Chapter 2

You Won't Believe What Happened Today

Emily arrived home just as Richard was descending the stairs. "Emily! There you are! I was beginning to wonder where you were," he exclaimed as he reached the bottom stair and bent down to give her kiss.

"Hello, Dear," she said as she readily accepted the kiss. "I'm sorry that I'm so late. I should have called. I stopped by Lorelai's and the most interesting thing happened." Emily linked her arm with Richard's as they walked into the living room.

"Would you like a drink?" he offered, letting go of her arm and moving to the drink cart.

"No, no. I'm fine," she stated taking a seat on the couch. "Richard, please. Sit down. I need to tell you about this."

"Sorry, Dear," he replied sitting down in a chair next to her. "You have my full attention."

"Thank you," she continued with a smile. "As I was saying, I stopped by Lorelai's to drop off a lamp I bought for her."

"You bought her a lamp?" he asked, slightly confused and not quite sure where this conversation was going.

"That is beside the point," she chastised, rolling her eyes. "Focus, please. Anyway, Sookie came in with her new baby."

"Sookie has a new baby?" he questioned trying to keep up.

"Richard!" exclaimed Emily. "Even after forty-two years of marriage, you still don't listen to a word I say. I told you two weeks ago about the baby"

"I'm sorry, Emily," he apologized. "I'm trying to follow you here."

Huffing in frustration, Emily again resumed her explanation. "Just don't say anything else until I'm finished. As I was saying, Sookie came in with her new, baby babbling on over the fact that she has all these children and how she's missing the little moments in their lives. There was also some kind of ordeal with Jackson's crops having some sort of blight. I swear it was like a bad episode of Little House on the Prairie. Well, Lorelai and I began suggesting different ways to get them out of the mess they seem to have gotten themselves into when Lorelai suggested that Sookie sell part of her interest in the Inn. That's when it dawned on me… I could buy into the Dragonfly. It would solve Sookie's problem and well, give me something to do." Taking a deep breath, she waited for Richard's reaction, praying that he would be as excited as she was but knowing deep down that he probably wouldn't be.

"You want to buy into the Dragonfly," Richard stated flatly.

Emily got up and began walking briskly around the room, her arms animatedly waving in the air as she spoke. "Yes! It's perfect!" she exclaimed. "You know that I'm good at planning events and menus. It's the perfect solution." She paused to look at her husband.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, his voice all business. "It's a big responsibility."

"What?" Pouncing on the perceived slight, she questioned his meaning, her frustration clear. "Do you think that I can't handle it?" a hint of frustration beginning to show itself in her voice.

"That's not what I'm saying," he raised his hand and shook his head. "I'm just saying that, well, you and Lorelai working together…I'm just not sure how that would work out. And, now, don't take this the wrong way, Dear, but this is a big commitment. A huge commitment. I think maybe you need to think about this a little more and not rush into it. Just how in depth did you and Sookie discuss this?" he asked, eyeing her warily.

Emily hesitated for a split-second before answering. "Well…we didn't really discuss it. It was something that just popped into my head and I wanted to discuss it with you first and I knew if I brought it up then and there Lorelai's head would explode or something. It would probably have been like a scene from The Exorcist. You know how dramatic that girl can be at times"

Richard chuckled lightly. "That is exactly my point."

Emily sat back down on the couch. "Lorelai and I have certainly had our ups and downs, mostly downs, but this is something I'm really excited about. You have your business, Yale, and you travel all the time. This is something that I can do for me. I've never had that. Plus I think this may be just the thing to…" she glanced away from her husband for a moment unable to put voice to her true hopes for this idea. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to him, "please, just let me try," she pleaded.

At that point Richard knew he was fighting a losing battle. How could he say no to her? Looking into her beautiful brown eyes, he knew that saying 'no' was out of the question. Even though she hadn't said it, her motivation was clear. All she wanted was to be closer to Lorelai. Why hadn't he realized that before? He got up from his chair and moved to sit next to his wife on the couch. He looked into her eyes, took her hands in his, and pressed a soft kiss to the backs of her delicate fingers. "If this is what you really want, then I'm behind you one hundred percent," he assured her, smiling slightly, his deep love for her clear in his gaze. "We'll call Sookie first thing Monday morning and arrange a meeting with our lawyer."

"Oh Richard, do we have to wait until Monday?" Emily asked, disappointment plain in her voice. "Let's call him now, or at least first thing tomorrow."

Richard's smile broadened at her eagerness. "Emily, tomorrow is Sunday. Nobody is going to do business tomorrow. It will keep until Monday. Besides that'll give us a little more time to think this through."

"Fine," Emily acquiesced with a pout, leaning back against the sofa.

"That's my girl," Richard said as he patted her knee and kissed her forehead. "Now that that's all settled, just promise me one thing."

"What's that?" she asked.

Putting his arm around her, Richard replied, "That after a long day at the Inn, you won't be too tired to come home and spend a quiet evening alone with your husband."

Emily leaned in and put her hand on the side of Richard's face, her eyes sparkling. "That is a promise that I will have no problem keeping," she said with a smile as she pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Hey," Luke smiled, coming into the bedroom. Lorelai was sitting in bed, a magazine in her hands.

"Hey yourself," Lorelai replied, putting her magazine down in her lap.

"Sorry I'm so late. It took a while to close out the register tonight. Then Taylor cornered me for fifteen minutes as I was walking out to my truck. He wants to organize some stupid fall festival."

Lorelai looked down absently at the magazine in her lap, not really paying attention to what Luke was saying.

"Is everything all right?" he asked, eyeing her carefully.

"Why wouldn't it be?" she responded in a slightly defensive tone.

"Because you only read the Harvard Business Review when you are trying to take your mind off something," Luke stated, trying not to sound as if he was attacking her.

"There was an interesting article in it," she countered, shrugging her shoulders.

"You have stated more than once that it is the most boring magazine you've ever read."

"Well, it's Rory subscription and I hate to just throw it away. I might as well look through it." She knew that Luke was aware she was lying but she wasn't ready to give in yet.

"Ok, then why are you wearing the pink top with Hello Kitty on it?"

Lorelai looked down at her tank top. "I like Hello Kitty. It's pink. It's smiling. What isn't there to like?"

"You like Hello Kitty because it makes you smile when you are having a bad day."

Lorelai didn't respond.

"Fine," Luke shrugged, "then stand up."

"What?"

"Stand up and show me that you aren't wearing the matching shorts." He crossed his arms, daring her to prove him wrong.

"All right, all right," she sighed, putting the magazine on the nightstand. "I had a bad day."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Luke asked, moving to her side of the bed. His tone immediately changed to calm and understanding as he looked down at her.

Lorelai smiled up at him, grateful that he was back in her life. Even months after their reconciliation, it was moments like these that reminded her just how much she had missed him. And especially moments like these that reminded her how grateful she felt just to have him in her life. "Not right now," she stated quietly. "Go take a shower. It's past ten o'clock."

"You're sure that you don't want to talk about this?" he asked again.

Lorelai nodded, forcing herself to smile. Bending down to kiss her forehead, Luke picked up another magazine from the nightstand. "Read this. It's too depressing to see you reading the other one." She took the magazine and forced out another smile as Luke walked towards the bathroom.

Listening as he moved around in the other room and the water finally started, she put the magazine aside. She sat for a few minutes, uncertain of what to do next. She wasn't quite sure what to feel or what to think. Should she be sad? She was, in some ways, losing her partner. Well, she wasn't losing Sookie. She was just losing her part-time. Sookie would still be an owner of the Inn. What about the Inn, though? What would happen to the Inn without Sookie? Would not having her there full-time as the head chef change the Inn's reputation? Lorelai wondered if she should feel angry that her partner was pulling out of their dream. But did she have a right to be angry? How could she be angry that Sookie wanted to spend more time with her kids? How could she deny her best friend the chance to be there for her kids as they grow up? Or was she maybe jealous that Sookie actually had the option of staying home with her kids when she herself had to work day and night to take care of her child? Was it sadness? Anger? Jealously? Lorelai felt the tears that were stinging her eyes and refused to allow herself to let them fall.

Pulling up the sheet, Lorelai moved to lie down, putting her head against her pillow.

After a few minutes more, Luke emerged from the bathroom. Lorelai's back was turned to him but he knew that she was still awake. Shutting the bathroom door, he reached for the overhead light and turned it off. Luke carefully got into bed and laid down on his back. All was silent for a few moments more.

"Sookie is pulling out of the Inn," Lorelai sighed, rolling onto her back, her arms flopping down against her sides

"What?" Luke asked, shocked by her news. He pushed himself onto his side, turning to look at her.

"Well, not completely. She has to sell a part of her share." Lorelai still didn't turn her head to look at him.

"But you guys are complete partners," Luke rationalized.

"I know."

"And this was your dream… both of your dream…" He couldn't understand what she was telling him.

"I know."

"You guys went in on this together…"

"I know," Lorelai repeated once more.

"Maybe I could…" Luke suggested.

"It's too much money, Luke," she said quietly. "This isn't just a small portion of her share. It's a lot of money. And I don't know what to do."

"I'm so sorry," he sighed. "I wish there was something I could do."

"You're already doing something." Lorelai turned her head to finally look at him.

"What am I doing?" Luke asked, confused. He felt so helpless. There had to be some way he could help her. He would find a way to make this better for her.

"You're here," she stated, looking into his eyes, a genuine smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"We can figure this out, Lorelai. There has to be something we can do to help Sookie. She can't sell her share. This is your dream. The Inn is your life."

Lorelai shook her head, putting her finger against Luke's lips. "I don't want to talk about it tonight." She rolled onto her side. "Not tonight," she whispered, moving forward to kiss him.

Giving in to her kiss, Luke knew that she didn't want to discuss it any further. As he placed his hand against Lorelai's hip, she shifted her body closer to his.

"I don't want to think about the Inn tonight," Lorelai stated, looking into Luke's eyes.

Luke nodded slightly, pushing Lorelai on her back as his lips once again met hers. Grabbing the edge of the camisole, he pulled it up and quickly jerked it from her arms. Lorelai's hands trailed down his sides and her fingers found the waistband of Luke's boxers as his lips traced a path down her neck. Her eyes slid shut and she allowed Luke to invade her thoughts and cast everything else aside, even if just for the night.

Emily walked out of the closet, turning off the light behind her. The only illumination in the room now came from the lamp on her bedside table. She lingered in the doorway for a moment, studyingher husband as he lay in bed. His back was to her but she could tell that he was not yet asleep. Afraid that he would turn over and catch her watching him, she crossed the room and climbed into bed.

Shutting off the lamp, she turned and moved closer to her husband. She slid closer to him and pressed her body against his. As her hand moved over his shoulder and across his chest, she nestledher head against his. She smiled as she felt Richard take her hand in his own, squeezing it as he held it to his chest.

"Thank you," she whispered adjusting her body to more comfortably lie against him.

"For what?" Richard asked, trying to turn his head towards her.

"For understanding that this is important to me and not trying to talk me out of it," she answered.

"Well, technically I did try to talk you out of it," he reminded her.

Emily laughed lightly. "Richard Gilmore the businessman tried to talk me out of it. Not you," she spoke softly.

Not letting go of her hand, Richard removed himself from her embrace and turned onto his back. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Emily. You and Lorelai have a cycle. Things seem to be fine and then something happens and you both end up hurt and refusing to speak to each other."

"This is different, Richard. I can't explain it. It's just different now."

Seeing the determination in her eyes, Richard nodded. He brought her hand up to kiss it and grinned at the way her face seemed to be lit up with excitement. "As long as you're happy, then so am I," he spoke.

A smile spread across Emily's face as she averted her eyes from his gaze. "That's because your life is much easier when I'm happy."

"Well, yes, that too," he admitted with a laugh as he pulled his wife into his arms, kissing her.

Shifting her body closer to Richard's, Emily pushed him onto his back as she moved to straddle him. "You're right," she grinned. "Life is much easier when I'm happy," she repeated, looking down at her husband, her eyes full of sparkle and excitement. "It only took you forty years to understand that."

"I'm well aware of it now, my dear," his hand brushed against her face as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. His other hand rested against her hip for a moment before it slid beneath her silk pajama top and up her back.

"I know it's late," she spoke, lowering herself down to kiss his neck, "but I'm not really that tired."