Luke woke up to the sound of wedding bells.
With his eyes still closed, he started to smile. What a great omen for the rest of the day.
But pretty soon he remembered that the church bells hadn't been active in years. In fact, he'd had a hand in nudging them into retirement. So if it wasn't bells he was hearing, what was it?
Turned out his wedding-obsessed brain had mistaken the chiming of the alarm clock for bells. He sat up, perched on the edge of the bed – the one that now seemed so tiny – and turned the noise off. He was amazed he'd been able to sleep as soundly as he had, what with his old place now feeling so unfamiliar, missing Lorelai, and the looming anticipation/anxiety of the day to come. But slept he had. He was somehow oddly disappointed that he'd missed out on the chance to savor the last hours leading up to their wedding day.
Going to the window, he beheld the beginning of a picture-perfect Indian summer day. The sky was a deep, clear blue and the trees were all blazing with color. It was as if Emily Gilmore had bribed some honcho at the Weather Channel to ensure her daughter's wedding would benefit from the ideal atmospheric conditions.
Luke got dressed and went downstairs to make himself some breakfast. He had to; there was nothing left in his kitchen to eat. He'd planned to enjoy a hearty breakfast since he didn't know exactly how the rest of the day might play out, but once he started looking at food he became aware of the butterflies dancing around his stomach. Plain toast and a mug of tea suddenly seemed like a much better idea.
The other thing he hadn't anticipated was how much attention his presence in the diner on the morning of his wedding would draw. Soon he'd had his fill of good wishes and slightly ribald jokes. He fixed that by turning Larry out of the kitchen and doing the cooking himself. All he had to do was make it through to 3 o'clock, at which point the diner was closing to regular patrons to allow the crew from Sniffy's to take over.
He was scraping down the griddle when he became aware of shouts and reverberating thunks from a sledgehammer hitting its target. Curious, he ventured to the dining room windows and saw that the large white tent for the reception was being hoisted into place on the green.
Luke immediately went out to lend a hand.
"What are you doing!?" Appalled, a man in a hard hat waved a clipboard at him, trying to shoo him out of harm's way.
"This is my tent," Luke tried to explain. "I'm getting married today and –"
"No, no, no, no!" The man said, very firmly.
"But I thought –"
"Have you ever put up a tent before?"
"No, but it's always looked like it'd be fun to –"
"No, it's not. It's not fun. It's hard work and my guys are trained as a team. Plus, they're all covered by the company's insurance. You're not."
Since Luke had used that excuse many times to keep nosy people from coming behind the counter at the diner, he really couldn't protest.
"Look, you're welcome to watch, just stay out of the way, OK?"
Luke nodded, stuffed his hands into his pockets and took a couple of steps back from the activity.
The foreman started to leave, but turned and pointed the clipboard at him once more. "You're the one getting married?"
"Yeah."
"Well then, you'll have a different type of fun waiting for you tonight, won't you?" Briefly, the guy grinned at him. "And your bride will thank me for not letting you get hurt."
Luke forced a smile and nodded, but under his breath he grumbled, "I wouldn't have gotten hurt."
For the next hour he circled around the green, watching the tent take shape. The crew was either extremely skilled or also under the influence of an Emily Gilmore bribe, because in what seemed to be record time the walls were up, the dance floor was down, and chairs and tables were being hauled in. It was almost as if there was a bonus dangling before them if they completed their job quickly enough.
The Gilmores had finally worn Lorelai down about the reception. After much haggling she'd agreed that they could supply the tent, the music, and the bar.
"They just don't want to look cheap in front of their friends," Lorelai complained. But Luke thought that they also wanted to feel like they were a part of the celebration; that they'd had a hand in their daughter's wedding day.
He was sidelined into a corner of the tent, watching electrical cables being strung for lights and the band, when arms he'd know anywhere snaked around his waist.
"Hey, hot stuff," a sultry voice whispered into his ear. "How about we have one last roll in the hay before marriage forever ties me down?"
"Hmm, tempting," he pondered, "but my fiancée would probably kill me."
"Darn," Lorelai sighed. "Same here. Except my fiancé would actually kill you."
"Then we'd better not chance it."
"You're right. Right."
He patted her hands, which were clasped over his waist. "If I turn around, is it bad luck?"
"Not as far as I'm concerned."
He pivoted and quickly landed a kiss on her lips. "What are you doing here?"
"Same thing you are, making sure it all looks good."
"It does, right?" He then pointed to the center of the structure, stunned to see several workers pulling on ropes. "Whoa…is that…a chandelier?"
"Trust Emily Gilmore to find a way to fancy up a tent." Lorelai sighed, but didn't exactly look repulsed. "I just hope they don't hold this over our heads for the next decade. I can hear it now: 'Lorelai, why can't you have Thanksgiving here? After all, we did pay for most of your wedding reception.'"
Luke put his arm around her shoulders, squeezing reassuringly. "Well, I think this is all too much, but they do seem genuinely happy to be providing this for you."
"For us," she corrected.
"For you," he insisted. "And I'm fine with that. I get the feeling that this is helping to settle some sort of score with them. Like by doing this it's taking away some of the guilt they've had about not helping you during the last 10 years."
"I didn't want their help!"
"I know that, but…I think they regret not being able to give it, anyway."
"Eh, whatever." Lorelai slowly revolved, taking in the whole of the reception space, and when she got back to facing Luke, her eyes were sparkling. "It does look pretty spectacular though, doesn't it?"
"It does," he agreed, reaching out to touch her cheek. He knew what he thought looked spectacular, and it wasn't the tent.
"Come dance with me," she wheedled, pouncing on him.
"What? No! Are you crazy?"
"Come on," she laughed, trying to drag him to the dance floor. He put on a token resistance for a few moments, but soon allowed her to pull him to the parquet squares, as they both knew he would.
He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her hair. She began to hum what could have been "Eternal Flame."
Suddenly she stopped clowning around and looked straight into his eyes. "Luke…I'm so happy."
"Me too." He maneuvered his arms a little tighter around her frame.
Light flashed off to the side and they both stopped to look in that direction.
"Sorry," Rachel said sheepishly, lowering her camera. "I couldn't resist."
"Now I'm embarrassed," Lorelai said, pulling away from Luke.
"No, don't be," Rachel asserted. "It was adorable, a completely candid moment. And tonight I'll take one of you dancing in your gown and tux – it will be great to put the two together as a contrast. But I'm sorry I interrupted you. I'll get out of the way and let you get back to your dance." She smiled and waved, beginning to duck back out under the canvas.
"Rachel, wait." Lorelai took a couple of steps towards her, looking indecisive. "I probably shouldn't even bring this up, but I keep wondering…" She glanced nervously over at Luke, then looked down at her feet. "Are you sure you're OK, doing this?"
"Doing…what?" Rachel asked, confused. She looked around the tent, as if there was possibly something she should be helping with.
Lorelai hauled in a huge breath. "The taking pictures thing. Of…us. Today."
Rachel stared at Lorelai for several long moments before a smile began to break across her face. "Do you think that I'm pining away over this guy or something?"
Lorelai didn't smile back. "I just keep thinking, that if the situation was reversed, you couldn't pay me enough, not even by offering me free unlimited coffee refills for life, to be here. And we're not paying you, not in bartered goods, not in anything; you're just doing this out of the goodness of your heart – I mean, I guess that's what's motivating you. I don't know, I don't understand why you'd want to do this at all. And I worry that expecting you to be able to do this is just too…mean. Too cruel."
Luke held his breath. This was definitely not a conversation he wanted to be a part of on the morning of his wedding.
Rachel seemed to understand how he was feeling. She smiled at him and then winked, before turning her attention back to Lorelai.
"Lorelai, I appreciate your concern, but seriously – the situation could never be reversed. It's been obvious since the first time I saw the two of you together that this is the way it's supposed to be. I'll admit, it's a little bittersweet, seeing him getting ready to marry someone else. But if I'm being honest, he never looked at me the way he was just looking at you. And to be brutally honest…" She glanced over at Luke again, apologetically. "I never looked at him the way you do, either."
"So…you really are OK, then." Lorelai's tense shoulders relaxed.
"If I didn't sincerely want to do this, I wouldn't have offered," Rachel reiterated. "And I will say this. I'll always have enough affection for Luke that it pleases me to see him happy. He's been a good friend to me for a long, long time, and I'd hate to miss such an important day in his life. Also, I have enough pride in my work that I wouldn't trust anyone else to take these pictures. They'll be important to you for the rest of your lives, and I want to make sure they're done right." She looked between Luke and Lorelai. "We're good?"
Luke caught Lorelai's eye and could see she was satisfied with what Rachel had said. "We're good," he confirmed. "Thank you, Rachel. This is incredibly generous of you."
"My pleasure, truly." She fiddled a little bit with the camera lens. "It's a beautiful day, you two are almost too pretty together to be believed, and you both have just enough weird relatives to liven up the obligatory shots. There might be a tear or two shed when you actually say 'I do…'" She sighed. "But I'm going to have fun today. Trust me."
"I do trust you," Lorelai said simply.
Rachel's head reared back a bit, as if she hadn't been expecting to hear that. "Um…thanks, Lorelai. I…I'm relieved to know that."
Lorelai nodded. "You're welcome," she said quietly.
"So, uh, I'm going to get out of your tent…" Rachel started backing away, "…and out of your hair, for now. Lorelai, I'll see you about 3, at your suite at the Inn, to take some shots of you getting ready."
"Sounds good."
Rachel smiled at each of them in turn. "And my final advice: don't be nervous. This is going to be a beautiful wedding."
They both continued to watch the tent flap, even after Rachel had disappeared through it.
"I can see why you fell in love with her," Lorelai said softly, leaning against Luke.
He rubbed her back, his head dipping down to rest against hers. "It seems crazy to me that we expect the word 'love' to mean so many things. Because the way I felt about her, and the way I feel about you – it's like being on two different continents, Lorelai."
"If we're talking about words, do you mean consonants?" she teased.
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I do." She reached to pull his face down, gave him a quick kiss. "But I'm glad you had such a nice girlfriend to start out with. And I'm also glad she's gone now," she admitted with unabashed glee.
"I'm just glad I found you," he said, returning the kiss.
"Geez, you two, get a room," the tent supervisor sourly advised, walking past them.
"We do have a room," Lorelai grandly informed him, not at all flustered that he'd witnessed them smooching. "We've got the honeymoon suite at the Independence Inn."
The supervisor stopped and looked at Lorelai appraisingly. "This is the bride?" he asked Luke.
Luke nodded curtly, wondering why the guy thought he'd be kissing anyone else on his wedding day.
The foreman grinned broadly at him. "See? Aren't you glad I stopped you from getting hurt, since this is what you've got waiting for you?" Snickering, he went on his way.
Lorelai looked at Luke in concern. "You were going to get hurt?"
"No, I –" Not wanting to explain, he merely shook his head.
She let it pass and continued on. "So, hey, the real reason I came over here, before the tent distracted me, was to see if you wanted me to take your stuff over to the Inn so you don't have to do it later."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. You want to come with me, help me pack?" Luke suggested as they exited the tent and started across what open space was left of the green.
Lorelai took a calculated look at the diner. "How many people are in there, ready to gab about the wedding?"
Luke sighed. "Half the town."
"I think I'll just wait in the car then," Lorelai said sensibly, leaning against the fender.
"Proving yet again I got the smart one," Luke said. He stepped into the diner and ran the gauntlet of comments as he crossed the room, most of them either teasing him for not being able to stay away from Lorelai for even part of a day, or voicing concern that he'd brought doom down upon their heads for seeing his bride before the actual wedding.
He'd packed everything he needed to spend the lonely night in his old apartment in a small duffle bag. Now he put everything back into it, added a nicer pair of jeans and a fresh shirt for tomorrow, and zipped it back up. He went downstairs, closed his ears to the fresh wave of comments, and walked as quickly as possible back to where Lorelai was waiting.
"Was I right?" Lorelai asked, opening the car's rear door so he could stow his bag inside.
"You were so right." He put his arms around her, loosely, preparing to say goodbye. "Thank Mia again for letting us use the honeymoon suite."
"You can tell her yourself in a few hours."
"It was nice of her, offering it to us."
"She wanted us to have someplace special to go to tonight, since there's no honeymoon right now."
"We'll do that later," Luke promised.
"Oh, you bet we will, mister." She poked his chest, making her point a physical one.
"Also nice that Mia's going to take Rory home with her after the reception," Luke added, hugging her a little closer to him.
"Well, let's face it. Mia's been like a second mother to both of us." As soon as she said it, Lorelai quickly looked over her shoulder. "If you ever repeat that to my actual mother, I will deny I ever said it and throw you to the wolves."
"Noted."
"So." Lorelai sighed and hugged him as tightly as she could. "I guess this is it."
"It is." He hugged her back, shutting his eyes as her familiar contours fitted into their proper places against him.
She stepped back a small amount. "I'll see you at the church," she said solemnly.
"I'll see you there, sweetheart." He kissed her tenderly, and was surprised to see an impish grin on her face when he pulled away. "What?" he asked suspiciously.
"Usually you only call me sweetheart when you're feeling all warm and fuzzy." She continued to grin. "Usually when we're in bed. Usually right after we've –"
He shut her up with another kiss. "Go, before I change my mind about the whole thing."
"You're not gonna change your mind." She was still grinning as she got in the car and started it up. "Because you looove me, you're gonna marry me…" she shouted back at him in a singsong voice, pulling away.
He shook his head, waving once as she drove down the street. "Damn right," he stated.
About one o'clock Liz appeared in the diner, Jess in tow. "Hey, Luke, OK if Jess hangs out here with you?"
"Yeah, I suppose," he said with a shrug. "Where will you be?"
"Lorelai invited me to meet her and Sookie at the hairdressers. We're going to get all dolled up for the wedding."
"Sure," he agreed. He noted that Jess had on dress pants, a long-sleeved shirt with a tie, and his sometimes unruly hair was slicked back. "He's all ready to go, huh?"
"Yep, and he's got a book, so he'll be no trouble." Liz turned to go. "Thanks, bro."
Suddenly Liz's words came back to him and he dashed to intercept her at the door. "Wait. You said the hairdressers?"
"Yeah." Liz reached around him for the door handle, impatient to go.
"Lorelai's getting her hair done?"
"Well, sure, it's her wedding. All brides get their hair done, dummy."
"No, Liz, wait, you don't understand." He blocked her path to the door again. "What's she having done with it? She promised me she'd wear her hair down."
He could tell Liz wanted to laugh at him, but she tried to hide her amusement. "Then I'm sure she will, Luke, but she wants to look nice. She wants to look special. The hairdresser will make her look extra-gorgeous for you, OK?"
Reluctantly he stepped aside, letting her get to the door. "Just…remind her, if you need to, all right?"
"All right," she laughed, shaking her head. "I'll remind her."
When he turned back towards the counter, Jess was regarding him warily. "Seriously, dude – you care how she wears her hair?" the boy asked doubtfully.
Luke stuck his chin out and pulled out a phrase he remembered from his youth. "You'll understand when you're older," he told Jess loftily. Then he pretended not to hear Jess's snickers.
"Where's the groom?"
From his safe place back in the kitchen, Luke heard Maisie's shout. Chuckling to himself, he went out into the dining room to meet his replacements, wiping his hands on a towel as he went.
"Should've known you'd be working up until the last possible minute," Maisie complained, shaking her head at Luke.
"Big day, Luke," Buddy commented in his quiet way, but a huge smile lit up his face. He offered a handshake in congratulations.
"That it is." Maisie tackled him with a hug as soon as he finished clasping Buddy's hand. "You can all clear out now. We're taking over," she announced after the hug. "Shoo."
Luke stayed out of the way while a stream of Sniffy's workers carried in boxes and bags and followed Maisie's instructions on where to put them. Once everyone seemed settled, he turned the sign to "Closed" and added a handmade sign underneath it, courtesy of Rory and Lane.
Closed for the wedding!
Please join Mr. & Mrs. Danes in the square this evening to celebrate!
The sign was drenched in glitter. Not his usual style, but he'd promised the girls he'd put it up. And he had to admit, seeing the 'Mr. & Mrs. Danes' part made him grin like a fool.
In the midst of checking things off a list, Maisie paused in front of the table where Jess was still reading. "Sorry, sonny, time to skedaddle."
Jess stood up, closing his book. "Luke, where do you want me to go now?"
"You can just come upstairs with me while I get ready," Luke said casually.
Maisie took note then. "Why? Who is this?" Before Luke could answer she took a closer look and figured it out on her own. "Oh my lord! Is this Jess?"
"This is Jess," Luke confirmed, while Jess nodded.
Maisie's face suddenly wrinkled up and she blinked furiously. She dove to the other side of the table and enveloped Jess in the same sort of tackling hug she'd bestowed upon Luke earlier. At first Jess looked alarmed, but slowly he relaxed, finally giving into Maisie's determined affection and allowing himself to be cuddled.
"Jess, I'm sorry." Maisie pulled back. She raised her glasses, wiped her eyes, and then settled the glasses on her nose again. "I shouldn't have invaded your personal space like that, but I'm just so happy to see you again. Buddy and I…" She suddenly looked around. "Buddy!" she yelled. "Buddy, get out here!"
"What?" Buddy poked his head back into the dining room.
"Come over here and say hello to Lizzie's boy!"
Buddy smiled broadly and crossed the room. Jess looked a little unsure about the hand reaching out to him, but soon figured out he was meant to shake it. Once the shake was done, Buddy put his hand lightly on top of Jess's head. "This is the same head of hair you've had since the day you were born."
Jess thought about what Buddy had said, then shyly smiled back.
"Anyway," Maisie continued, "This is Buddy, and I'm Maisie, and we were real, real good friends of your grandma and grandpa. We watched Luke grow up, and your mother, too. It's quite a day for us, to see you again."
Jess nodded, unsure about how to reply.
"Where is Liz?" Maisie wanted to know.
"With Lorelai, getting her hair done," Luke answered.
"Well, I'll look forward to seeing her later. I suppose she's still 100% Lizzie?"
"Without a doubt," Luke confirmed, and Jess grinned in understanding at that remark.
Buddy pointed at his watch. "Luke, I know it doesn't take as long for us good looking guys to get ready, but still, you'd better get going."
"Yeah, we'd better head upstairs. Come on, Jess. And thanks, you two, again, for doing all of this for us."
"We're looking forward to it," Buddy said.
"Oh, and we did change the menu a little bit," Maisie added. "We're doing roast beef now instead of that chicken dish."
"And soup instead of salad," Buddy mumbled, heading back to the kitchen.
"You don't mind, right?" Maisie asked perfunctorily.
"Would've been disappointed otherwise." Happily shaking his head at their typical last minute deviations, Luke started upstairs.
Looking in the mirror, Luke could see that Jess was monitoring him as he was getting ready. To his surprise, he found that having Jess in the apartment with him was having a calming effect on his nerves.
"Nobody knows me in New York," Jess suddenly commented.
"Nobody does? That can't be right. I mean, you've got friends, don't you? Classmates? Teachers?"
"I don't mean that." Jess got out of the chair and ambled over to where Luke was standing in front of the dresser. "I mean, nobody knows me from before. Mom and I move around a bunch, so the people I see only know me from now. Nobody remembers me as a little kid."
"Ah," Luke said, fumbling with a cufflink. He was a little astonished – and pleased – that Jess was initiating a conversation. He kept that surprise off of his face though; he didn't want to scare Jess off.
"But those people downstairs –"
"Maisie and Buddy," Luke supplied.
"I guess they knew me when I was a baby, right?"
"You bet. In fact, I think it was probably Maisie who first showed your mom how to give you a bath in the sink."
"Well, that's not embarrassing at all," Jess muttered.
"Hey, join the club. I'm sure Maisie could tell similar stories about me. Your mom, too."
Jess watched in the mirror as he put the tie around his neck. "And that other lady, the one who owns Lorelai's inn."
Luke smiled at how the Independence had become Lorelai's inn in his eyes. "Mia."
"Yeah, Mia. She has stories about Mom growing up too, and was saying stuff about me when I was a baby."
"Right, Mia and her husband, and Maisie and Buddy, they all grew up in Stars Hollow with your grandparents, my parents. They were all really good friends, and looked after each other's kids, had barbecues together – you know, all that kind of stuff."
"Even that lady taking the pictures says she knew me when I was a baby."
"Rachel, yeah." Luke tore the knot out of the tie and started over again. "Does your mom still have that one picture on her dresser, the one of her holding you right after you were born? It's a black and white one."
Jess momentarily looked startled that Luke knew about that picture. "Yeah, she does."
"Well, Rachel took that picture."
"Why did she do that?"
Luke chuckled. "What do you mean, why?"
"I mean, why was she there when I was born?"
Luke took a deep breath. It wasn't so funny now. "She was there because she was my girlfriend at the time. She came to the hospital with me and my dad the night we waited for you to be born."
He watched the gears turning in Jess's head. "She was your girlfriend?"
Luke nodded.
"And now she's taking pictures of you marrying Lorelai?"
Luke nodded again.
"How does that work?" Jess wanted to know, genuinely confused.
"It was a long time ago," Luke said, searching for a way to explain it. "And things change, and Rachel wanted different things than what I did, and…Well, we just grew apart."
"And then you met Lorelai?"
"Then I met Lorelai."
Jess seemed to mull that over. "And nobody hates each other?"
"Nobody hates each other."
Jess stared at him in the mirror again. "Huh."
Luke had a feeling that wasn't the way his mother's break-ups had gone, but he wasn't about to ask.
"Anyway," Jess said, looping back to the start of his conversation. "It's kind of weird, but still nice, having people around who've known you for a long time. Sort of makes you feel like you're…part of the group, or something."
"Yeah, it is kind of nice. Sometimes Stars Hollow drives me nuts, because it's so tiny and everybody always knows everybody else's business…but you can't say you don't belong when you live here. It's kind of like one big, crazy family."
Luke finally got his tie looking the way he wanted it to. He pulled out the new clip and positioned it carefully on the deep blue silk.
"What's that?"
"This? It's a tie clip."
"But what's it for?"
"To…" Luke suddenly realized he wasn't exactly sure why guys used tie clips. "It holds your tie together. Keeps it from flapping into your soup."
"Oh." Jess looked down at his own tie, the ends free to flap about as they pleased.
"Lorelai gave me this one last night, as a gift for our wedding. But you know what…?" Luke opened a small drawer on the dresser and pulled out the clip he'd used last night. "This one belonged to my dad, your grandfather. Would you like to wear it?" He passed it over to Jess, who examined the scalloped gold bar and then nodded.
Luke showed him how to anchor the clip to his shirt and how to catch the two tails of the tie and hold it together. "You know, if you wanted, you could keep that," Luke suggested nonchalantly, not wanting to make a big deal about it.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah, absolutely. I'd like you to have something that was your grandfather's."
Jess tentatively fingered the gold bar. "Then…thanks."
"You're welcome." It took three tries, but Luke finally got his increasingly clumsy fingers to strap his dad's watch to his wrist. He reached for the jacket of the tux. "I'm going to be ready to go in just a few minutes. Are you set to walk over to the church?"
Jess stopped rubbing his finger over the tie clip and moved back to the table, where he picked up the book he'd been reading and put it into a small backpack. "I am now."
"OK, then…" Luke walked to the apartment's door, then took one last look around. "Let's go."
A wolf whistle pierced the air as they walked across the floor of the dining room. Luke wondered how many times in his life he'd heard that shrill noise come out of Maisie's pursed lips.
"My, my, my. Don't you look handsome?" she said approvingly, walking over to meet them. She got up on her tiptoes to reach his shoulders, pretending to brush away nonexistent lint. "Lorelai's gonna swoon when she sees you."
"That's not the intention. I need her on her feet to walk down the aisle."
"She's going to run down the aisle, lucky girl that she is."
"Thanks, Maisie." He gave her a swift hug. "We'd better get over there."
"Say, Luke, is it OK if Buddy and I use your apartment to get changed?" She ran her hands over her long chef's apron, covering an old flowered shirt and jeans. "We need to get dolled up too, you know. Don't want to shame you in front of Lorelai's Hartford society folks."
"No danger of that, ever." Luke pulled the keyring out of his pocket. "Here, I can't remember if I locked it or not, but it's all yours."
"Off you go, Lucas. We'll see you at the church." Maisie patted his back affectionately and gave him a gentle push towards the door.
"See you there," Luke tried to say, but it felt like marbles had suddenly materialized in his mouth. He hoped the feeling would disappear before it was time to repeat his vows.
Out in the street, he put a hand on Jess's shoulder, less because Jess needed adult supervision to get to the church than because Luke needed someone to lean on. It took them only a few minutes to walk to the church through the warmth of the late fall afternoon.
"Look at you two!" Rachel was also heading into the church, but she stopped to admire them. "Don't you two just look ador –" Seeing the disgruntled looks on both of their faces, she swiftly changed her gushing words. "You look…clean. Nice and…clean. How about a picture of the well-groomed Danes men?"
"I'm not a Danes," Jess muttered.
"What if we said you're an honorary one today?" Rachel suggested. Jess shrugged, then nodded.
"Then it's agreed." She looked around at their surroundings. "Here, let's have you stand right in front of the church steps." She quickly pushed and pulled to get them into the pose she wanted, then stepped back, bringing the camera up to her eye. "And Jess, whatever you do, don't smile, OK? I want this one to be a really serious shot. A smile would absolutely ruin the whole dark and brooding thing you guys do so well."
Jess had been scowling, but as soon as she said that, a small smile struggled onto his face.
"No, no, no!" she admonished him. "No smiling! Think of something disgusting! Like…your uncle's stinky feet."
Jess glanced up at Luke, smiling wider. Luke looked down at Jess, smiling too, and put one hand on his shoulder again, glad that events had worked out and that his nephew was with him today.
Rachel took about three shots of them before they even realized it. "Perfect!" she decreed. "The Danes men are extremely photogenic." She walked the few steps to where they stood. "Ready to head inside?"
"Before we do…" Luke already felt silly, and the words weren't even out of his mouth. "Would you take one more picture of us first?"
Rachel did a double take, then leaned down confidentially towards Jess. "Is he sick?" she wondered.
"I don't think so."
"Are you sure?" She put a hand against Luke's forehead. "Because he must be delirious, if he actually wants to have his picture taken."
"Ha, ha," Luke said dryly. "I was hoping maybe you could take a picture of our ties." As soon as he said that, he felt even more foolish.
Rachel raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Your ties?"
But Jess was nodding, almost enthusiastically, which Rachel noticed.
"I gave Jess his grandpa's tie clip, and Lorelai gave me this one, last night, so I thought, you know, that maybe –"
"It would be a good thing to commemorate." Rachel nodded in total agreement. "Absolutely." She had Luke bend down slightly, so that he and Jess were on the same level. When she asked them to get a little closer, Luke quite naturally put his arm around Jess. She also suggested that they both point to the tie clips, and since that made them feel sort of ridiculous, their smiles were a little on the goofy side.
"Ha, great!" Rachel crowed, clicking off the shots. "You know, the world can always use more male models. I'm just saying, in case you ever get tired of the diner gig."
"I'll keep that in mind," Luke said, rolling his eyes.
They walked up the steps to the church door, but Rachel indicated she wasn't going in. "I'm going to stay out here and wait for the girls to arrive. I've already taken pictures of the sanctuary."
Inside, Jess settled into a back pew to wait. Luke walked slowly down the aisle to the altar, looking in amazement at the decorations that had erupted all over the church. Everywhere he looked, fall flowers, garlands of leaves, and fat white candles in clear globes enhanced the beauty of the old church.
"What do you think?" Mia asked, walking in from the side to join him.
"I can't…I can't believe this." He turned around, confirming all that he'd seen. "How did this happen? Did you do this?"
Chuckling, Mia walked over to him, taking his arm and hugging it against her. "I did very little. It was most of the Independence staff taking turns working on this."
"Oh, Mia, no." Luke felt distressed. "You shouldn't have made your staff do this."
At that comment, Mia laughed harder. "Oh Luke. My dear, you've got it so wrong. The staff was fighting over who got to do this."
"What do you mean?" he asked, frowning.
Looking at him, Mia sobered. "You understand, don't you, that Lorelai is much loved? She has that sort of personality. People are drawn to her; they want to be with her; to please her. I hope you know –" She cut off her words abruptly.
"Know what?"
Mia sighed. "That you might need to overlook some of that adoration occasionally. Sometimes…certain people mistake her natural personality for actual regard."
"You mean guys," Luke said grimly. "Men try to hit on her."
"Yes, but…it's not through any encouragement on her part. Her affections are firmly attached to you and you alone."
This time Luke sighed. "I'm aware. I mean, she's gorgeous, and that smile…" He shook his head. "From the beginning I knew she drew attention from everyone, and there's nothing I can do about that. Nothing I want to do about that, because that's who she is. And as long as she agrees to stick with me, I'll find a way to handle her fawning fans."
Mia laughed again. "I'm certain she's sticking with you. There's no doubt about that." She looked him up and down. "And if that foolish girl has even one little bit of hesitation, one look at you will chase any cold feet right away."
Luke patted her hand. "Maisie approved, too."
"Of course she did. It's a proud day for all of us surrogate moms, Lucas."
Luke shook his head. "I have a feeling I'm going to be called Lucas more times today than I ever have in my entire life."
"You can handle it, dear, can't you?" Mia teased. "It's only one day."
Rachel popped her head inside. "The bride is here! Come on out and we'll take some pictures while the light is so lovely."
Luke took a deep breath, one that was a little on the shaky side.
"Are you ready for this?" Mia took his arm again, preparing to walk out with him.
He took another breath, one that he needed to settle his nerves. But the one after that fed his impatience. "Yeah, I am. No doubts from me, either."
"Then let's go see your beautiful bride, shall we?" Mia suggested, and they pushed through the church doors into the glowing rays from the lowering sun.