Chapter 35 All Inn
Lorelai came home from a very difficult day at the inn to find Tom Rhodes standing in her living room. Her heart started to beat faster since the last time she'd seen him at her house was when he told them about April. "Tom, I didn't expect to see you here." Lorelai smiled weakly.
Tom realized her concerns and he wanted to put her at ease. "Oh, sorry Lorelai, Luke wanted me to run the reports up to him this month since he wasn't coming into the city."
By the confused look on her face Tom realized that his boss hadn't mentioned skipping the board meeting this month. Just then Luke came back into the living room looking at the reports.
"Yeah Tom, I can see that this is a possibility, but I want to talk to Lorelai before we make any decisions. And there she is." Luke looked up at the last of his statement just in time to see Lorelai's face reflecting concern.
Lorelai saw him react to her then he turned to Tom, "Why don't I get back to you on this tomorrow? You staying at the Independence Inn tonight?" Luke wanted to cover this with Lorelai before he went any further. Tom nodded.
"Yep, Annie came up with me so she's in town at Mrs. Kim's then we're going to have dinner at the Inn and I'll meet back with you tomorrow." Tom grinned at Luke who returned it with his own.
"I'm really glad Annie came with you this trip. I know we're not as large as New York, but Stars Hollow has its own brand of crazy." At the last of his comment Luke put his arm around Lorelai and was concerned when he felt her stiffen.
"Well, I'll see you in the morning Tom. Thanks again for coming up." Luke said wanting to wrap this up so he could find out what was wrong.
Tom nodded and said his good-byes. As he closed the door Lorelai started to brush past Luke feeling like she wanted to cry, but he was too quick for her and he held onto her shoulders.
"Lorelai, tell me what's going on?" Luke looked at her confused.
"Why didn't you go to New York this month? Or better yet, why didn't you tell me you weren't going?"
Lorelai's eyes filled with tears as Luke started to chuckle. "I knew that was too easy."
Lorelai looked at him as her forehead scrunched up while she was trying to understand what the Hell he was talking about.
"What was too easy?" she asked. Luke gathered her into his arms and sat her on the couch.
"Last week I noticed that you were getting more tired and stressed out. I'm concerned that if you don't get rest and eat well it's going to take a toll on you so last week while we were watching Willie Wonka I told you I wasn't going to New York and Tom would be up here for a couple of days. You looked straight at me and nodded. No comment, no discussion, just nodded. I wondered if you had understood, or it just wasn't that big of a deal, and now I see you didn't even hear me."
Luke smiled gently, belying the concern he had for her reaction. Lorelai looked at him her bottom lip starting to quiver. "I don't even remember that conversation, I know we were on the couch, and I seem to remember you saying something, but I don't remember what it was."
Luke gathered her close as two huge teardrops rolled down her face. "Lorelai, I'm sure it's fine. You've been having restless sleep these past few weeks and that group of insurance agents that were so demanding last week really wore you out. We have an appointment with Dr. Hayward the Thursday after Christmas and we can confirm it, but I'm sure it's just due to the pregnancy."
Luke hoped that was what it was, but he didn't want her worrying about it before they knew. Lorelai looked more settled but there was still something in her eyes. "What's going on in that crazy head of yours?" Luke joked.
Lorelai shrugged, "I just had some disturbing dreams last night and I guess it scared me." She looked down at the couch and drew a pillow closer to her extended belly. Luke gently placed his hand over hers.
"What dreams Lorelai?" He prodded.
She looked at him and he saw the unformed tears welling up as she spoke. "I dreamt that we were having a little boy and the doctors weren't able to save him. It was all my fault because I drank coffee and ate junk food all through the pregnancy. I didn't take care of myself and didn't think about him at all. I was so selfish and petty. And then he didn't make it and you hated me," she finished in a whisper.
Luke gathered her in his arms, "Oh God Lorelai! I'm so sorry! But it was just a dream. We're having a little girl, and even before she was conceived you drank less coffee so she would be healthy and since you've been pregnant you've eaten well. You're the least selfish mother I've ever met. And I want you to listen to me," Luke brought her head up to look him in the eye. "No matter what happens in our life, no matter how angry we get with each other, I could never, ever hate you for a second. Do you hear me? Never! I love you more than I thought possible and I always will."
Luke held her close as she broke down, confused about what was going on in her head, but pleased that she'd shared her fear with him. As they sat there on the couch Rory and Jess came back from Christmas shopping but when they saw how Lorelai was crying, they tiptoed out of the room. Eventually she calmed down enough and Luke sat rocking her. She felt herself calming down in his arms and finally she sighed.
He looked at her and she gave him a watery smile back, but one that warmed his heart. He never in a million years thought that pregnancy was going to be wrought with so many potholes. Lorelai finally remembered what Luke was saying as she walked into the house.
"What did you want to run by me?" her brow wrinkled in concern. Luke smiled and smoothed his thumb over it.
"Tom said we've been approached by a company that's in trouble. They want to know if we'd be willing to purchase it. But I'm concerned about starting this when we're less than two months away from our own new project," he smiled at her warmly.
Lorelai also smiled at the thought of their daughter being there so soon, and then she looked at him and crinkled her nose. "Luke you shouldn't stop running your business just because we're having a baby. Sookie and I are going ahead with plans for the Independence, although much more slowly."
He nodded and shrugged, "Yeah, the thing is, I don't really know this type of business, but they heard about my amazing wife and thought we could help out."
Luke smiled at her confusion. "What type of business is it?"
"Believe it or not it's a small group of personal inns on the east coast who are being threatened by this large group from Costa Rica. They want B-D to purchase them because they know we'd work with them and as Jed put it, 'your wife understands the business better than anyone in Connecticut.' But I'm afraid that we don't have the time to investigate all the angles since we'd have to learn what the angles are from the bottom floor. Tom thought that we should bring you in as a consultant to see if this is a sound investment or if there are too many problems and that this is just a man trying to save his dream."
Lorelai smiled up at him, excited to work with him in this way. "Luke I'd love to give you that kind of help. What does it entail?"
Luke sighed, "Lorelai, you're sleep deprived as it is and this will be a lot of work up front. We need to make site visits to all the inns, in this case there are eight. Then we have to look at all the financials for the past three years and identify potential hazards and pitfalls. Then we meet with their board and then our board then a thousand little meetings that take place over the next twelve months and I'm not sure that we want to put that much stress on you. Especially since you and Sookie are taking over your own inn and Lilibet is going to be here shortly."
Lorelai sighed, "But Luke if this is Jed Miller I know his inns. He's not just trying to save them for vanity, he believes in these inns and what if it were a large corporation coming after my inn? Wouldn't you want someone to help me out if they could?"
Luke shook his head and ran his hand over his face. "Alright Lorelai, we'll start the process, but the minute that Dr. Hayward says no or you feel too tired we're getting someone else in. Ok?"
Lorelai giggled and threw her arms around his neck. "Ok! I promise you that I'll put Lilibet first before all business. But just think of the fun we'll have going to the inns to check them out!"
Luke smiled at her, happy that she seemed happy for the first time in a week, really since they'd been at her mother's Christmas party.
Over the next few days Luke and Lorelai were able to visit two of Jed's inns. Because she was due soon Luke didn't want to go too far, so they saw one in Providence, Rhode Island and one in Boston. They met up with Jed in Providence where he showed them around. It was early in the morning when they pulled up into the parking lot of a beautiful little inn. Luke got out of the Cherokee and gently helped Lorelai out of the car. His hand supported her back as she walked towards the porch.
Standing out in the morning light without a coat was Jed Miller. He was a tall lanky man in his early seventies with a grey mustache and a craggy face encasing warm steel blue eyes. He smiled broadly when he saw the younger couple emerge. Lorelai waved and Luke nodded to him, not wanting to remove his hand from her back.
"Well, Jed Miller as I live and breathe!" Lorelai batted her eyes as Luke rolled his.
Jed chuckled, "If I knew that it'd take a hostile takeover to get you to see my properties I'd have gone public years ago."
Lorelai looked seriously at Jed, "So going public made you vulnerable?"
He nodded, looking off at his land behind her. "Why don't we go in where it's warm and I'll tell you about it."
Luke and Lorelai followed him through the quaint lobby that was tastefully decorated to the library where there was a huge fire in the pass-through fireplace. They sat on the opposite side from the rest of the guests. Jed started to tell the tale, "We needed some cash to do upkeep renovations on three of our buildings that had gotten a clean inspection just two months before. During those two months we also opened our eighth inn. The decision to go public was made and then six months later we had our first whisper of a takeover."
Lorelai and Luke listened as Jed talked and Luke watched Lorelai out of the corner if his eye careful to make sure she didn't tire out. On the contrary, she seemed to gain energy as she talked to Jed.
They had lunch in the dinning room and toured the actual rooms. Luke saw her making mental notes, alive in a way he'd never seen. Shortly after two in the afternoon they started on their way home, Lorelai looking like she could use a nap but having a difficult time shutting her brain off. Luke cleared his throat and she looked at him a bit startled to see him sitting next to her. He smiled and reached for her hand.
"So, first thoughts?" He wanted to ask so much more, but he knew that one or two well phrased questions would give him what he needed.
Lorelai grinned at him and then she was off, "Well, the building is perfect, just enough country to make it comfortable but not overbearing, the structure is classic, the staff is attentive without being obtrusive. I'm not wild about the chef, but then my comparison is Sookie."
Luke nodded at this and raised his eyebrows for her to continue. "Capacity in peak is one hundred percent and in off peak it's about eighty and off, off peak it's still sixty. So I'd say that if the rest of them are anywhere near this one it's a good deal Luke. I'm not sure you'd have to do much other than meet with Jed occasionally."
He frowned a bit, "The off, off peak, isn't that a bit low?"
Lorelai smiled, "Well, the Independence off, off peak is close to fifty most of the time so sixty is really pretty good. Usually that only lasts a few weeks spread throughout the year. You know, like Christmas, the dead of February, times where no one wants to be in the north east."
Luke smiled and nodded, "Well we'll look at the one in Boston the day after tomorrow and then hold off until January for the rest. I want to make sure that you're feeling up to it." He took her hand and kissed it as she nodded in agreement, thrilled to have something new to keep her mind off her fears and pleased that she could help Luke out with his business.
A/N Thanks for so many wonderful reviews last chapter. I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know you enjoy the updates.