Shared Obsession Chapter 191
Castle holds his cell phone close to his ear. "Outstanding! So you'll make the offer? Excellent. Send me a text when you get a response."
"What was that all about?" Kate asks, gazing around the room for anything she's forgotten to pack for their three-day weekend in The Hamptons.
"Just tying up a loose end before we leave. Are you about ready?"
"Mm-hmm. I would have thought you'd want to leave earlier to beat the traffic."
"I would if I hadn't learned from sad experience. Whenever I left early for a holiday in the Hamptons, it seemed like a substantial portion of the city's population made the same calculation. When I made the trip years ago, reaching a place where Alexis – or I – could pee became a formidable challenge. So I learned to let the early birds fight it out for a few hours and take to the road while they're recovering from their battles. And anyway, I had to wait for Alexis' surprise to arrive. Even with the upcharge for expedited delivery, the shipping company couldn't guarantee delivery before ten am. And it just showed up a few minutes ago."
"I didn't see you bring in a package."
"That's because I had the delivery person leave it with Eduardo. That way I can use his cart to get it directly into the car."
"Usually you get Alexis a book she wants. What's big enough to need Eduardo's cart? And what are you going to do when we get to the Hamptons?"
"I can use the firewood cart. And the gift will be Alexis's entry into worlds of wonder."
"Living with you is a continuing world of wonder."
"True enough," Castle acknowledges. "But this is a journey of a different sort. You'll see. Anyway," he rubs his hands together, "we are approaching the hour to get our journey underway. And if we do hit traffic, I now have a mental map of every rest stop and decent eatery along our asphalt path."
Kate stretches up for a quick kiss. "I don't doubt it."
Gazing up at the imposing structure built above a beautiful and largely unoccupied beach, Kate draws in a breath. She'd been impressed by her first view of Castle's loft but more by its cavernous bat cave nature than the implied wealth of its owner. The beach house, however, screams monied class. Even knowing that Castle sweats over every word to earn what he has, she still finds it intimidating.
She glances back as he starts grabbing things from the back of the car. "Come on, Beckett, let's get this party started."
As Alexis grabs the cooler of fruits and vegetables she'd insisted on bringing to supplement the celebratory fare of hotdogs and burgers, Kate pulls out her own small bag. Despite what Castle said about play clothes she wonders if she should have brought something more formal. But from what she saw going into Castle's suitcase, formality was the last thing on his mind.
Alexis enters the code to unlock the front door and the Castle caravan proceeds inside. Alexis heads for the kitchen. "We're upstairs," Castle reminds Kate unnecessarily.
She nods. "I know. I'll just take this up and come down to help with the rest."
"No need," Castle says. "I'm going to get the cart and finish unloading before Alexis asks too many questions about the extra cargo. I still want it to be a surprise. If you like, you can put on your swimsuit. It will take a while for the coals in the grill to come to temperature and we might as well play in the pool in the meantime."
"I'm surprised you use charcoal. I would have thought you'd have one of those big fancy gas barbecues."
"Ah, yes, the barbecue behemoths. You should see the one McKnight down the road has. You could load the whole production of the Guilty Grill Gourmand in there. But I find barbecue briquets nostalgic. When I was a starving student, I had one of those grills about," Castle makes a small circle with his arms, "this big. I'd take it out on the fire escape where there was a somewhat lower population of vermin and grill the meat marked down because it had been sitting in the case long enough to turn off any customers who could afford better. It was my finest meal of the month. Even now when I can afford the butcher's best, anything cooked over the coals tastes better to me."
Warmth flows through Kate at Castle's fond gravitation to something that belies his financial status. Her arms wrap around his neck for a less than cursory kiss. "See you in a little bit."
After finishing her last hot dog, Alexis chomps on a celery stick. "Dad, what's in the box that you brought up with us?"
"What box?" Castle asks with an innocent bat of his eyelashes.
"You know what box," Alexis insists. "The one that took up half the car's cargo space."
"Oh, that," Castle replies. "I was going to tell you later, Pumpkin, but now is as good a time as any. I think you deserve something special for keeping me away from Damian Wilder's road to capillary destruction. And I thought that maybe I could compensate you a little for missing a Hamptons weekend with your friends."
"So what is it?" Alexis demands.
"Let's go unpack it and see."
"Here, help me," Castle says as he eases the heavy metal case with the eagle insignia out of its packing material. We'll have to set this up. And," he says, "pulling out a pair of large electronic goggles, "you'll need these."
"Dad, did you get me a virtual reality system so you could play with it?" Alexis asks suspiciously. "You're the gamer."
"It is a virtual reality system, but not for gaming," Castle explains. "At least I didn't buy any of the games."
"So what does it do?"
"When we finish setting it up, you'll see. The software should already be installed."
It takes longer than Castle had hoped to do what the vendor advertised as a minor configuration, but Alexis finally slips on her headgear. "Wow! It's like I'm under the ocean. Where is this?"
"It's supposed to be the Great Barrier Reef," Castle explains. "But you can choose from a lot of places including where we've snorkeled off Catalina. You can explore the wildlife you love to your heart's content without even having your fingers wrinkle."
"Dad, this is incredible. But I wouldn't feel right hogging it," Alexis protests.
"I wouldn't worry. I'm pretty sure Beckett has some plans of her own."
Kate floats on the perfectly temperature-controlled water of the pool, feeling her muscles relax. The constant tension of waiting for the outcome of Bracken's trial and of all her efforts to nail her mother's killer translates to a tightness in her body she's become so accustomed to that she's amazed when it flows away. But it's doing so now. At the back of her mind, she knows it's temporary – at least until the jury comes back with a guilty verdict. But for the moment, with the blue sky above, the scent of grilled burgers still in the air, and Castle lounging in the sun nearby, everything is perfect. Almost perfect. Perfect will be in their bedroom later. She feels stirrings beneath the narrow strip of her bikini bottom. Maybe not that much later. "Castle, have you had enough sun? I thought we might, um, grab a shower."
Castle springs from his chaise with an enthusiastic grin. "A truly outstanding idea."