Chapter 9
The weekend started out tearful when the Gilmore girls stopped by for their breakfast, Saturday morning. Rory came into the diner first, but when Luke asked where her mom was, that's when he saw it. His truck in reverse with Lorelai backing it down the street. Come find out, Lorelai did not know how to drive a stick, after all. So, letting the girls chat amongst themselves, Luke rushed out, ordering Lorelai out so he could get it out of reverse and parked the truck across the street, ignoring the shouts from Lorelai at being proved wrong.
With his truck being one of his pride and joys after Shelby, Luke had second thoughts of letting the girls borrow it. Of course Lorelai talked him back into letting them. So, he wrote out a diagram of what the letters stood for on the gearshift. While they were discussing matters, Rory had ordered a Yale special to go, for breakfast, since they were short on time.
Before they left, Shelby hugged Rory one last time, not wanting to let go.
"I'll be back, I promise," Rory reminded her. "I won't be around as much, but I'll still be around. Okay?"
"I know," she whimpered softly, but loud enough they could all hear her.
Eventually, Shelby peeled away and let Lorelai and Rory leave. Much to Luke's distaste, a guy in a suit was entering as they were leaving.
"Mister Danes?"
He glanced up as Luke muttered, "Unfortunately."
"I'm Russell Bynes," the guy in the suit introduced as he came over. "I'm with Blodgett, Sage, Albet, Pettruccio, Stein, Lemming, Stein, attorneys for Nicole Diana Leahy."
"And the sun just went down. Thanks for coming," Luke said, annoyed when all he had was one simple question that could have been answered over the phone like Luke wanted.
"Pardon me?" he asked, confused.
Luke glared at the guy. "You're wasting your time. I had a simple question. Where do I sign? It didn't require a personal visit."
Russell held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa. There's no place to sign because this is just a document informing the defendant of the action being filed."
"What are you talking about?" Luke asked, peering at him. "Who's the defendant?"
"You are."
Luke stood up straighter as he exclaimed, "Oh my God!" suddenly receiving attention from the customers. Shelby stood by, volleying back and forth with a puzzled expression.
Russell asked, "Didn't you read the papers?"
"Yeah, the Red Sox lost by three, Bush is at the ranch, chatting up a Swiss dude..."
"The divorce papers," he interrupted Luke's sarcastic joke.
"I know what you meant," Luke told him. "Look, I didn't kill anyone. Nicole and I kind of accidently got married and now we want out. We both want the same thing."
Russell shook his head right back. "Don't try to play me, Mister Danes."
"I'm too busy for this." Luke tried to walk away, wanting as far away from the guy as possible.
"Fine, because I should be dealing with your legal representation," he argued.
Luke threw his arms out to the sides in frustration. "I don't believe this."
Russell turned to open his bag he had sitting on the stool right next to him. "Not giving us your lawyer's information is only going to prolong the process."
"Okay, if I give you my lawyer's name, will you leave?"
"I will leave," he assured, pulling out a leather-bound notebook and one of those fancy lawyer pens.
"Okay, ready?"
"Yes," he answered, clicking the pen open.
"His name is Don Dewey. He works at the firm of Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe." Luke gave him the information for his fake but clever lawyer.
Russell repeated it back as he wrote the information down. That is, until Russell caught on to what Luke was doing.
He forced a chuckle before slamming the notebook closed. "That was very immature."
"Yeah, well, tickled me," Luke muttered out loud, somewhat amused.
Russell put his pen away in his suit jacket. "My bosses will want to hear this," he stated, as if it was supposed to be a threat.
"Oh, come on. They've probably heard that one before." When Russell turned to leave, Luke quickly called out, "Oh, hey, if you want Don's number, it's 555-55...5...5."
Russell just left without another word.
Lorelai returned that same moment, holding the piece of paper he had written the diagram on, stating nothing was where it says it is. Luke just simply took the paper and handed it back the other way, which she reassured him everything was going to be fine.
Shelby spoke up about tagging along since Luke had started showing her about driving, explaining the basics for now, but had an appointment to mow Mrs. Johanson's yard that day. Lorelai reassured again, it would be fine.
After Lorelai left again, Shelby told Luke she was going to finish getting ready to head over to Mrs. Johanson's, while praying for Lorelai. Shelby returned thirty minutes later wearing her helmet and carrying her scooter over her shoulder. She set it against the front of the counter to climb onto one of the stools. She lifted the lid to the donuts, grabbing a chocolate one using a napkin before replacing the lid.
"How long you think you'd be gone for?" Luke asked.
"Um, Mrs. Johanson wan's both her fron' and backyard mowed, so until three?"
"Okay," he agreed. "That's perfect. I told Lorelai to have the truck back by four. I'll leave Caesar in charge, this evening, and we can go school shopping and see that movie you want to see. How's that sound?"
"Sounds great," she replied.
"Okay." Luke leaned over the counter to kiss Shelby on the forehead. She returned a kiss on his cheek before sliding down from the stool. "Be safe, okay? And don't talk to any strangers and make sure you drink plenty of water."
"Goh'it, Dad," she reassured him. Shelby snatched her scooter and headed outside to head out for Mrs. Johanson's house.
Luke watched her go from the window as Shelby pushed off with her foot, holding the donut on top of one of the handlebars. Once she was out of sight, he refocused back on work.
For the most part, things were rather pleasant. That is, until the three head bosses from Nicole's firm showed up and ruined that pleasantness. For a few hours, they took up one of the tables, arguing with him and just being a pain in Luke's butt. They were still there when Lorelai returned that afternoon.
Out of ideas, Luke pleaded with Lorelai to be a character witness or something to explain to "Moe", "Larry", and "Curly" that he really didn't want anything from Nicole, other than to get out their accidental marriage. She tried, but it wasn't enough in their book.
At this point, Luke was at a loss. Out of tiredness, he leveled with them, though somewhat in another joking manner. He did want something: the three hours he lost when they had seen a guy playing musical drinking glasses while on the cruise. That, at least, got them to leave. But this was far from over.
It was actually a good thing they left, because Luke ended up having to drive Lorelai back up to Yale when she asked to borrow his truck for a little while longer while arguing over the mattress from Yale her and Rory had swapped out for a new one. Letting Caesar know to tell Shelby where he had gone, Luke and Lorelai headed back to Yale, where he helped unload the second load.
After constantly being watched by Tess, Luke made a deal with a guy named Chip, to help him bring the mattress back into the dorm when Lorelai hadn't come back out. In exchange, Luke had to help him unload his stuff. Lorelai still tried to object, but Luke wasn't having any of it and went to go help Chip. Once all of Rory's stuff was unloaded, as well as Chip's, Luke waited outside in the truck while the girls said good-bye.
On the way back to Stars Hollow, Luke stopped for gas since he and Shelby had plans that evening. However, the plans ended up having to be postponed until tomorrow. As soon as they pulled up to the diner, Lorelai got a message on her pager requesting to come back, from Rory. She then insisted on borrowing his truck again. Luke let out an annoyed sigh when he and Shelby had plans, but gave in, anyway. He had to tell Shelby, who was helping out in the diner when he walked in. Thankfully, the kid was just as understanding as he was, especially when Lorelai called later, to let Luke know she was staying there overnight. At least, this time, Luke made her promise to have it back, three hours in advance without telling her. Shelby laughed when he told her. So, Lorelai ended up on time and they were finally able to run their errands. Unfortunately, not before Luke had to unload and store the Yale mattress that was once again back in his truck. Which he just stored in the garage with Jess' car he still had hidden.
It worked out anyway, moving their plans to Sunday, as the two spent all afternoon, shopping for not only school supplies, but new clothes, as well. This year, instead of picking out a backpack, Shelby picked out a Harry Potter messenger bag, instead. Her wardrobe was pretty much still the same, though. Jeans for when it got cooler, shorts for now, which were mostly cargo shorts. Two were camouflage patterned, since that was still her favorite color.
Shelby also picked out a few new cartoon shirts, basketball and baseball jerseys, and some plain and striped shirts. Luke also made sure to get her new socks and underwear, grabbing some socks for himself.
They ended up walking passed a selection of kids' watches and a Pokemon watch caught her eye.
"I can pay for it since it isn' on our lis'," she offered.
"Nah, it's fine, kiddo. Knowing what time it is, is a good thing to know, especially for school," he said and let her toss the watch into the cart with everything else.
Once they had everything on the list Luke had written out beforehand, they headed up to the registers to wait in line. The line eventually moved enough where they could unload everything onto the conveyor belt. Shelby helped, setting the stuff nicely like her dad was doing.
While they waited, Shelby asked if she could go grab a drink of water from the water fountain by the restrooms. Luke told her to hurry back. By the time she returned, the middle-aged cashier was ringing their stuff up. After the cashier bagged them, she handed their purchases to Shelby, who set the bags back inside the shopping cart while Luke was getting out his debit card from his wallet, watching the ending balance go up.
Luke swiped his card when the cashier finished ringing their stuff up. Once the receipt was printed and handed to him, he and Shelby headed for the exit where they headed out to where Luke parked. They set all the bags on the floor, on her side.
"Movie first? Or would you like to eat first?" he asked as Luke started up the truck.
"Movie firs'," she replied. "Then we'll be able to talk abou' the movie while we're eating." So, that's where they headed next.
At the movie theater, Luke bought their tickets before they headed inside, heading for the concession stand first. Since it was still the summer and a weekend, the lines were semi long. They waited ten minutes to get their popcorn and drinks and then headed for their theater where Shelby chose the first row of the back section, heading towards the middle seats.
There was a fifteen minute wait as several other moviegoers filled the theater. Being a kid's movie, of course, there would be other children, something Luke wasn't looking forward to. He hoped the kids were all good and would remain in their seats and quiet throughout the entire movie.
The lights were turned off except for the floor lights in the walkway. Before the movie started, several previews played, including one from Disney, called Freaky Friday, where a teenaged daughter switched places with her mother.
Shelby leaned over to whisper to her dad, "I wouldn' wan' to switch places with Mom."
"That'll be weird, huh?" Luke whispered back.
She nodded. "Oh, yeah. Very weird."
Luke chuckled under his breath playfully grabbed at her head.
Shelby whispered once more to let him know she wanted to see the Brother Bear movie when they showed the preview. Soon, after what seemed like a thousand trailers, the actual movie they came to see, started. Since it was a 3D movie, the movie made sure to tell the audience when to put on their 3D glasses. With this being her first 3D movie, Shelby was the most excited while Luke felt silly wearing a pair of glasses made of cardboard with red see-through plastic covering the holes. About ninety percent of the movie they had to wear the glasses, so halfway through, Luke ended up getting a slight headache. Not to mention, he thought the acting, and the movie was cheesy, and was surprised to see Sylvester Stallone in it as not one, but four characters. To Shelby, though, it was really awesome. Or at least the action scenes were. Later on, as they were leaving, Shelby also admitted the characters were a little cheesy.
"I liked the ending, though," she said.
"At least one of us liked the movie. I had trouble following it, the whole time, and the 3D effects kept giving me a headache." Luke stopped at the restrooms and told Shelby to meet back here after they were done before going into the men's room while Shelby went into the ladies' room.
After the movie, Luke headed back to Stars Hollow where they had dinner at Sniffy's. It had been a while since they seen Buddy and Maisy. The couple picked on the guy, stating it looked like Luke wasn't feeding the kid. It was clear Shelby was going to be like Rachel in size when she's older.
Since they had popcorn earlier, Luke skipped the appetizer when Maisy asked and gave them a moment to decide before ordering.
While they waited for their food, Maisy returned to ask about Shelby's summer. She told them all about Florida and Disney World, and spending time with her best friends and their family.
"What? No pictures?" she questioned with her fists on her hips.
Luke interjected into the conversation. "Their mom took lots of pictures and gave me the ones Shelby was in. They're just at home."
"And you didn't bring them?" Maisy scolded him.
He shrugged. "I didn't know we would be coming... Ow!" Luke rubbed where Maisy smacked him on the side of the head.
"Next time, bring them. Got it? I wanna seem them." She smiled afterwards, though. Luke knew the woman meant well, and he sure appreciated all Maisy and Buddy has done for him, and was glad his little buddy had some kind of grandpa figure in her life, who spoiled her by bringing Shelby, dessert after they finished eating their dinner. Being a big fan of ice cream, Shelby graciously accepted it. A great way to end a fun day of father-daughter bonding, even if most of it was spent shopping.
Being Sunday evening and hardly any customers in the diner when they got back home, Luke sent Caesar and John home and closed the place.
"You don't have to help, kiddo," Luke told Shelby when she had grabbed a rag and the cleaning solution.
Shelby gathered all the condiments from the tables and moved them to the counter. "It's okay. I don' mind." In reality, Luke knew the kid really wanted to finally be able to buy her new GameBoy.
"How much did you make, yesterday?" he asked as she went to grab more condiments from the other tables.
"Mrs. Johanson paid me ten dollars for mowing her whole lawn." Shelby loaded her arms.
"Sounds like a lot of work. So you think you reached your goal yet?" Luke used the rag and cleaning solution Shelby brought out to wipe down the counter.
"How much do I have in my accoun'?"
"Well, when I deposited your allowance, last week, I believe it was..." Luke thought back to when he went to the bank. "About seventy-five dollars."
"I forgo' to give you the money I go' from all the jobs I've been doing around town," she added.
"When we head up, we can count it out and take it to the bank tomorrow," he suggested. They finished closing down and getting the place ready to open in the morning before heading upstairs.
They showered and got ready for bed, first. While Luke was showering, Shelby had already dumped the jar she kept her money in, out onto the kitchen table and started counting. When Luke came over, changed into his pajamas, he sat down and began collecting all the paper bills while Shelby was sorting out the coins.
"I think 'tan was trying to get rid of all his pennies," Shelby concluded when she finished counting.
"You mean Stan?" he asked, double checking.
She nodded. "Yeah." Shelby pointed out the stacks she was counting the pennies into.
"Pretty sure he did that to me as a kid," Luke chuckled. Once he had the paper bills together, Luke placed them off to the side and started helping count out the gigantic pile of pennies. Being older and being used to counting out change, Luke counted a lot faster than the kid. He quickly swiped the pennies away into smaller piles. With his help, they finished in about five minutes.
"You have about four dollars and forty-four cents just in pennies."
"Tha's over four hundred pennies!" Shelby gasped.
"How did you even get all these, home?" he couldn't help wonder out loud.
Shelby picked up the jar she was keeping her money in. "Where do you think I go' this from? I had to walk home with this."
"I'm sure it was heavy," Luke figured. Being copper, pennies alone were heavy in large quantities.
"Oh, yeah. My arms kept getting tired, and I had to keep 'topping to res'," she explained.
They continued counting the rest, counting out the silver coins. Besides the odd jobs she was doing around town, the money she kept on her, was also all of her tips from the diner. Once it was all accounted for, her earnings from odd jobs and tips came out to sixty-eight dollars and eighty-three cents.
"Jeez, maybe I should have you start pitching in with the bills." Luke chuckled, teasing the kid.
"I could," Shelby offered.
"Shell, I was just kidding," he told her.
She shrugged. "I know, but I wouldn' mind helping pay the bills."
Luke leaned over to kiss the side of her head. "You are sweet, kiddo. But, it's okay. Enjoy being a kid and not having responsibilities like bills, for as long as you can."
"Are you sure?"
He smiled. "Positive."
"Okay." A yawn then escaped from the kid.
"Guess it's time for bed," Luke noted.
Shelby didn't even fight him. She just rubbed at her eye. Getting up, Shelby began sliding all of her money back into the jar with her hand, holding it at the edge of the table. Luke helped until it was all picked up. He then got up himself to head over to his desk, grabbing a scrap piece of paper and a pencil to write the amount so they wouldn't forget. He brought it back and dropped the paper into the jar with the money while Shelby had gone over to feed Gexie.
"Good nigh', Gexie," Luke heard her tell the little gecko.
Once Gexie was taken care of, Shelby headed over to climb up to her bunk. When Luke came over, she was paused on the ladder, staring through the steps at Jess' bunk.
"You okay, kiddo?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." With that, she climbed up to her bunk and got under her comforter.
Luke moved closer to say good night and give her one last kiss before heading over to his side, turning out the lights on the way.