Castle and Beckett are leaving the police station and are heading over to the newspaper office and meet back up with Joy Mason and get the information on residents she was looking up for them.
When they pull out from the lot, Kate seems to get a gentle look on her face. Actually an appearance that Rick is not sure he has ever seen on his wife's face. She seems to have a melancholy softness in her appearance
Castle decides to try and get more information from his wife about what she has on her mind other than the murder they are looking into. He knows that she has been thinking a lot during this trip about her future and by default his as well
"Kate, can we talk?"
She does not stop looking out the side window "Women usually start out conversations that way. Are you trying to show your feminine side Castle?" she is definitely giving him a smile with her voice
"I am just wondering if you are ready to talk about it?"
She continues to stare off in the distance "What IT?"
"You know what I need to know. You have been dancing around these thoughts of yours all week"
She slowly closes her eyes then reopens them. She turns toward her husband "Rick, when I first met you I was kind of in a funk and kind of a mess emotionally"
"KIND of a funk? I think my girl here was in the absolute pits"
"Yeah and then some arrogant, self-centered womanizer came into my life and would not go away?" she looks across the car and smiles toward Rick "No matter what I did, he would not stay out of my personal life"
"You know you fell in love with me the moment you met me"
She gives him a huff "You know it was fun letting you think that from almost the beginning"
She reaches across the seat and wrapped her fingers into his "I have to admit I enjoyed the dance we did back then"
Castle is giving her all the opening she needs "So are you wanting to change our dance routine?"
"I love the dance we have done. I just want to make sure the music never stops. The music between you and me"
She takes a deep breath "I have enjoyed our time together. The times we chase bad guys, our trips here…in fact our trips everywhere we go when we unplug from the world and just spend time as a family"
"I hear a big butt?" he responds
"Are you talking about my…?"
He cuts her off with a squeeze of her fingers "Hey…"
Causing her to laugh again "Not a butt but…" she giggles about her own remark "A What if?"
"What if what?"
"You know…" her face softens "What if we were unplugged all the time?"
"Are we back to the retirement thinking?"
"Yes" she says softly as her head nods
"Kate. You know I will support whatever you want as long as I am a part of what you want to do"
She reaches across the front and wraps his hand into her other hand "I love you Rick and I will not have it any other way"
"I love you too. Kate. Remember there is much more to consider than just deciding to put in your papers. Tell me about everything that you are working over in your mind"
As they pull into the parking lot in front of the 'The Cape Register', the local paper, she responds "I will, when we get back home later, I think I can put it all into perspective by then"
"OK I can work with that" as he puts the car into park in front of the small offices of the paper
The pair get out of their car and walk into the front door of the local newspaper. As with all printed media today, the size and reach of the printed word has dropped dramatically. When you pass the entry they can tell this paper has not moved very quickly toward the digital age. Instead of computers and all forms of electronic distribution the desks and counter contains typewriters and typeset machines covering the desks.
The man at the front greets Castle and Beckett "you are Richard Castle" then looking at Kate "and you are Kate Beckett, I am Gus Stevens. I am the editor here and I want to tell you what an honor it is to meet both of you"
Rick reaches to accept the offered hand "A please to meet you Mr. Stevens. We came to see Joy. Is she around?"
"Yes, please come in" He pulls open the swing door beside the counter "Her office is in the back"
As they are approaching the second door, Castle's phone rings. He pulls it out of his pocket. He looks at Kate "Its Paula. Let me take this and I'll will be right in"
"OK" Kate responds then she continues into the second office while Rick goes back outside to the sidewalk
"Hi Kate" Joy remarks as she rises from her desk "Where's Rick?"
"He had a call from his manager. He will be right in. when we came in and I saw all the old newspaper equipment we thought…"
Kate has a questioning look on her face. She points her thumb in the direction of the front lobby. "All the old publishing equipment " then referring to the desks in the second office contains computers along with scanners and printers "I see this"
"We do that on purpose. The visitors love that old technology and they get a laugh thinking that we are still doing lead typesetting" Joy points to her computer "This is where I write all the stories and then send them to the large computerized printer in the back. It makes us a nice tourist stop"
"I see" Kate remarks
Looking toward the lobby "And Gus is the man I told you about. The visitor's bureau is only a part time job for him, so we do this together "she looks toward the front lovingly "he is really a nice man and I have fallen in love with him"
Any doubt Beckett had about Joy has just been quashed "so you and him are a couple?"
"Yeah! I think I have…found my guy" she looks at Beckett "And I hope we have just half of what you have with Rick"
Another comment about Rick brings another thought to Kate's mind "Joy, can I ask you something?"
"Sure Kate. What do you need?"
"The last time I saw you, you were…um…different"
The woman laughs out loud "Yeah I was…too different for my own good." Joy walks to her desk "I don't know if you knew this but Rick was in love with you long before you got together. Did you know that?"
Beckett nods her head
"About a year before you two got it together, he was on a Chad Braxton's boat in the marina at a party. I tried to pick him up and he said he was UNAVAILIABLE'. It seems from what Chad told me later, he was already madly in love with his police muse. Referring to You"
Kate remembers hearing those words from him in a recording made then
"Everyone in town was wondering what was so special about this cop that had made the playboy drop his wayward want to have one woman for the rest of his life"
Kate is taken back by the revelations being dropped on her
"After meeting you, we all figured it out…" She pauses "YOU ARE REAL and he seems to prefer real. You opened a part of him no one ever saw before. I don't know if it is the cases you work together or maybe" she looks over to make sure no one is listening "or maybe the regular shopping trips you do at 'Karen's Apparel'"
Kate actually blushes "You know about that?"
Joy just smiles in return "This is a close knit community. Anyway I decided to follow in Sara's footsteps and become the real woman just like you are and let my real side come out…and you know what? I like it"
But before Joy can add any more fuel to the fire flaming Kate's body, Rick enters the room. Instead of noticing his wife's embarrassment, he is taken back by all the computer equipment just as Kate had been
"What did Paula want?" Kate asks trying to get her mind back on the current issues
"Just a few notes about my latest outline. Hi Joy" Castle turns toward the woman
"So, were you able to get us those names?"
"Yes, but there are about two dozen that were here back then and are still living on the island" she hands a sheet of paper to Beckett "I hope this helps
"Thank you Joy" Kate turns to walk away then turns back "And thanks for the little talk"
As Rick and Kate leave the office Rick asks "What was that about?"
Beckett never looks up "Just girl talk" and she smiles to herself
Back in the car and heading home, Rick takes out his phone and calls a phone number. When the call is answered Kate hears him say the code words she knows will bring Agent Gray into play "You think he can help?"
"If our killer is a Special Forces hit man he should be able to tell us"
Kate nods her understanding "Castle, I am going to call home and see if they want us to being something home for dinner. She takes her phone out and dials their home. When Martha answers they have a short conversation then Kate hangs up
"Martha said she was just about to start supper, but if we wanted to bring something home, that was fine with her"
Castle gets a sickening look on his face "Thank goodness we stopped her before she did supper. I don't think I could handle an entire house full of family with food poisoning"
Both Rick and Kate laugh at his remark then he pulls into the local bistro so they can go in and order