The people in this story are not mine. Boo-Hoo.

I can still wish
They belong to the best show runner in Television Andrew Marlow & Company

This story follows up after "No Tomorrow" (read it first)
It begins when They return from LA. It actually overlaps a portion of that story
then it proceeds "In The Days After Tomorrow"

it will eventually fill the gaps

I guess I am returning to my fluff.
I am such a softie when it comes to these two

She opens her front door and enters the apartment carrying her shoulder bag. The apartment seems way too empty. The lights are switched off and the AC is not active giving the room a creepy silence. It makes the room feel spooky. Almost like a haunted house on Halloween. Haunted houses are not her favorite places to be. They are too much like crime scenes with the possibility of a real killer around every blind corner

It has been over a week ago since she was last here. She left not knowing how her trip would end up. Afraid that the trip would go badly, but instead it ended better than she ever thought possible.

She drops her bag on the couch then simply stops in the middle of the living room to look at her book case. The bookcase containing her library of her favorite books. Primarily mystery novels from several famous authors. But most importantly the one author who saved her life. Her favorite author

Richard Castle

Years ago when she bought these books, she was in a very dark place in her life. She was standing beside a giant bottomless pit where his words kept her from falling off the edge.

She thinks back on how she was once so excited to just be able to meet the man who wrote these tales and then waiting in line for hours to have him autograph a copy for her.

Stepping up to the shelves, she reaches out and runs her hands down the spines of all these stories of murder and mayhem.

And now she cannot believe that he belongs to her. He loves her. He told her he loves her. Well, he almost told her he loved her.

Her hand stops at the end of the shelf when it encounters a different book. Actually not a book at all, but a hard bound journal or more accurately described as a diary. A very tiny smile crosses her lips

A tear enters her eye as she thinks about what this book represents and what is contained in its pages. She slides her hand across spine then she removes it from the shelf.

She looks at the cover for just a moment. She walks into the bedroom and sits down on the bed as she is touching it fondly. Memories come rushing back and she feels a chill crawl up her skin.

The writing contained in this book is hers and hers alone. Never shared with anyone. They are mostly good memories, laughter, fun, and some sad but not horrible, just everyday life of hurt and pain.

She takes a deep breath and then she stands and places it on her dresser

She sheds her clothes and walks into the bath room and turns on the shower. Setting the water temperature to give her a nice warm skin soothing wash, she steps into the shower stall.

After a through cleansing from head to toe, she wraps herself in a warm terry cloth robe and surrounds her wet hair with another towel and begins drying herself off.

She walks back into her bedroom and sets herself on the edge of the bed and looks at her reflection in her dresser mirror. The woman staring back in the silver coated glass is not the same woman who was there just over a week ago. This woman here now is different. Much different than that woman from before. That 'other' woman had no tomorrow planned. Let alone any long term goals. That woman was living her personal life just from day to day avoiding plans for the tomorrow in front of her

But, the new woman here today is actually smiling because she wants to plan. A broad smile covers her face. If it were possible to smile from head to toe, the woman looking back in the looking glass would be doing this. This woman knows that a great tomorrow is ahead for her now

She finishes toweling the water off herself and dresses in a pair of her comfortable pajamas. She returns to the bath room to finish drying her hair. After she has completed the task she returns to the kitchen to await her visitor. A visitor who wants to interrogate her about her recent romantic activities. She gets a bottle of wine from her cooler, sets it on the counter along with two glasses and a corkscrew.

As she is walking back to her bedroom, she pulls her long hair into a pony tail. She opens a drawer in her dresser to retrieve a hair clip. Lying next to the clip is the jewelry box that contains her most treasured possession, her father's watch, that Castle had repaired after her old apartment blew up, and her mother's ring.

Her mind moves back to the contents of the diary on the dresser, but her thoughts are broken by the loud rapping of her best friend on the front door

"OK! OK! Keep your pants on and give me a second Lanie" Kate yells as she approaches the entry door to her apartment

The moment that she opens the door, even a slight crack, the fiery Medical Examiner rushes thru. Lanie moves past her best friend and stops at the counter and places a new bottle of wine down before turning to Kate

"Kate, even if I did not know about you and writer boy finally connecting, all I have to do is look at you and I can see the love you have in your eyes for him. You were at his loft when I called, weren't you? When did you come in? Last night?"

Beckett ducks her head slightly

"So I want the information. All the information! You hold nothing back. You understand me?"

"Yes Lanie, I understand. But please give me a little time. This is just so new to me. I really want to keep some of what we have together now to ourselves"

"OK. Then just the highlights. When? Where? What time? How many? Good? Bad? Just So-So? What?"

"Lanie if I answer any one of those questions, I will give it all away"

"Start at the beginning. The first time we talked you were going to Miami to jump him but you ended up in LA. What is that about?"

At this moment Beckett's cell phone rings with a call tone she set for emergencies only.

She picks up her phone and caller ID says 12th precinct"

"Beckett… Yes captain I am back in town. WHAT? How many? Yes sir, I will be right there"

"What's going on? I thought that you had the rest of this week off" Lanie asks

"I did but there has been a bombing at the Regents Hotel. Everyone's being called in"

Isn't that where the international Chess Tournament is being held this week?"

"That's where the bombing was in the grand ballroom. The two chess players were killed and there are several injuries. Some very severe"

"Let me get my stuff together and I'll ride with you"

Kate returns to her bedroom and changes into her work clothes. She opens her drawer and retrieves her weapon and holsters it. She takes her father's watch and places it on her wrist and she then pulls the chain over her head containing her mother's ring. Finally smiling up to herself in the mirror she says quietly,

"You really are in love! Aren't you?"

Kate walks back into the living area "Let's go Lanie" As the two women head out to the murder scene.