56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

"Do we have enough of the right clothes at the beach house for a couple of days?" Kate asked as they got home from work, stopping to remove her shoes at the door.

"Probably," Castle answered. "If not, we'll go shopping tomorrow morning. One of the perks of being married to a rich guy." He kissed the tip of her nose when she looked up at him.

"This time I might take you up on it. I don't feel like picking out clothes and packing tonight."

"Then let's buy you something even if we do have clothes there. I have to take advantage of being allowed to spoil my wife when I have the chance."

"I don't require spoiling."

"I know, but I enjoy it. Indulge me this weekend."

"So all we need to pack is toothbrushes, shampoo, change of underwear…"

"You know how you could spoil your husband?"

With an amused smirky smile, Kate answered, "I'll probably be sorry I asked, but how would you suggest I do that?"

"Let me pick out the underwear," he said mischievously.

She stared him down for a long moment, and then she caved completely. "Fine. Pick out anything you want, and I'll wear it. Go play in my underwear drawer."

"Yes!" he answered and left for their room. Kate followed and found him already rummaging through the drawer, happily looking for his favorites.

She opened his drawer and went on her own search, finding what she wanted. "What?" she asked when he looked to see what she was doing. "I have favorites, too." Going to the closet, she picked up a zippered tote bag, saying, "Everything should fit in here. I know we left robes and pajamas there."

She dropped the boxers she had chosen into the bag, along with one of the black T-shirts that showed off her husband's biceps, and he added several matched sets of her underwear. Then they gathered toiletries, put them in a small travel bag, and tucked them in with the underwear.

"Done?" he asked.

"Done."

"I don't mind this kind of packing," he said with a smile and took the bag to set it next to the front door.

They ordered a healthy dinner from a place close to the loft, and had it delivered before Martha and Alexis came home. The table was set and ready, and the food was in the warming drawer when Martha arrived, and they texted Alexis to see when she'd be back. She was home shortly after that, and they compared notes on their days and talked for a while before Kate and Castle helped clean up and started saying their goodbyes.

"Where are your bags?" Alexis asked.

"This is it," Castle answered, picking up the tote bag Kate had chosen.

"If you're about to say you won't need any clothes this weekend, please don't."

"Alexis!" he scolded in mock affront.

Kate laughed. "I think he meant to say that we're pretty sure we have clothes there already, and if not, we're going shopping tomorrow morning. Is that better?"

"Much better. Thank you, Kate."

After hugs all around, the couple was in the Mercedes and on the way to the Hamptons. Having spent a couple of weeks of cases at work, and putting information on Bracken together at home, they intended to leave it all behind them for the weekend. They argued over radio stations, bantered back and forth, exchanged teasing little touches, and generally enjoyed the trip.

Arriving at the house, Castle put their one small bag next to the stairs, and they walked through the house, and out the back door. With arms around each other's waists, they made their way down to the beach and breathed in the ocean air.

"This place is magic…healing."

"My skeptical wife is claiming that we own a magical place?"

"It's only magic when you're here with me."

He pulled Kate against him and gave her a soft, loving kiss. "We're magic together. Always have been…even when we didn't talk about it."

"Yeah, we are," she agreed, returning the kiss. "Want to walk a little bit?"

He nodded, and they walked down the beach with arms wrapped around one another, simply enjoying being close; and the most of the stress of the last couple of weeks gradually blew away on the ocean breeze. When they returned to the house, they sat on their bench until it was too cold to stay out any longer.

"You're cold. Let's go in and take a nice, warm shower."

"And see if we have clothes for tomorrow?"

"Our child might have had a good idea about not needing clothes this weekend," he answered, still smiling.

"So no clothes until tomorrow?" she asked as they walked back to the house.

"I'd like that," he answered with the lopsided smile he knew she loved.

They took a playful shower, dried each other off, and fell into bed being silly and laughing…and made love before pulling the covers over themselves and sleeping.

With nothing pressing them to be elsewhere, they slept late the next morning. After a look through their closet, Kate decided they had all the clothes they needed; but Castle wasn't going to be deterred from a shopping trip.

"No. You said I could spoil you this weekend, and I intend to. Find something to wear this morning, and I'm taking you to breakfast. Then we're going shopping. No arguments."

"Fine. Are you choosing my underwear?"

"You already chose mine. It's only fair." He took a lacy, lavender set from their bag and handed it to her with a big smile. "Everywhere we go today, I'll know that's what you're wearing and imagine getting you out of it later."

"You sure you can do all that imagining in public without embarrassing yourself?" she asked flirtatiously as she took the underwear from his hand and retreated to the bathroom. She returned wearing it, with makeup on and hair curled; and then she paraded herself to the closet as he watched. "Does it meet your expectations?" she asked.

"Every time you wear it," he assured her with a grin.

They dressed and went to a little place that served brunch, and then he insisted on finding a dress shop and buying something for a nice dinner out that evening. Of course, there was lingerie in the shop, and Castle pushed her in that direction, too. They chose a few things for her to try on, and Castle wandered around while she did.

The door to the dressing room opened, and Kate came out to show him a dress. "I like this one. What do you think?"

"I think it's perfect. I'll be the envy of every man in the restaurant tonight. Did you try on the other things?" he asked with his signature smirk.

"Yes. They all fit. I just have to pick out which one I want."

"There aren't any other customers here. Let me help decide?"

Kate turned an embarrassed look at the sales clerk, who was aware what the other things were, and the woman assured her it was fine. Castle stood at the door and she opened it far enough for him to see each negligee she tried on, and he liked each one. When she opened the door for him to see the last one, though, he exclaimed, "Oh, god, Kate. Pick that one." She laughed at his response, which was followed by, "Please, please, pleeeeease pick that one."

"Okay, it's yours," she answered and giggled as she closed the door.

Looking up to see the sales clerk doing her best to suppress her laughter, he said sheepishly, "Sorry."

"I've heard a lot worse," she assured him.

He paid for their purchases and took his wife to a shoe store to add to her collection, and then she insisted that if she had a new outfit for the evening, he should, too; so they browsed his favorite store. Kate helped him find things and insisted on seeing those, too, at one point teasing him with "Please, please, pleeeeeease pick that one." They spent the rest of the morning being that lighthearted.

"I had forgotten again that it was possible to feel this peaceful," Kate said as they returned to the house early in the afternoon. I know there are things we still have to decide, but it feels good to put it all aside for a day or two."

"Let's get through today without thinking about any of that, and then we need to get back to it before Jordan calls."

"Dinner, a walk on the beach, some fooling around?" she suggested.

"A perfect evening, in my humble opinion."

"I think the ocean might still be a little cool for swimming. Is the pool ready to use?"

"It is. Skinny dipping? I'll race you." He took off through the back door.

Kate was close behind him calling out, "No fair."

As soon as they reached the pool area, clothes were shed quickly; and there was teasing and splashing and dunking for a while before they swam some laps and floated and played some more.

"We didn't think about towels," Kate observed as they finally left the pool.

"I asked for those to be stocked, too. You know where we keep them."

"I'm still not used to so many things being done for us. I should be by now, but it keeps surprising me."

"Rich guy, remember? The people who do those things have built themselves businesses working for people who can pay for their services. I want it done, and they want the work. It's a win-win."

"But you still treat them like equals, which I appreciate, by the way. I can see that they appreciate that, too."

"I spent most of the first twenty years of my life having way less than they have; and I remember how it felt to have somebody respect the work you do, appreciate when it's done well. Mother and I had a variety of jobs before things got easier for us."

"Sometimes I forget that, too," she answered, handing him a large, fluffy towel, "That there was a time when you didn't have so much."

The breeze was a little chilly, so they got a several dry towels and curled up together in them on one of the wide lounge chairs, body heat contributing to their comfort, too. When Kate woke from a short nap next to the pool, she realized it was later than she expected and sat up, stretching.

"Rick," she called gently. "Time to wake up."

"Don't want to. Come back. It's cold without you," he mumbled, pulling at her waist.

"You made reservations, didn't you?"

He answered never opening his eyes. "Yeah, but business isn't that brisk yet. When it's officially tourist season, we have to be on time."

"But it's still rude not to be there when we said would. I'm going to take a shower. You gonna join me?"

One of his eyes opened at that. "You fight dirty," he answered accusingly.

"You saying you want a dirty shower, Babe?" she asked flirtatiously.

"Okay. I'm coming."

She wrapped the towel around her, gathered the clothes they had left strewn poolside, and hurried to the house. And Rick was right behind her, holding on to the towel wrapped around his lower half.

Agreeing that the next day they would talk about more pressing matters than meals and shopping, they went about enjoying the rest of their day. After the dinner, another walk on the beach, and the easily agreed upon fooling around, they slept soundly.

The next morning felt different. They knew they had decisions to make about where the file copies would go to back up their deal with Bracken, and it needed to be done soon…before Jordan gave them the okay to call him. They indulged themselves and stayed in bed, Kate's head on Rick's shoulder, her arm across his chest, and his arm around her back.

"Want to take a little walk?" he finally asked. "Then we can clean up and go to Bernie's for breakfast. It's still pretty early, and his place isn't usually busy before brunch."

"Okay. We need to talk, don't we?"

He turned toward her and kissed her gently several times. "I wish we didn't."

"I know. Me, too. " She kissed him and swung her legs over the side of the bed, getting up to find something to wear that was warm enough to ward off the morning chill.

Rick did the same, and they left without coffee to face what they had been putting off. They were the only ones on the beach that morning as they walked on the sand near the crashing waves.

"Do you have people in mind already, Rick?"

"A couple...maybe three. What about you?"

"Maybe one. Not sure about it yet."

"I was thinking I could talk to Bernie while we're there this morning. I think he and Inez would agree to tuck a package away in the corner of a closet and not look at it."

"It just seems so unfair to involve someone else. I really hate this."

"Me, too, but we have to do something. I also thought about asking Arturo. Did I ever tell you how I met him?"

"No, but if you're telling me now, it must be a good story."

"I stopped by his restaurant one afternoon and was having coffee and writing. He saw me staring at the screen doing nothing for a while and stopped to speak to me, asked if everything was okay. I told him I had reached a standstill because I needed a child's perspective of the Second World War and hadn't found one yet…he sat down at the table and said 'You found one right here. What do you want to know?' He was nine years old when World War II ended. His family in Italy sheltered Jewish families who were making their way out of the country…helped a lot of people. He told incredible stories about soldiers and shortages, sounds of battles, delivering messages that could have cost him his life, close calls and fear, and the people who sheltered with them. It sounded frightening, but it was all laced with the love in his family…for each other and for the other families they were helping. I was completely enthralled. He still works quietly in the background when he sees a need. He's an impressive man."

"I liked him from the first time I met him, but I had no idea."

"All that to say he understands the importance of trust and following through on promises."

"Who's the third one?" she asked.

"A friend of mother's. Mother and Iris have known each other since before I was born. They were struggling actresses together, babysat each other's children, shared what they had when times were tough. They'd do anything for each other. I think we could count on her. What about you?"

"Most of the people I'd trust are the ones the deal is trying to protect. There's one woman, though. She owns a little bookstore I used to go to with my mother. When Mom died, I'd go there sometimes and we'd talk. When she realized that I had picked up Mom's interest in your books, she'd always call me when the new ones came in. She kind of took me under her wing. I haven't been to see her since before I was shot, though. It seems…"

"Awkward?" Kate nodded, but he assured her, "People who really care about you don't stop because you haven't seen them in a while. It's your call, though. I don't know her."

"But you should. I don't know why I haven't taken you with me. You'd love the place…and Colleen."

"Something I'll look forward to. We need one more. Do you think your dad might be able to help? The more random, the better."

"I'll ask him when we get back."

"Speaking of getting back, we should get back to the house and clean up so we have time to talk to Bernie before the brunch crowd comes in."

"Race you back?"

"Mrs. Castle?" Racing before coffee? This place is more magical than I thought," he answered, amused. "Go!" he shouted suddenly and took off toward the house.

She easily caught up with him and passed him. "Cheater," she called over her shoulder after she ran up the steps. "That means you make the coffee."

Bending with his hands on his knees to catch his breath, he nodded and smiled. "It's the only way I have even a vague chance of beating you."

She laughed and said, "I'll start the shower."

At the restaurant, they spoke to Bernie and Inez, explaining the package they would send as safety insurance and giving them a description of what to look for and instructions on what to do with it if they were willing to take it.

"I can see it's important to you, Ricky. Something you need to do," Bernie answered, looking at his wife questioningly.

"It sounds like something you don't want us to know about," Inez said, " but it also sounds a little like life insurance of one kind or another." Taking Kate's hand in hers, she concluded, "Ricky, you almost lost this fine woman not that long ago. Kate, if this has anything to do with keeping that from happening again, send that package anytime you want."

Bernie put his arm around his wife's shoulders proudly. "My thoughts exactly. We'll tuck it away and keep it safe unless we need to pass it on. We both know you wouldn't ask unless you really needed to.

"Neither of us can thank you enough," Kate answered.

"No, we can't," Rick agreed, and put his arm protectively around his own wife's shoulders. "We hope we don't need to mail them, but it doesn't hurt to have insurance."

"No problem," Bernie answered. "We both understand the need to protect the ones you love."

The beginning of the brunch crowd was coming in, so Bernie and Inez excused themselves to take care of other customers, saying, "You two keep taking care of each other."

The Castles spent their Sunday afternoon on the beach and next to the pool, then repacked their one bag to take home with them. The drive back wasn't as relaxed as the drive to the Hamptons had been; but they were looking forward to Alexis's graduation, and it gave them something pleasant to talk about on the way home. They discussed several options, making a final decision on a graduation gift for her and decided on a place for a graduation dinner, which would include Meredith, the day before the ceremony. Castle gave his wife a thinly veiled play for sympathy and comfort while Alexis was celebrating graduation at an all-night party with the other seniors…and planning on leaving home for college.

"Rick, she isn't planning on leaving home until the end of the summer. She'll be at home with us for three more months…well, minus the time she'll be away with Martha." She paused for a moment and stroked his upper thigh as he drove. "But I'll comfort you anyway while your imagination works overtime."

A smile appeared on his face, and he took her hand and lifted it to his lips to kiss it.

They rode for a while in comfortable silence, still holding hands; and then Kate said quietly, "I'll call my dad tonight and see if I can meet him sometime tomorrow…ask if he can think of someone else to hold the files for us."

"That would send them to five different media outlets. At least one of them is going to use it, and that would set off the others. I doubt Bracken would take the chance of having that happen. That should buy us time until Jordan, and whoever she and Avery are working with, can connect some dots and find enough proof to have Bracken spend the rest of his sorry life behind bars. I thought she sounded confident. I hope that wasn't my imagination because it was what I wanted to hear."

"I thought I heard the same thing. And I hope we hear from her soon. The Smith situation makes me nervous, even though I know Bracken didn't get the files. I'd love to know that Smith is safe, though. I don't want anybody else hurt trying to protect me."

"He sounded more than capable of taking care of himself. I expect he's fine."

"I hope so." She paused a moment. "So you'll talk to Arturo, your mom will talk to Iris, and I'll talk to Dad. And we can stop by the bookstore sometime tomorrow to talk to Colleen."

"You know, if Jordan can find enough solid evidence, all this work we've done might be for nothing."

"For a two letter word, 'if' can have huge consequences. What we've done isn't for nothing. Some of our work gave Jordan some connections she didn't have before, and what we're doing now is going to give us a little more peace of mind for the time being. I don't think any of it is wasted."

When they were close to the loft, Castle glanced at Kate and said lovingly, "I enjoyed our weekend. Want to go back after graduation…on our actual secret anniversary…even if it's just overnight and back the next morning?"

"If I can get the time, I'd absolutely love that." She brought his hand to her lips for a kiss then, and they relaxed a little bit as they pulled into the parking garage, looking forward to seeing their family.