"His name is Luke," Sookie told Lorelai casually. "Luke Danes."
Though Lorelai was a maid and Sookie on the kitchen staff at the Independence Inn, Mia had already seen the two young women become fast friends. Mia decided to give Lorelai some time for herself and volunteered to babysit Rory while she and Sookie ran errands for the inn.
"What?" Lorelai replied, flustered. She looked over at Sookie, who was picking over some strawberries in a fruit stand. From their position on the sidewalk, Luke's Diner was easily in view, and the owner was out front doing some lettering on his windows.
Lorelai had been watching as he worked. She liked his broad shoulders, clothed in green and blue plaid. She was trying to figure out the color of his hair—was it as dark as the stubble she'd seen on his cheeks a few weeks ago?—but it was all concealed under his backwards baseball cap. Lorelai was also trying to decide how old he was. Older than her, she'd decided, but how much older?
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lorelai continued, averting her eyes down and picking up a strawberry to put in Sookie's bag.
Sookie caught her hand and pointed to the faintest of bruises on the fruit, making a face at it. Lorelai felt doubly chastised—for being caught ogling and for the fruit. Sookie only accepted the best of the best to use in her cooking.
"You were totally checking Luke out!" Sookie teased, moving from strawberries to blueberries. Lorelai used the stack of mail they had collected on a different errand to smack Sookie on the arm.
"I was not checking the diner guy out."
Sookie laughed, the dimples in her cheeks appearing. "I never said Luke Danes was the diner guy."
Lorelai felt some heat rise in her cheeks. Sookie had her there.
Well, it's not like Chris is around, Lorelai reminded herself. She was allowed to look, if she wanted to.
Chris was the one who had left, even before she did. He didn't want Lorelai and Rory.
There's no harm in looking, Lorelai decides.