Chapter 15

Castle turned the doorknob and entered his loft. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen. One made him grin happily while the other made him cringe slightly. He had traded the craziness of his soon-to-be ex-wife for the craziness of his mother who recently moved in after her most recent ex-husband made off with her savings. As Betty might say, everyone was adjusting.

"Honey, I'm home," Castle called out as he dropped his coat on the couch.

"Hey, Dad!" Alexis smiled as she set the table.

"Hey, Kiddo," Martha said with a glass of wine in her hand. He could only hope that she hadn't selected one of the more expensive bottles in his collection. "I thought you'd be home hours ago."

"I went for lunch at a restaurant frequented by magazine execs," he said eying the salad on the counter and smelling the leftover lasagne reheating in the oven. "It's amazing how much people will say in a public place when they don't think anyone else is listening. After that, I went to the library to do some research."

"So how was the tour of Mode?" Martha asked.

"Good. Got some story ideas. I'm just not sure if they fit in a Derrick Storm novel," Castle replied. "By the way, Claire says hi, congratulates you on your current marital status and implied that if you want him whacked, she might be able to help."

"Oh, isn't that sweet," she said. "We really should do lunch."

"So what's Betty like?" asked Alexis who had formed her own impression of the executive assistant from the media and her web articles as well as from Daniel and DJ's descriptions, but she wanted her father's opinion.

"She's a very nice and intelligent person. You'd like her," he said confirming her suspicions. "In fact, I think Becks has a little crush."

"Really?" Alexis said wrinkling her nose thinking that her father's womanizing friend wouldn't make a good match for her vision of Betty.

"Hmm, I always got the feeling that Claire wouldn't mind if Betty and Daniel's relationship were to evolve. That young woman seems to be the most stable influence in his life," Martha commented then sipped her wine. "So what about you?"

"What about me?" Castle asked confused.

"Did you fall under Betty's spell, too?" Martha asked.

"No," he scoffed pouring himself a glass of wine.

She wasn't fooled. "But …"

Seeing both his mother and daughter looking at him expectantly, he shrugged. "Betty may have said something that got me thinking. Ah, never mind. What's for dessert?"

ooOoo

Except Castle couldn't stop thinking about the simple comment Betty made. She had inadvertently planted the tiniest of seeds in his brain, and it was steadily growing.

For him, one of the most creative times of the day was just before he fell asleep. His mind would drift trying to work out whatever plot points were giving him problems. Tonight was no different. All the story ideas he had come up with on the tour tumbled around in his brain. He visualized each scenario using the people he had met as stand-ins for the characters. More often than not, the narrative of his dreams circled back to Betty usually as investigator but occasionally as victim. While entertaining, it also confirmed what he had feared. He could not figure out a way to fit in Derrick Storm.

ooOoo