Disclaimer- Gilmore Girls and the characters associated with the show are not mine.

Chapter Ten- Saturday Nine AM- Luke

My baby boy looked so happy today. I can't believe he's married. Rory will be good for him, and he'll be okay. No matter what happens to me, I know Jess will be okay now. He's done it. He's made a life. I never thought it would be here in Stars Hollow, but it seems to work for him. I'm glad he's more like Luke than me.

"I don't understand how Jess knew," Lorelai said. "He was right about everything." Sitting across from the officer, in the sterile room, Luke gripped Lorelai's hand tight. Hiding her wince, she placed her other hand across the top of his, soothing, relaxing his grip with the light touch of her fingers.

"Excuse me, but who is Jess?" Detective Blake asked. Luke shrugged his shoulders and tapped his hat on his knee.

"Liz's son, my nephew- Jess Mariano. He and his wife came out at the end of summer to see Liz."

"He told Rory his mom would start using again this winter, and when we told them about her death, he didn't want to come. He told us exactly what you would say. And you did. I don't understand how he knew," Lorelai repeated.

"Jess Mariano, the author?" Detective Blake asked. "I enjoy his books. The police work in them is spot on. You can tell he takes the time to get it right. Certainly, the research he's done would have helped, but I'm guessing he knew because of who she was. If he lived with her, he would have seen the signs and learned to recognize them. The druggies in his books are well written. Very fleshed out. I'd always wondered if he was an ex-junkie."

"No, no. Jess stayed away from drugs because of his mom. He lived a…" Luke trailed off, and squeezing his hand, Lorelai took over.

"A rough life. He had a bad childhood."

"You can tell. It shows in his writing. Will he be coming for the funeral?"

"No. When will her body be released?" Lorelai asked. The Detective glanced down at the papers on his desk. Although he understood, if Jess's childhood was bad, his stomach churning told him Jess not attending his mother's funeral was a mistake. And he always listened to his stomach.

"There are regulations which have to be followed in this type of death, and her boyfriend has petitioned for the body to be released to him."

"You have got to be kidding! What right does he have? He can't win can he?" Luke stood and began pacing.

"I would suggest you head to the morgue and file your own request. I would think, as family, you should have precedence, but I don't really know. It might be worth your while to meet with him, see what his plans are. Maybe they discussed funeral plans. I doubt there's a will, but check."

"Can we get his information from you?" Lorelai said, keeping a wary eye on Luke. The Detective tore a piece of paper out of his notepad, and handed it to her.

"Be careful. Meet in a public place, I don't know this guy and I don't know your husband, but I don't want to find out he's been arrested on assault charges." Watching the couple leave the room, Detective Blake leaned back in his chair and tapped the eraser of his pencil against his lips. His stomach was still tight at the idea of the Mariano missing his mother's funeral. Which was ridiculous. He didn't know the guy. Didn't know her. So why was it bothering him? Grabbing some tums out of his drawer, he popped them in his mouth and chewed. He hoped it was the tacos from last night.

After filling out the forms, at the Denver City Morgue, Luke sat down on a bench outside to call the number Lorelai handed him. Apparently Liz's boyfriend's name was Bart. The loser who roped Liz back into drugs had a name like Bart. The only other Bart Luke knew of was Bart Simpson. Sighing at his random thoughts, Luke dialed the phone and held it up to his ear.

"Good morrow, I prithee beg your pardon as I am arranging my sweeting's burial ceremonies. Friends, please call back anon for more information, or leave your tidings at the beep."

Luke waited for the beep, clenching his jaw. Spending a summer on the faire circuit hadn't made him more tolerant of their peculiarities.

"Hello, this is Luke Danes, Liz's brother. I'd like you to call me back. Thank you," Luke said, after repeating his number twice, before hanging up and handing the phone back to Lorelai, and dropping his head back into his hands.

"So what do we do now? Contact the funeral home the clerk said Bart asked Liz to be moved to? Maybe we can find out more information from them?" Lorelai asked.

"That's a good idea, let's head there. Here's the question, it sounds like he's planning stuff. Do I just let him?" Luke asked. "I mean, what do I really know about Liz, her life? If I do it, will we be the only ones there? Her children won't be there. Shouldn't she have friends there? Does she have friends?" There were few occasions, which Lorelai could remember, where Luke had seemed so uncertain, so out of his comfort zone. Sitting down next to him, she took his hands away from his face, forcing him to look at her.

"I think, Luke, it would be nice for Liz to have people there. It would be nice to hear their stories, to learn about her life. The good things people always bring up at funerals. And if it's crazy, like her wedding, then it's crazy. But I think, I think that's her."

"So you're saying I should let this druggie joker handle it."

"Not really, I'm saying maybe you support her. Maybe that means supporting him in his choices for her too. It will depend on what they are, I guess, but we won't know till we talk to him," Lorelai said, guiding Luke up and toward their car.

Standing outside the funeral home two hours later, Luke found himself entranced by the Rocky Mountains. He'd always considered himself an outdoorsman, but he wasn't a traveler, so he'd never been here before.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" a voice said on Luke's left. "Liz loved them. She'd sit on my deck for hours and watch the clouds change over them. I'm Bart, and you're Luke." Luke and Lorelai turned to stare at the man. He looked normal enough, but then, so had Liz. Luke realized he needed to say something.

"Yeah, I'm Luke. Inside, they said you have the funeral planned?"

"Yes, it's all arranged for Thursday," Bart replied. "I hope you can stay for it. It would mean a lot to her. I mean, I think she would have liked that. Is her son coming? What about her daughter?" Luke stared at Bart, lost in his own thoughts, without answering. The silence grew uncomfortable and the man shifted back and forth on his large feet. His long brown hair flopped forward into his eyes, and Lorelai realized who he reminded her of. He reminded her of Dean. He had the same facial structure, and soft, compassionate looking eyes. Lorelai decided to answer his question.

"No, Jess won't be here. I don't know about Doula, I doubt T.J. will bring her. So you have a plot, and everything? You don't need any help with it?" she asked.

"Yes, I have all that, I could use some help paying for it if you want." Luke let out a harsh laugh, his air rushing back into his lungs.

"Of course you do," he said. Bart shook his head, his eyes narrowed, not in anger, but sadness.

"No, not like that. I mean, I have money. I can pay, and I will. I just thought if you wanted to help. Liz had money, but they froze her account," Bart said, looking off at the mountains again.

"From selling drugs, apparently. Is it what's paying for her funeral? Drug money? I'd rather pay for it all than-" Luke trailed off. Bart kept his eyes on Luke.

"No, not drug money. I don't sell drugs. I didn't know Liz did, but I guess I should have."

"How could you not know? You lived with her! She was cooking meth!" Luke said, keeping his voice deliberately low. Bart winced at the harsh whispered words, but shook his head no.

"I didn't live with her. I loved her, and wanted her to move into my cabin with me, but she wouldn't. I should have known though, because I didn't know where she was getting her money. She'd just laugh at me and blow me off when I asked. And in the last couple of months, she'd changed. A lot. We'd been fighting. God, my last words to her, I can't even-" Bart clenched his fists, hanging his head. Lorelai looked at Luke, confused.

"Wait, so you're not the minstrel she followed out here?" Luke asked.

"No, I'm a blacksmith. An actual blacksmith, not just for the faire. The faire is like my vacation, I guess. It's where I teach, and demonstrate my craft, but it isn't my work. I have my own company. I make decorative cast iron fences and gates. Mostly for the folks in Vail and Aspen. The loser left at the end of summer. Liz said she thought Jess scared the hell out of him, by not talking. Apparently Jess just looked at the guy, didn't say a word. She wasn't sad to see the guy go, he'd hit her more than once. It's how I met her, I noticed her black eye under the makeup. I wish Jess was coming, I'd like to meet the guy who scared the loser off," Bart replied. It was Luke's turn to stare out at the mountains, and no one spoke for several minutes.

"I need to drop this check off for her. Will you wait? I'd like to talk to you both more. There's an obituary to write," Bart added, glancing back and forth from Luke to Lorelai. Luke gave a quick nod, and Lorelai squeezed his hand tighter as Bart went through the entry way doors.

"He seems like a good guy, not insane like T.J., but an actual good guy," Lorelai said.

"Yeah, yeah he does," Luke said, staring off into the distance. "Dammit, Liz."