Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews!

Chapter 11
"Distress and Canadian Mounties"

It had been a week since Rory's visit to Luke's. In that time she had interviewed at the law firm and she was an official clerk at the offices of Jameson and Wagner. She had been there only three days before she realized how monotonous filing briefs could be. She decided roughly 36 hours into her new job that she wasn't cut out for law. She had always considered herself a smart person, but the style of writing scarcely made sense to her. She hoped she would pick up on the jargon eventually, but she was secretly counting down the days until the end of the internship.

Rory arrived back at the pool house to find Emily perched on the sofa waiting for her. "Grandma," Rory said surprised.

"Rory, I'm glad you're home," Emily said placing the magazine she was reading on the table. "I was hoping we could have dinner tonight. We've hardly seen you since you started the new job. Your grandfather and I were hoping to catch up with you this evening."

Rory dropped her bag on the couch and kicked off her heels. Emily watched in horror as Rory walked through the kitchen in her stocking feet. "I appreciate the invitation," Rory said as she grabbed a bottle of water. "But I have plans with Logan tonight."

"Oh," Emily replied trying to hide her disappointment. "You've seen him quite a bit this week."

"Yeah," Rory said. "He's going to Mexico with some friends next week so we've been spending a little more time together."

"Mexico," Emily repeated. "Well that sounds exciting. Is he going for work or school?"

"No, just vacation," Rory replied taking a seat across from her grandmother.

"Oh," Emily said. "Well do you have a minute now? I was curious about the internship. How is it going?"

"It's fine," Rory struggled to make her answer sound interesting. "I've been organizing some files for a big case their working on this fall."

"Well they love you," Emily informed Rory. "In fact Judy Nelson was just telling me that they've never had an intern with no law experience take so well to the process."

"Great," Rory nodded lifting her feet and tucking them under her body in the chair. "I'm glad."

"So do you think law might be something you're interested in?" Emily asked hopefully.

"Well I've only been there a few days," Rory reminded her. "I'm not really sure yet. I think I might have to learn a bit more about it before I commit to anything."

"Oh," Emily replied not hiding her disappointment. "Well you'll keep me posted?"

"Of course," Rory smiled as Emily stood.

"You know, I couldn't help but notice that with work and the time you've been spending with Logan that you haven't had much time to clean. I could send Constance over if you'd like," Emily offered. "She might be able to tidy up a bit."

"Thanks Grandma," Rory said. "But who is Constance? I thought the maid's name was Janet."

"Please," Emily waved her hand dismissively. "She quit two days ago citing something about emotional breakdown and mental distress. Some people are just ill-equipped to function in life."

Rory suppressed a giggle. "That's okay Grandma," Rory replied finally. "I've got it under control."

"Alright," Emily said skeptically. "I'm having a few friends from the Hartford Opera House come over tomorrow afternoon just in case you see more cars than usual." Rory knew this was her grandmother's passive aggressive way of telling her that the pool house had to be cleaned for the occasion.

"No problem," Rory said. "I'll be sure to have all this put away before tomorrow."

"Thank you," Emily smiled. "Have fun with Logan tonight."

"I will," Rory smiled as Emily exited the pool house. It seemed that Emily's visits to the pool house were becoming a bit more frequent. Rory had begun to mentally inventory what she had to hide before she left the house in the morning. Logan's t-shirt, which he'd left under the couch, was the most important item as of late. She made a mental note to return it to him that evening so she wouldn't have to worry about Emily finding it. Rory took a sip of water and stood up to get to work on cleaning.

Emily walked back to the house slightly perturbed. She got the impression that Rory was not much impressed with her internship opportunity. Furthermore, she was distressed to learn that she would be out with Logan again for the fourth night in a row. Emily felt she was seeing shades of Lorelai in Rory and she wasn't sure what to do about it. Obviously whatever she'd done with Lorelai hadn't worked and she didn't want to fall into the same trap.

"Is Rory joining us for dinner?" Richard asked when Emily returned.

"No," Emily sighed. "She has plans with Logan again."

"Hmm," Richard said. "Well they're much younger than we are Emily. I'm sure gallivanting about the town on week days doesn't faze the young."

"It's the fourth night in a row," Emily reminded him. "All she does is work and go out with Logan. I'm worried about this Richard."

"What would you have us do about it Emily? Rory is not a child. She's simply asserting her independence."

"I don't remember you being so calm about all of this when Lorelai was climbing out her bedroom window."

"Rory is not Lorelai," Richard said a little exasperated. "Besides, Rory is twenty years old, not fifteen. She's a smart girl. I'm sure she's just trying to find her way."

"Why doesn't this bother you?" Emily said narrowing her eyes at him. "I recall that when Rory spent her time with that Dean boy you didn't like it so much."

"Logan Huntzberger is no mechanic hoodlum," Richard said. "He's a good boy with a very well-known family. I'm sure that Rory is just fine with him."

"Christopher was also a good boy with a good family," Emily reminded him.

"What is this about Emily?" Richard sighed.

"I went along with this plan of yours because you were so confident in it, but now I'm not so sure. I see Rory working because it's what we asked of her, but I don't see her looking into other opportunities. I see her spending a good portion of the week with Logan like she's a love-sick teenager."

"You told me that they love her down at the law firm. You told me they said she took to it like a duck to water," Richard reminded her. "I don't see the problem. Maybe she likes it there."

"She doesn't," Emily replied curtly.

"Did she tell you that?" Richard asked her.

"No, but I can tell," Emily said. "You're giving her more slack than we ever gave Lorelai."

"Rory is a good girl," Richard said solemnly. "She wouldn't throw her future away carelessly."

"Lorelai made a mistake Richard," Emily said. "She didn't set out to destroy her life or the hopes we had for her future. I don't believe she set out to get pregnant at fifteen just to spite us. I'm worried that Rory is making decisions she'll regret and you're looking the other way."

"I don't think Lorelai purposely destroyed her life," Richard shouted. "But I also think that she had a careless disregard for the decisions she was making at the time. Rory isn't reckless like Lorelai. She makes decisions with her mind, not her emotions."

"I went along with this because you and Rory assured me that you had everything under control," Emily said calmly. "If I don't see any improvements in Rory's plans soon I might have to come up with a plan of my own."

"Everything will work out just fine Emily," Richard lowered his voice and reassured her.

"I hope you're right," Emily said as she exited the kitchen. She pondered the conversation and quickly realized that she was seeing things from Lorelai's point of view much more than before. She seriously wondered if maybe Richard hadn't made a mistake. She usually let him do the planning and the thinking, but this time she wasn't so sure he'd been correct.

It had been a week since Luke stormed out of Lorelai's house and they had been avoiding each other since. It wasn't a fight so drastic that either of them thought they were going to break up, but neither made the effort to talk to the other. Luke gruffly served his customers at the diner and Lorelai made plans to expand the stable area at the inn. It wasn't until Lorelai was at the gas station filling up that she realized she hadn't spoken to Luke in a week. She paid for her fuel and noticed a collection of crappy cassettes by the register, including reggae, and she thought of immediately. She picked up her cell phone to call and mock him mercilessly when she realized that they weren't speaking. It was then that she made a decision.

"Michel," she said when he answered the phone. "I won't be back today. Can you handle things for a few hours until the night crew gets there?"

"You ask me this as if I have not covered for you almost everyday for the last 10 years," Michel said curtly into the phone.

"Wow, I'll have to remember to tell Mike about your attitude and willingness to help out with a smile," Lorelai said taunting him. She hadn't gotten around to telling Michel that she had no intention of selling the inn. It was too much fun to use the thought of new owners to get Michel to behave.

"Mike? Mike Armstrong?" Michel said panicked. "Lorelai are you selling the inn or not? I cannot live like this, under this constant threat of unemployment."

"So you can handle everything there then?" Lorelai asked sweetly.

"Of course, everything is under control," Michel assured her. "You know I am a very hard-working, competent employee."

"Yes Michel, I know," Lorelai said. "I'll be in tomorrow morning. Don't worry. Have a good night," she said.

"Lorelai, wait," Michel yelled into the phone as she clasped it shut with a smile. It might be slightly unfeeling, but she loved to play with Michel as much as humanly possible.

Lorelai turned out of the gas station and drove home with an idea and a limited time frame. She knew Luke usually like to close earlier on Friday and she wanted to be sure to get there before he closed up for the night. Three hours later she arrived at the diner happy to find Luke washing down the counter.

"Hi," she said as she struggled to get in the door with her arms full.

"Hi," Luke said dropping the rag and walking over to help her as she struggled. Luke picked up the large, wrapped package and walked over to the counter in silence. It was a strange feeling. They weren't officially fighting, yet they weren't on speaking terms either.

"So how have you been?" Lorelai asked as she perched herself on the stool.

"Good," Luke replied slowly. "Things have been good."

"Good," Lorelai nodded.

"How have you been?" Luke asked.

"Okay," Lorelai said. "I mean I guess I've been okay in the whole not really okay at all way." She gave him a sad look and continued, "We haven't talked."

"Yeah I noticed that too," Luke replied.

"I was at the gas station today and I saw this tape called Reggie the Reggae King and I was going to call you to see if you had it and then I remembered we hadn't really talked since last week and it made me sad."

"You were going to call and mock my taste in music you mean," Luke corrected her in an attempt to make light.

"Of course," Lorelai said with a small smile. "I knew you probably missed that about me. See, the thing is, I wasn't mad at you about the Rory thing. I guess I was a little jealous of you. Obviously Rory felt more comfortable going to see you than she did coming to see me. That was a little hard for me to take."

"I know that," Luke said. "I didn't want you to feel that way. I was glad Rory came to me, but I knew it might cause some problems for you."

"I shouldn't have reacted the way I did," Lorelai said.

"I shouldn't have said what I did about you shutting me out," Luke said.

"No, I think you had a point," Lorelai conceded.

"You do?"

"Don't look so surprised. I thought about it and I was jealous that she went to you, but it also kind of freaked me out. I think it's great that Rory feels comfortable going to you for things like that, or for anything really. It just might take some getting used to. I guess I'm just not used to having someone who will be there for me and Rory in that way. So, with that said," Lorelai explained as she pushed the large package in Luke's direction, "this is for you."

"What is it?" Luke asked looking at the large object that was hastily wrapped.

"A homemade pipe bomb," Lorelai said sarcastically. "Open it and find out."

Luke shot her a look of love and exasperation and he opened the present. Inside the awkwardly wrapped package was a dresser drawer, but the drawer itself contained a multitude of objects from Lorelai's house. There were baby pictures of Lorelai and Rory, the deed to her Jeep, Rory's college acceptance letters, the title to the Dragonfly Inn, an old Luke's menu, Luke's old baseball hat and more.

"What's all this?" Luke asked trying to be sure he understood Lorelai's gesture.

"It's my Luke drawer," Lorelai said. "You said I compartmentalize my life and I wanted to show you that I'm going to try to change that. Now the Luke drawer has full access to the Rory drawer, the work drawer, the home drawer, everything."

"What's this?" Luke said picking up a small bag filled with rocks.

"Oh, that symbolizes all my parent's hope and dreams for me," she grinned. "Heavy isn't it? Just remember you wanted to be included in the family drawer."

Luke leaned over and kissed Lorelai squarely on the mouth before she could continue her rant. His hand reached up and brushed her cheek lightly.

"Thank you," he said when he finally pulled away.

"You like it?" Lorelai asked.

"I love it," he confirmed. "And I love you for coming up with such a crazy, symbolic message."

"Well I know how much you enjoy props," Lorelai replied with a laugh.

Luke continued to dig through the drawer, which was much deeper than he imagined. He suddenly saw a piece of what looked like beige felt and glanced up at Lorelai. "Tell me this isn't what I think it is," he said.

Lorelai peered over the top of the box and grinned. "It's exactly what you think it is," she replied seriously.

Luke reached both hands into the box and pulled out a souvenir Canadian Mountie hat. "A Mountie hat?" he asked.

"What, I thought you liked props?" Lorelai grinned wicked. She fully expected the conversation to end there and Luke suddenly stood up and walked over to the diner door and locked it tight before he switched off the lights. The only light came from the illuminated street lights outside and he walked back over to the counter.

"Come on," Luke said removing his baseball cap and tossing it behind the counter.

"Where are we going?" Lorelai asked.

Luke reached over and picked up the Mountie hat, placing it firmly on his head. "By order of the Royal Canadian Mounties it's my duty to detain you ma'am," he said completely seriously.

Lorelai chuckled for a moment before she realized that he was serious. "What's the charge?' Lorelai said playing along.

"Aside from having the weirdest fantasy this side of the Mississippi?" Luke mocked her.

"I knew you'd look good in it," she grinned as he took her by the hand and pulled her toward the steps.

"So does this mean I should start boxing up my stuff and start moving?" Luke asked as they made their way up the steps.

"Everything but the Mountie hat," Lorelai replied.

As they reached the door to Luke's apartment he pushed her up against the wall and kissed her long and hard on the lips. Lorelai returned his kiss hungrily and pulled his body closer to hers.

"You got it," Luke replied gruffly before Lorelai opened the door to his apartment and he backed her through the archway before kicking the door closed with his foot.

TBC