook. Kate has wondered what truths might come out over the next few days.
Rick kept telling Kate it was a great purchase since it was a demo model and he saved a cool one hundred thousand dollars buying it. But no matter how much he talked trying to justify his new toy, Kate's mind wandered a long way from the vehicle purchase. The truth remained that he had no reason to try and justify the purchase. As a family, they had were very comfortable, financially. Over the years, other than the loft and Hampton's home, they managed to purchase all units in the apartment building where Kate lived when they became a couple and it had become a nice investment with recurring income for them. They even convinced Kate's cousin, Sophia, to act as the manager in exchange for free rent
But arriving at the exclusive Westchester Resort in a very expensive automobile fit right in with most of the other regular guests of the community
But. All is not as normal for many of the attendees of Kate's graduating class. Several arrived in older sedans and even a couple of pickup trucks. They seemed extremely uncomfortable with the surroundings
As they are pulling up in the car and heading toward Porte co here and valet desk, Castle looks at his wife "Why is the reunion being held here? We can afford this but I would venture to say that very few of your classmates have been able to reach a level where this would not be a strain on their finances"
A staff member arrives quickly with a luggage carrier and as the valet is parking the car they are escorted to the check-in desk
Holding on to her husband's arm tightly Kate responds "You know what is crazy? All the expenses have already been covered. The hotel rooms are not costing any of us"
"Who is paying for all this? I mean first you have to be member here, which is almost impossible to even get on the list, but secondly I understand the cheapest room is one thousand dollars a night"
As they step up to the desk, Kate refuses to let go of Rick
"May I help you?" the overly perky desk clerk asks
"We have reservations…name is Richard Castle"
The clerk looks up "The author of the Nikki Heat books?"
Kate answers "That would be us"
"OH. I am a giant fan" she looks at Kate "Are you Nikki Heat?"
"No. I am Mrs. Richard Castle"
"Oh! Yes…of course." The woman appears to understand "Let me get your keys for you" she runs two scan cards thru a reader then hands them across the counter to the bell hop "You are in room 722. It has a beautiful view of the golf course and the lake. I am sure you will enjoy your stay with us"
Kate responds while holding her husband's arm close to her body "I am sure we will"
The bell hop directs the couple to a bank of elevators. Moments later the couple is exiting the elevator following the bell boy to their room
After getting the standard tour of the room and being shown all the amenities, Castle passes a tip to the young ma, has taken their key cards, and is looking around the sizeable suite
Castle has moved to the large window looking over the grounds. The young lady was right. It is a beautiful view
"Nice room Mr. Castle" Kate speaks in a low sultry voice as she walks up closer behind her husband and presses herself into his back knowing full well what she can still do to him "Do you take all your dates to nice places like this?"
"Only when I am hoping to get lucky" he looks over to her face
She makes him turn around and puts her arms around his neck "I think that is pretty much guaranteed"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The first evening is scheduled to be a cocktail party in the main dining room. Rick has just finished, in the bedroom, dressing in a nice suit when he looks out toward the dressing area and is struck by the sight standing there.
His wife has donned an elegant deep blue sequined dress, open half way down her back showing her smooth skin. The skirt is ten inches above her knees with her long beautiful legs extending toward the floor and she has already slipped on a pair of matching 6 inch heels making her legs look even longer than they actually are.
He still is amazed that his life has her permanently a part of it
She is just finishing placing a pair of blue sapphire earrings when he walks up behind her "I guess I will have to spend most of the night protecting my property from trolls and beating the other men away"
He sees in the mirror her eyes close softly and when they open back up there is a glistening visible
"You really think that?" and she leans back against his chest
He leans in and kisses her neck causing her to issue a soft moan "Not a doubt in my mind" he straightens back up when an expression crosses his face that she has not seen in years. The look of fear
Turning to face her husband "What's wrong?"
"Nothing" he responds
"This is more than nothing, Rick. What is it?"
He looks toward the door. We are going down to hang around your old classmates and I…I am…wondering how many of your old boyfriends are going to be here? Guys you might still have feel…"
She realizes what he is thinking. She steps right up to his face "Are you jealous of who might be here?"
"No…well maybe…just a little"
She reaches to his cheek and with her long fingers crossing his ear and softly remarks "There is absolutely nothing for you to be jealous of. Nothing at all. There are absolutely any unfinished business down there. Understand?"
He nods his head as she reaches across to kiss him. The kiss continues for several seconds
"We better stop this now or, I promise, we will be late" she remarks
She reaches over and takes her small cosmetic bag and drops it into his jacket pocket, then grabs his fingers into her own and pulls him toward the door "Let's go babe"
/\/\/\/\/\/\
When they arrive in the main ballroom, a large number of people have already arrived. As they enter the doorway Castle takes note of how many heads turn in their direction. Castle leans close to Kate's ear "I told you" Sha can only smile
They begin to cross the room heading to the bar when a woman begins approaching. Beckett recognizes the woman as the chairwoman of the reunion committee, Caroline Nady "KATE BECKETT" the woman says loud enough that most people in the room must have heard it
"Hey Caroline" Beckett responds
"WOW, Kate. You look amazing. I thought I heard you had a couple of kids"
"I do. We have a boy and a girl"
"And you kept that body? I was jealous in school back then and now even more so"
Rick sees his wife drop her head a little "Thank you Caroline. You look good yourself" Kate tries to deflect
"It's a good thing you brought your husband"
"I don't go anywhere without him"
"Listen I need to go greet some more people. We will talk later"
"OK" Beckett responds as the other woman turns and heads toward the door.
As Rick pulls his wife toward the bar once again, he is watching the men all looking her way
"How many of these guys did you date anyway" Rick whispers
Kate looks up to her husband "Very few actually"
"Well I see several that would like to now!"
She pulls his arm tighter to her chest "That's their problem" then she leans closer "I have what I need babe"
Rick orders drinks for him and Kate. After they are served, they look around the room and Kate's eyes land on someone and Rick hears her gasp
"What is it?"
"You see the guy over by the woman in the hot pink dress?"
"Yeah"
"That is Ronnie Chapman. He was the grunge rocker. I told you about us dating back in the day"
Rick looks at the man "He doesn't look like a grunge kind of guy. He looks like a businessman"
"Yeah?" Kate remarks
Castle can feel his blood pressure rise thinking about what he just expressed concern over. If someone from her past might still have a little niche inside her
About this time he notices Beckett and Castle. Excuses himself from, whoever he is talking to and moves quickly toward the couple "Kate Beckett? Wow! Look at you. You are beautiful still"
"Hi Ronnie. You look…"
"Different than I did in high school?"
"UH yeah" she laughs "What happened?"
"I grew up"
"So you got out of the music business?"
"No…actually I am deeper into that world. I am a music producer now"
Kate's eyes open wide "That is a long way from where you were back then"
"About as far separated as a person can be. I no longer go crazy like we did back then…" he gets a funny smile on his face "You remember us going to CBGB back in the day?"
Castle is hearing a little more about Kate than he knew before. He looks at his wife "You went to CBGB back when you were still in high school?"
He can see that she is a little embarrassed about that part of her history "Yeah…we…Ronnie and Maddie and me and a couple of other kids got fake ids and we got in. She looks back at Ronnie "That was one of the most gross things I have ever done"
"Yeah me too, but it did tell you not to go to the restroom"
"Yes you did" Kate chuckles
Rick decides to work his way into the conversation "So, Ronnie, you are a producer now. No more groupies..." looking at Kate "throwing themselves at you"
"No. I produce. I set up the concerts, shows, recording sessions, negotiate contracts"
"Any groups we might know?" Beckett asks
"Pink Flamingos?…Tomorrow's Yesterday's?...No Parachute?"
"I think Alexis has mentioned them" Castle responds. Kate just standing there knowing that their daughter has never mentioned any of them
"So Ronnie did you ever settle down? I mean get married?"
"Oh yeah." He points toward the woman in pink "That is my wife Yvette" he speaks loudly toward her "Honey, come here
The very attractive woman steps close by "Honey, this is Katherine Beckett. We knew each other in school…"
Kate realizes she has not introduced Rick "Ronnie, this is my husband Richard Castle. Rick this is Ronnie Chapman"
The men exchange handshakes and pleasantries. The four talk for a few more minutes when they hear another voice come up behind them
"BECKETT…KATE BECKETT. As I live and breathe"
The group turns around to see a man standing behind them. A man not one of them seems to recognize
Wirth a questioning voice "hello?" Kate responds
"You don't recognize me?"
The man is actually ruggedly handsome. Tall. Tanned. Well built
"Charles Ivy"
The two former classmates seem quite shocked at the man calling himself Charles Ivy. Kate and Ronnie both remembers the person named Charles Ivy. He was a high school dork. Always had a computer open in his lap. He wore thick coke bottle glasses. Had crooked teeth and a bad case of acne.
Finally Kate remarks "Charles? Is that you?"
"It is"
Ronnie comments "WOW you have changed"
"Oh yes. I had a little work done" he seems less like a dork and more like an angry man. Got a dermatologist to work on my face. A great dentist to fix me teeth and a really good eye doctor and…" he flips his hands around his body "I am a new person"
"I see that" Kate responds "You look really nice. So you have done well?"
"Very well. In fact so well I am the one paying for all this" he points his thumb toward the room
His remarks brings questions to all four
"You seem to have done well. I guess you have been lucky in the business world?" Castle asks
Anger seems to cross his face "LUCKY…NO! Not lucky. Talent yes. I developed software that protects our government's computers from hackers"
Ronnie responds "I heard about that. It can adapt to the hackers' attacks. A new attack is met almost instantly with the system adapting"
"That is the one" he responds. "And it has made me very, very rich. So now all the people who ignored me in high school now have me to thank when the government is safe"
He seems to get a sterner look on his face then looking directly at Beckett "And the girls I had a crush on back then will wish they had not ignored me"
He looks at Beckett, "Kate, you were one of the only friends I had back then. You always spoke to me. Did not walk away when I came around. Were my friend"
There is a brief silence then his eyes drift from Kate "I have other people to see right now. Enjoy the party"
The man steps away from the group
Rick looks at his wife "Kate. That was creepy"