Once is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. Surely that's all it is.
It is three weeks from her father's birthday, and she wants to get him something nice. Research on the internet has led her here to the Colton Art Gallery, a small, specialized place that focuses on art with a sporting theme where she immediately heads to the baseball section.
It is the last place she expects to meet one of his ex-wives.
"Detective Beckett? Kate?" She whirls around at the sound of her name, eyes falling on the petite blonde woman approaching her from the rear of the gallery.
"Gina. Been a long time." They shake hands quickly, firmly. The blonde is perfectly coiffed and made-up as she always is, every strand of hair in place, impeccable and high-priced Louis Vuitton bag discretely tucked under her elbow.
"How are you? What are you doing here?" There is a genuine warmth to Gina's voice, that she hasn't expected. She last heard from the woman just before Ryan and Jenny's wedding, calling exasperatedly at the precinct to chase down chapters she was owed because he wasn't answering his mobile. Bemusedly she'd told the woman she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him that day. Under that lurks the darker, more painful memory of watching him walk away, arm slung around Gina's shoulders that painful second year of their partnership.
She puts all that aside.
"Oh, just shopping for a present. And you? Didn't know you had a taste for sports-themed art?"
"My fiancé owns the place. Brad Colton. Let me know if you like something, I'll get you a discount." The friendliness in Gina's tone is genuine, and her emotions are skittering all over the place, not quite sure what to do here, feeling like Bambi on ice.
"Oh, ahh, thanks. I'm just looking right now."
Gina nods, and her eyes are warm and inviting and her curiosity overwhelms for an instant, just long enough to override any impropriety.
"How's…how's his new book coming along?" She doesn't need to specify who she is talking about the. The way her voice catches is all the indication that is necessary.
Gina's eyes soften, and the same look of pity that washed over Alexis washes over her. This is how pathetic she's become, reduced to begging for scraps of information from a woman she should hate, one who should hate her.
"Oh Kate." A soft grimace twists over the shorter woman's features. "There is no new book. He hasn't written anything in a while."
"But…the Derrick Storm?"
"An old manuscript, mostly-finished, that I badgered and badgered him into finishing up. He refused to sign the book deal Black Pawn had put on his table. Smart boy."
She can't breathe for a second. So this is how he's reacted. She's drowned herself in her work. He's reacted in the opposite manner. How very Castle and Beckett of them.
"Kate…listen." Gina reaches out with a hand, squeezes her forearm briefly. The contact is reassuring and unsettling all at the same time. "I know we've never been on the best of terms. That's OK. Understandable. But time heals a lot of wounds."
Gina glances towards the back of the gallery, where a tall, slim, blonde man has just walked out, immaculately decked out in expensive and fashionable clothing. The look he directs at Gina though, that is filled only with love.
"And so does my upcoming wedding I suppose." Gina looks back at her, nodding ruefully. "Rick and I were never in love. We just…thought we were compatible. He was my star, handsome writer looking to settle down and provide a stable family life for his daughter. I was the editor who had an excellent relationship with him professionally. We got along well enough. On paper it was great. Alas, even writers don't live their lives on paper."
She stays silent. She has no answer to this. This conversation which she imagined having once, with him, asking about the hows and whys of his marriages.
"And the second time around…well I was just an idiot to go to the Hamptons with him. Especially when I was editing the books that he was writing about you, the books that were all but screaming how much he was falling in love with you. Knew that was doomed the moment he went back to work with you at the precinct, subconsciously at least."
She nods. It's all she can do to nod. That missed moment, that invitation to the Hamptons- that regret daggers through her again, an old friend who often visits.
"Now, I don't know what happened between the two of you three years ago, and it certainly isn't my place to ask. But whatever happened between us, I'm still fond of Rick. I always will be. And three years on, he isn't getting better, and if that stony-faced, glassy-eyed look you're giving me is any indication, neither are you really."
Gina steps away, into the embrace of her fiancé who has come up behind her, settled an arm around her shoulders.
"So Kate, for God's sake, fix it. Fix whatever is broken. Because he deserves you, and you deserve him."
And then she watches Gina walk away from her again, a man's arm wrapped around her, and the mirroring, the symbolism from that dark day when she had watched him be the man doesn't escape her.
But she can't fix what's broken. She's what is broken, and she's beyond fixing.
A few of you have asked for Castle's POV chapters. We'll meet Castle soon, and we'll definitely get to hear his side of the story, but I won't deviate from using Beckett as the POV character.
Sorry.
Keep them reviews coming to see the next chapter soon!