Alice Gilmore-Huntzburger's bookshelf had always played host to a collection of books by Jess Mariano. It wasn't something she had ever questioned, mostly because they were too high up for her to notice most of the time. But they were constant features in her house, and she remembers being surprised that they weren't in her friends' houses, beside Crime and Punishment and The DaVinci Code. They were just there, and they had moved with them from her parents house after the divorce to the temporary hiatus they spent in with her grandparents in Stars Hollow, and then to their own little house.
Alice's own personal discovery came at the tender age of eleven. Her mother had taken her copy of Pride and Prejudice from her in punishment for breaking curfew, and she had placed it on the very top shelf of their floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. Alice had undertaken her mission as if it were her own Everest. After some elaborately-drawn blueprints, a Tarzan-like swing off a curtain, and a Mission-Impossible job (both of which ended in a small eleven year old suspended immobile in the air until her grandfather cut her down), she had resorted to scaling the shelves. The resulting chaos had led to the entire shelf falling down, and a sprained wrist. However, she had managed to grab one book before her sharp descent to the ground. Freefall, by Jess Mariano. Never one to dismiss irony when it had so clearly smacked her in the face (or rather, wrist), she settled for this book instead of Mr. Darcy.
By the time she got the opportunity to read Pride and Prejudice it had been ruined for her anyway. Her grandfather Luke, upon being forced one night to watch the five-hour BBC series, and rewatch the scene when Colin Firth comes out of the water six times, had thrown up his hands and exclaimed, "She only wanted him for his house, anyway!" and then had proceeded to explain every way in which this was true. Lane Kim had been reduced to tears, and no women in Stars Hollow had visited Luke's Diner for a week, prompting Lorelai to nickname the diner 'Sausagefest'. She had refused point-blank to explain why to her children and grandchildren, but her homemade sign had induced snickering from most of the town's population until the ancient Taylor Doose had taken down because of its "slanderous and corruptive nature," and accused Lorelai of being worse than Luke's nephew for corrupting the town.
In any case, Freefall was an acceptable substitute. She read it quickly and proceeded to devour the rest of his collection. Her mother had every single book he had ever written, except for his incredibly rare first novel, The Subsect, which cost a fortune on eBay and was probably the only first edition her great-grandfather hadn't left to her in his will.
The unfolding of the truth that kick-started this story came about completely coincidentally. A few choice words by Liz two conversations apart, one about her son and another about Jimmy Mariano. A throwaway remark of the occupation of Doula's brother sealed the deal.
Jess Mariano was her step-grandfather's nephew. Which made him her...step first cousin once removed? Second cousin? She felt deceived and excluded. But mostly she was curious. Really curious.
And look where it had led her. Here she stood, loitering outside a dark house in Hartford, as the dusk settled. It was drizzling lightly, and she was shivering without her coat. It was an impulse decision, coming here, and she tried to come to terms with the fact that she had no idea what she was doing.
It had started with Liz's revelation. She had clamped her hand over her mouth in horror and begged Alice not to tell her mother.
Of course, she had to know more. She had pestered Doula incessantly about her brother, but Doula was a senior now and had no time for her young cousin's pestering. She had told her only one piece of useful information: Jess lived in Hartford, and hadn't attended a family celebration since she was small because of some family dispute. Oh, man. Like she wasn't curious enough, now there was a family scandal?
The proverbial straw: The project her teacher had assigned them this morning. Worth 80% of her final grade. My Favourite Author. She needed this A. Ivy Leagues liked A's.
It was fate.
So, after she had Googled his address using the library at Chilton's ancient computers (oh yeah, Nancy Drew had nothing on Alice Gilmore), she had sneaked away after school and come here.
It had all happened very fast, and very rushed, and now that she is here she has no idea what she is supposed to do or say.
Some kids pass her on the sidewalk. They drop their voices as they pass the house, glancing quickly at the imposing black gates and rushing past. It is all very Gothic-novelesque. She looks for bats, but finds none.
She shivers, but she isn't sure if she is cold or nervous.
The gates turn out to be open, so she runs to the safety of the dry porch. Her fingers tremble a little as she rings door bell. The sound seems to drag on forever as she waits. Finally, the door swings open, and there is Jess Mariano.
"Huh."