933. Chapter 933

After Backstabber

Episode 8.18

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: This one I especially don't own. Rating: K Time: See above.

He heard the roar of the engines before he saw the bikers. Looking out the window he saw it was a couple, not a bunch of rowdy bikers. His wife wouldn't have liked that. After five years, he still missed her. He pushed the newspaper off of the desk and put a smile on his face.

When he saw them without their helmets, he was impressed. She was a looker for sure, but there was something about her. Without realizing why, he decided she was a good person. Her husband, (He had caught the matching wedding rings on their fingers. His life had taught him to notice things.), was tall, rangy and good looking. He saw laugh lines around his eyes and decided, mainly because of the wife, that he was a good person, too.

"Welcome to the Lake George Lodge, folks." He said, giving them a genuine smile. "I'm Mike Brennan, the owner."

"Hi." The man said. "We're the Castles. We have a reservation."

He slowly tapped away at the computer. He had learned to use one late in life and was very careful with it. He found the reservation. "Rick and Kate Castle?"

They both smiled and nodded. "That's us." They said in unison and then giggled. She blushed slightly. "We do that."

"Sounds like you're an old married couple."

Rick shook his head. "We've been together for eight years, but we've only been married for a little over a year."

Mike grinned. "Son, you must be a little slow if you didn't ask her to marry you're the day you met."

He saw a look pass between them and wondered if he'd broached some sort of a sore subject with them.

But, Rick nodded. "I wish I had asked her to marry me the night I met her. It would have saved us a lot of trouble."

Kate shook her head. "Castle, it would have caused a lot of trouble. We both needed to grow up first."

Now Mike was curious. They couldn't have been teenagers when they met. Rick was in his forties at least, and Kate was about a decade younger. He decided that his curiosity should wait. "If you'll let me see your driver's license and a credit card, you can sign in here." He pushed the registration form across to Rick.

When Rick was done, he handed them two keys. "You're in room five, at the end of the hall. You have a great view of the lake and the Adirondacks. As for dinner, there are several nice places in town. I usually cook up something for dinner on the weekends, but there's just one couple besides you here tonight. Newlyweds. They've been here a week, and I haven't seen them for more than maybe ten minutes. So, I'll just grill up some cheeseburgers for myself."

That got Rick's attention at once. "Cheeseburgers? You grill cheeseburgers?"

"Yup. I'm friends with the local butcher, so he makes me some good ground beef, usually, but this time he got me some buffalo meat. I add a chopped up quarter of a red onion, a chopped up garlic clove, some Worcestershire sauce and a little salt and pepper."

Kate looked over at Rick and saw he was beginning to salivate. "What kind of cheese do you use?"

"I use Roquefort cheese. A lot of people don't like it, but I love it."

"I had a buffalo cheeseburger once." Rick said. "But never with Roquefort cheese."

"You two are more than welcome. I've got some garlic fries to go with 'em, and the usual condiments, of course." Mike looked Castle over. "You're a big fellow. I bet you could down two burgers, and a couple of beers. They make an Iroquois Pale Ale you two might like. I have a refrigerator full. Why don't you come back to the front desk at about 6:30?"

Rick had hardly put their bags down in their room when Kate pushed him on to the bed and landed on top of him.

"Mr. Castle, did you know that they made cheeseburgers here? With garlic fries and a pale ale? Is that why we're here?"

"No! Of course not. I was as surprised as you were."

She looked at him for a second, then kissed him. "You do take me to the nicest places." She teased.

"I wonder if they have ice cream for dessert?" He asked.

Kate got up. "After riding all the way from New York City, I need a shower." As she walked away from him, she put a little more sway in her hips. "Coming, Castle?'

"I hope so." He muttered.

Promptly as 6:30, Rick and Kate arrived at the front desk. Mike laughed. "I guess you two brought your appetites with you. Come on, I've got the grill all set up. All I need is to light the fire."

Once the fire was lit, Mike offered the two of them beers and they waited for the fire to die down. "You from the city?" He asked

"I'm a cop. Captain, NYPD, and my husband writes murder mysteries. And he helps me with my cases. That's one reason it took so long for us to get together. I hated having a writer forced on me as a tag along."

"And now we're married." Rick said, giving Kate a hug. "That's one reason we came up here. It's so peaceful. We can't imagine anything happening here like we see in the city."

Mike grinned. "Oh, worse has happened here. Not lately, not for maybe the last two hundred years. But, for centuries Iroquois war parties from Canada would come down the Richelieu River to Lake Champlain, portage their canoes a few miles to Lake George, and then onto the Hudson River. Back in those days travel by water was a lot quicker than going by land. The Iroquois were able to chase other tribes out, all the way Virginia. Of course, soon Europeans showed up. The French in Canada and the British here. You can see Fort Ticonderoga just up the road. Started out as a French fort called Fort Carillion, but eventually it was all taken by the British, and then by us. But like I said, it's been real peaceful for the last two hundred years." Mike glanced at the grill. "I think we're ready to cook, folks. How do you like your burgers cooked?"

They sat and talked to Mike, ate their burgers and drank beer for several hours. Then Rick and Kate headed back to their room.

Kate snuggled up against Rick, who was staring at the ceiling. "What are you thinking about?"

"I never got interested in history in school or after. World War Two was about as far back as I was interested in. You know, the greatest generation and the last good war and all that. There's a lot more history out there." He nodded towards the window showing Lake George.

"Are you planning on dropping Nikki Heat and writing about an Iroquois woman who's constantly bothered by some Englishman who wants to write about her?"

Rick laughed. "Drop Nikki? Never. But she could get involved with some kind of a case that relates to something that happened hundreds of years ago. Buried British gold from the Revolution. Or maybe French gold. Maybe the murder of a history professor. Something."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure Nikki will figure it out."

"Of course she will. She's smart. She married Jameson Rook, after all."

Kate laughed, but ran her hand over his chest. "She's not the only one who's smart."