Summer hit with a vengeance.

Any leftover spring flowers withered and died. The grass turned crispy. Sprinklers ran nonstop, trying to save lawns. People stayed inside, where air conditioning made life bearable.

And Lorelai and Rory went to the pool.

The daily excursion to the inn's oasis wasn't part of a calculated plan. Instead it evolved over weeks of altered schedules and discontinued routines. The heatwave provided an excuse to latch on to something else to do when the old places of refuge disappeared.

Each day, after finishing her afternoon shift, Lorelai would return home and pay Connie's oldest granddaughter, Clarissa, for watching Rory. Clarissa was just old enough to babysit, and – except for watching her younger sisters – minding Rory was her first job. Clarissa was a bookworm with an artistic flair, so being paid to read books and color was a great deal in her eyes. She didn't even mind playing Candyland over and over again.

Clarissa also understood how important it was to keep little tummies full, to avoid hunger-induced tantrums, which meant that Rory was never hungry for dinner when Lorelai got home. Instead, they'd put on their bathing suits, grab some towels and Rory's floaties, and head to the pool.

Rory would wiggle impatiently as Lorelai blew up the floaties and made sure they were secure on her arms. She couldn't wait to wade into the shallow end of the pool to escape the oppressive heat of the day. Lorelai always got in with her at first. Usually there were other children already splashing about, and sociable Rory was soon incorporated into whatever game they were playing. Lorelai would then retreat to the edge of the pool, where she'd transform into a lifeguard, her long legs dangling in the water.

She'd sit there, watching Rory, and fend off advances from any unattached guy at the pool. It was too hot to launch into her "too busy to date" diatribe; too hot to even practice her flirting on the cuter suitors. Instead she'd point to Rory and flash a small silver band she'd dug out of her jewelry box, hoping that wearing it on her ring finger would be sufficient to discourage all but the most determined.

When the sun lowered enough to cast shadows over the pool, she'd get Rory out and they'd walk home. For Rory's dinner, she'd make a box of macaroni and cheese and cut up an apple or banana. When Rory had enough, Lorelai would finish off what was left. Then they'd watch TV or pop a Disney tape into the VCR. At the first yawn, Lorelai would run a bath, to wash off the chlorine before bedtime. Then it was time for stories and cuddles, and Rory, exhausted from her exciting day, would slip off into sleep.

Lorelai, however, had not had an exciting day. After Rory fell asleep, she'd wander through the small footprint of their home, trying to find something to do. She was saving up to buy Rory a bed, and sometimes she'd pull out the fabric scraps that would someday become a quilt to cover it, but cutting out quilt pieces didn't hold her interest for long. Sometimes she'd try to read. And sometimes she'd find herself outside in the rocking chair, sipping another one of the purloined wine coolers, at a loss to explain how everything had changed so quickly.

"There are my two favorite girls!" Mia caught them before they could get into the pool. "I've got a plan for tonight!"

"You do? What?" Lorelai asked. She slowly spun around as she asked, a maneuver to prevent her shoulder being dislocated from Rory's persistent tugging on her arm.

"I've asked the kitchen to fix us some boxed lunches for dinner. We can take them over to Liz's for tonight's meal. It's too hot to cook."

Lorelai froze and suffered through Rory's efforts to drag her away. "Oh, um…We weren't really planning on going over there tonight. Rory wants the pool," she explained.

"Rory can have the pool," Mia said agreeably. "In fact, let's take her out there right now. We can watch her play while we talk a bit."

Once Rory was settled in the water, Lorelai reluctantly sat down beside Mia at a poolside table.

"I'm curious," Mia said, her eyes focused on Rory. "It seems like you're always here."

Lorelai shrugged, trying to appear unruffled, as she also kept tabs on Rory. "What better place to be, in egg-frying-on-the-sidewalk temps?"

Mia briefly looked over at her. "Why are you avoiding Liz?"

"I'm not avoiding Liz."

"Really? How long has it been since you've been over there?"

"I'm not sure, exactly."

"One week? Two weeks? Three?"

"It's been a while," Lorelai conceded coolly.

"And again I ask, why?"

"There's no real reason. It's just, things have changed, and it's harder to make it all work now."

"Why is it harder?"

Lorelai couldn't stop her eyes from rolling. "You know why."

"Because of Liz's altered work schedule?"

"Sure. Yeah. Let's say that."

Luke, after protesting so emphatically that he didn't want Liz to work at the store, had to ask her to do just that after all. One of the store's long-term workers quit soon after Will's death, to stay home and care for her husband, who had been recently diagnosed with early-onset dementia. Feeling overwhelmed with the myriad responsibilities of running the store, Luke asked Liz to cover those hours, rather than deal with searching for a new employee. Liz now worked at the inn in the mornings, then at the hardware store in the afternoons.

"Does it really make so much difference, that she's not here in the afternoons?"

Lorelai sighed, wondering how to describe the way it felt to Mia. "Maybe it shouldn't, but it does. She'd have to drive out here to get us. After she's worked all day at two jobs. It's just one more thing she'd have to do, when she'd probably rather go put her feet up on the couch."

"I'm sure she misses you, though."

"Not much, I don't think. Oliver is usually there to keep her company." Lorelai looked down at her hands, trying hard to keep a note of unconcern in her voice.

"I thought you enjoyed Oliver's company."

"I do." Lorelai scowled off into the distance. "It's just hard not to feel like a third wheel. Like I'm intruding."

"Ah yes, I see." Mia kept looking at her, waiting, as if she thought Lorelai had more to say.

"And…it's just so different. Luke is never there. Rachel hardly ever stops by."

Mia held her eyes for a beat. "And Will isn't there."

Sadness clogged her throat, the way it did anytime she was forced to think about Will. She nodded, not wanting to try and get words out past the lump.

"Maybe that's all the more reason to visit," Mia suggested.

"I tried," Lorelai insisted. "I did. I wanted it all to go back to normal. But I can't, because it's not. Too much has changed."

"If everything has changed for you, think how Liz must feel." Mia reached over for her hand. "Think what it's like for her, to be missing her dad and her best friend. Her world is upside-down, too."

"I know," Lorelai said miserably. "But I don't know how to turn it back again."

"I think I can help you." Mia's alert eyes still tracked Rory in the pool. "You got me through the funeral days. Let me return the favor now."

"You don't think it's too late?"

"It's never too late when it comes to friendship."

"Some friend," Lorelai muttered, suddenly ashamed of the way she'd drifted away because that was easier.

"You've been a great friend to Liz. This is just a little hiccup, which all relationships occasionally go through. There's been a major disruption in all our lives. It's only natural that it takes a while to reset."

Lorelai felt like she needed to try and explain. "When we're together now, it's so rushed. In the mornings there's barely time to say anything, what with getting the kids to that summer camp thing at the church, and then after our morning shift, there's the hurry to pick them up and get us back here, and Liz needs time for lunch before heading to the store. The only thing we talk about are schedules."

"If we take them dinner tonight, you'll have plenty of time to talk."

"I guess," Lorelai said, smothering her doubts. "Sure, we can try that, I suppose."

"Wonderful! Let Rory splash around for a few more minutes, and then go get dried off. I told the kitchen we'd pick up the dinners around 5:30."

"Sounds fun," Lorelai said with nervous enthusiasm. "Great idea."

"Outta the seat! Mommy! Outta the seat!" Rory shouted, as soon as they parked behind the Danes home. She kicked her legs, frustrated at being confined for a second longer. As soon as Lorelai released her and her feet hit the ground, she sprinted through the patio area and banged her tiny fists against the back door. "Jets!" she yelled. "Jets! Open the door!"

Liz appeared instead. She looked surprised, but then laughed at Rory's impatience. "Hey, there, you! Come on in!" She held the door open and Rory bounded inside, anxious to get to her playmate.

She obviously had no worries about whether or not she'd be welcome.

Liz continued to hold the door open, so that they could enter with their bags of nourishment. "What's all this?" she wondered.

"Dinner," Lorelai said, with an uneasy smile.

"Really? Oh God, that's too good to be true!" She followed them into the kitchen. "I didn't have a clue what we were going to eat tonight."

"Cold sandwiches, chips, pasta salad," Mia recited, pulling some of the boxes out of her bag. "I told the kitchen to throw in anything you'd eat on a picnic."

"Yum, the pasta salad with the black olives? I love that stuff," Liz commented, looking over the choices.

"We brought plenty," Mia added. "Will Oliver be joining us?"

"Maybe later. It all depends on how his work went today. Sometimes he still has an appointment to meet with a client in the evening."

"And where's your brother?"

Liz made a face. "At the store, where else? He won't be home for hours yet."

Mia straightened to her full height. "Why is that?"

"Why? Because he's in charge, don't you know."

"He's closing tonight?"

Liz made a disparaging noise. "He closes every night."

"No one else works late?"

"Oh yeah, of course there's someone else scheduled to work until close. But Luke seems to think it's cheating if he doesn't stay too."

"That seems unnecessary."

"Yeah, well, tell that to Luke. He closes down the place every night. And then half the time he stays a couple more hours, looking over the books or something. He doesn't come home until long after Jess and I have gone to bed." She looked frankly at Mia. "He gets there early in the mornings, too, at least an hour before the store opens. He's killing himself with this insane work ethic and there doesn't seem to be anything I can say to change his mind."

Mia put her hands on her hips and stared at Liz for a minute, obviously displeased. Then she turned and picked up her purse. "You know, I just remembered. I need to purchase a light switch at the hardware store." She started for the door. "You go ahead and get the kids fed. Yourselves, too. I'll be back in a jiffy."

"Somebody's in trouble," Lorelai said in a singsong voice, after Mia had exited the kitchen.

"I didn't mean to get him in trouble, but if Mia can talk some sense into him, then I don't care."

"He's really gone all in on the store, huh?"

"Oh, yeah. If by 'all in' you mean 'batshit crazy.'"

Lorelai grinned at Liz's description. "What's it like working there?"

"It's fine. I've certainly had worse jobs. It's pretty much the opposite of working at the inn, though."

"How so?"

"Well, at the inn, our job really doesn't start until the customers leave, you know? That's when we get busy and clean the rooms. But at the store, there's nothing to do until a customer comes in."

"Got it," Lorelai nodded.

"I grew up hearing Dad talk about the store stuff all the time. I've always filled in if he needed me to, so nothing I do there now is a big shock. I've known the difference between a wood screw and a drywall screw for years."

Lorelai's eyebrows rose. "Is that supposed to sound dirty?"

"Only to your ears." Liz reprimanded her with a grin. "My point is that none of the hardware stuff is foreign to me. I know enough that I can take care of most of the people who come through the door. And, more importantly, I know when I can't, and that's when I go find Luke or Dora or Aaron, or someone else who's been there forever. It's not rocket science."

"Unless someone comes in and actually wants to buy all the stuff they need to build a rocket."

"That's when I will definitely call someone else up to the counter."

Lorelai opened one of the dinner boxes and peered inside as she asked her next question. "You don't mind being there, then?"

"No, it's fine. Sometimes it's a little boring, waiting for someone to come in, but I don't mind being there. And it's convenient, that I can just take Jess there with me."

"He likes being at the store?"

"He seems to, yeah. He's got toys to play with and books to read, and we fixed up a little cot for him upstairs in Dad's office. Well – it's Luke's office now, I guess. If he needs a nap I run him up there and put him down for a bit. So yes, it's all working out." Liz stopped talking and looked down at the floor. "Everything's peachy, except he misses Rory." She looked at Lorelai with misty eyes. "And I miss you."

Lorelai choked on her guilt. She closed her eyes, held out her arms and walked blindly over to Liz. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I've been a rat."

Liz hugged her back. "No, you haven't. I'm the one who went into hiding for a while."

"Which was fine, if that's what you needed to do. I shouldn't have stayed away. I should have kept butting in."

"Your butt is welcome here anytime."

"Just my butt?"

"No, the rest of you can tag along."

Lorelai rested her head against Liz's shoulder. "It's not too late to figure it out again, right?"

"I don't think there's really anything to figure out. We just need to stick together."

"Like glue."

"Like Velcro."

"Like pals."

"Exactly," Liz nodded. "You, my most tolerable pal."

They grinned at each other until a crash from Jess's room interrupted.

"I knew it was too quiet," Lorelai said as they dashed through the hall.

"Should have never left them alone this long," Liz agreed.

They found Jess on the floor, looking a little dazed. Rory was kneeling on top of his bed, looking down at him with interest.

"Whoa, babe, you OK?" Liz got down on the floor beside her son and examined him for injuries. "What happened?"

Rory scrambled to her feet and jumped back and forth on the bed. "Trampoline," she explained.

Lorelai grabbed her before she could tumble off as well. "The bed is not a trampoline," she said firmly, helping her down. "The bed is for sleeping."

"But it's fun," Rory insisted.

"Let's find some other fun."

"Like dinner," Liz suggested, helping Jess to his feet, since he didn't seem to be really hurt. "Who's hungry?"

"Me!" Rory shouted, and began to hop towards the kitchen.

"Yeah," Jess agreed, but he held Liz's hand on the way, his tumble having taken a toll on his usual self-assurance.

"I know it's really hot, but the patio is shaded," Liz said. "What if we ate at the picnic table?"

"That sounds great," Lorelai agreed. She moved the boxed meals outside to the table, while Liz poured drinks.

They searched through the different meals, picking out the components they thought the kids would like the best. Hearty play and patching up friendships ensured that everyone had a good appetite.

"What's it like to work with Luke?" Lorelai wondered, licking some mustard off her thumb. "Is he a real slave driver as a boss?"

"You know, I worried about that too, but he's really not. He likes order and schedules, and he wants you where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there, and he wants everything in the store to be where it's supposed to be too, but he's not a stickler about the timeclock or breaks or anything like that. Truthfully, I hardly see him."

"How can that be? He's not at the store while you're there?"

"Oh, yeah, he's around. But he's always off checking something. He's checking inventory, or he's checking orders that have come in, or he's checking the shelves. He's continued Dad's habit of running things out to the contractors at their building sites, if he can, so sometimes he is away from the store. But usually he's in the back, double and triple checking that we haven't run out of something crucial, like, I don't know, galvanized roofing nails." Liz gave a worried chuckle. "He checks on that stuff a dozen times a week, I bet."

"And he's really putting so many hours in?"

"He sure is." She threw some chips into her mouth and crunched them. "He's over there so early, every morning. And at night, he's going over the books again and again. It's like he's scared that if he doesn't check everything a million times, it's all going to collapse."

"Sounds a little obsessive."

"You think?" Liz shook her head. "I've tried talking to him, but he ignores me. Or he tells me that it's his responsibility. Or he says that once it all settles down and becomes routine, he'll relax. But I don't know. I think it has more to do with him being scared that he's going to let Dad down, somehow."

"Or just being scared, period."

"True," Liz sighed. "It's all pretty scary right now, so I don't blame him."

"What about Rachel?"

"She's been by here, once or twice." Liz shrugged, then took a drink. "Luke wasn't here, of course, so she said she was going to go to the store. When I asked Luke later if he saw her, he said yes." She shrugged again and rolled her eyes. "You know how forthcoming my brother is, so no telling what that means. Maybe they talk on the phone every day, who knows? But I doubt that he's putting much time into their relationship, based on how little attention he's giving to anything but the store."

"Maybe he needs an intervention," Lorelai suggested.

Liz motioned her head towards the garage, where Mia's car was pulling up. "I have a feeling he just got one."

Luke got out on the passenger's side of the car, a storm cloud over his face. Mia, on the other hand, looked perfectly sunny.

"A picnic! How delightful!" she said, taking a spot at the table.

"Wuke!" Rory, who sometimes had trouble with Ls, stood up on the bench when she saw Luke approaching. "Wuke!" she yelled again and climbed down to run over to him. She threw her arms around his legs.

"Hey, Rory," he said, reaching down to pat her head. Some of the storminess left his face. "Let me go wash my hands and I'll be right back out, OK?"

"No," she said, holding on tighter.

"I think someone's missed you," Lorelai pointed out.

He looked over at her and she felt her cheeks heat up. It was true – Rory wasn't the only one who had missed him.

He turned his attention back to Rory. "Come on," he said, trying to loosen her grip, but she was not to be deterred.

"Fine." He swung her up in his arms, looking partly annoyed, but still amused by her antics. "Do you want to come inside while I wash my hands? If you do, I'll make you wash yours again, too."

"Yes!" she giggled, hugging him around his neck. "Wash hands again!"

He had to laugh at her enthusiasm. "All right," he said, and carried her into the house.

"I can't believe you got him here!" Liz whispered to Mia.

She tossed her head rather proudly. "I wasn't taking no for an answer."

"Did you get your light switch?" Lorelai facetiously asked.

"I guess I forgot that. Maybe it's good that I'll have an excuse to go over there again if needed."

The girls chuckled.

When Luke came back out, they pushed the food choices at him, urging him to pick out what he wanted. He took a roast beef sandwich, although he regarded it distrustfully. Then he took a bite, hunger kicked in, and he wolfed it down in about three bites.

Lorelai noted the gaunt look still evident on his face and wondered if he wasn't taking time to eat, either. "There's plenty more," she told him, moving the leftover boxes closer to him. "Help yourself to whatever looks good."

He nodded and pulled out another sandwich, as well as some of the pasta salad his sister was so fond of.

The kids finished and ran off to play in the backyard. Liz shifted her position so she could see them better. The three ladies chatted amongst themselves about the inn and the town and the children, letting Luke concentrate on eating.

In the middle of taking a bite of his second sandwich, Luke suddenly fixed his gaze on Lorelai. "Looks like you've gotten some sun," he observed.

"Yeah, I have," she agreed. She squirmed slightly, worried that he'd asked because the sun always made her freckles more prominent. "Rory and I have been spending a lot of time at the pool this summer."

He stopped chewing and stared at her. Something that looked like regret flashed over his face, followed quickly by a sort of sad anger. "Yeah, I remember those days," he muttered, sounding defeated.

Mia's head rose at his tone. She looked at him, then at Lorelai, trying to read emotions. When he returned his attention to his sandwich, she decided she was mistaken, relaxed, and took another sip of her lemonade.

It did get easier. Although it never got to the same as 'before,' it was soon second nature to be together again. They found new routines; new normals.

One of the first things they figured out was that Jess could stay with Rory several afternoons during the week. Liz paid Clarissa to watch him, too. On those days, she came to pick him up after her stint at the hardware store and they all went back to the Danes home to eat a cobbled together meal. Sometimes, especially if Oliver wasn't coming over, Liz would stay at the potting shed with them for the early part of the evening. Occasionally they all walked over to enjoy the pool together.

Without Luke around to cook, meals were…um, interesting. Liz knew how to make a few things; Lorelai even fewer, but they learned. They ate cold cut sandwiches, a lot of soup and grilled cheese, (despite the heat, because the kids loved it), spaghetti, and macaroni and cheese. Sometimes Oliver would order pizzas and grab them on his way over. The important thing was that they didn't starve, and they had a lot of laughs while trying to figure it out.

Oliver didn't turn out to be a problem at all. Lorelai did enjoy his company and he seemed to get a kick out of her, too. He was easy-going and openly affectionate to Liz no matter who was around. Lorelai had instructed Liz to just tell her if she was in the way, but so far it hadn't been an issue. Liz had assured her, with a wink, that they found plenty of 'next level' time when they needed it.

"You'll never let me forget that, will you?" Lorelai groused.

"Nope!" Liz said happily.

The only thing that didn't improve was Luke's absence. It was rare that he got home before Lorelai and Rory left.

One evening, when Lorelai had gotten up to check on the kids, she paused at the big front window to look down the street, just in case he was headed home. To her surprise, he was sitting out on the porch steps. Without mentioning it to anyone else, she slipped outside to greet him.

"Hey, what'cha doing out here?" she asked, joining him on the steps.

"Just sitting," he said, shrugging. He shifted over, giving her more room.

She studied him, without letting him see that's what she was doing. "Everything OK?"

"Sure."

"How are things in Hardware World?"

He smiled at that, just the tiniest bit. "Riveting."

"Ha-ha, I got that."

They both just sat then, in companionable silence.

"Are you hungry?" Lorelai couldn't let the silence linger too long. "There's pizza inside."

"Great. Sounds good," he said, but he made no move to get up.

"Why don't you come on in? The kids would love to see you."

He nodded. "In a minute."

She wasn't sure what to do. It felt wrong to leave him sitting there alone, but yet, if he was looking for a little solitude, she didn't want to be in his way. "Luke…are you sure everything's OK?"

He sighed then and clasped his hands together. He cleared his throat. "Sometimes, the hardest thing I do all day…" He looked over at her, with hope written on his face that she'd understand what he was going to say. His head motioned at the door. "The hardest thing is to walk through that door at the end of the day."

Her heart stopped. She understood. Boy, did she understand. Tears sprang to her eyes, although she refused to acknowledge them. She put her hand on top of his. "Yeah, I – I know how that is," she said with quiet sympathy. Briefly, she tightened her grip on his hand, then stood up. "You take all the time you need out here, OK?"

"Thanks," he murmured, and stayed seated.

Inside, she went to the kitchen, where she put two slices of pizza on a paper plate and placed them in the microwave. She got a beer out of the refrigerator and opened it. When the microwave dinged, she grabbed a couple of napkins, because the pizza was deliciously greasy, then took everything out to him.

"Here," she said, handing it to him.

He took the plate from her and moaned when the pizza aroma hit him. He picked up the first piece and devoured it in record time. "Geez, that's good."

"Yeah, Pete knows pizza." She handed him the bottle of beer, then sat down next to him again. "Eat up. Let me know if you want more. I can go get it for you."

He took a long drink, then sighed. "I suppose you think it's pretty stupid, that I can't walk into my own house."

"I don't think it's stupid at all. I went through my own issues about being here. I can't imagine how hard it is for you, with the several million more memories you must have."

He looked over at her, judging what she'd just said. Then he handed her the bottle and gestured for her to take a drink.

She looked at him sternly. "Plying me with liquor, huh?"

"It just seems like this is a moment when we should clink glasses and drink to Dad's memory, but…" He tapped his fingernail against the beer bottle. "This is all we've got."

Once again, she fought the emotions surging through her. She held the bottle up towards the sky. "To your dad," she said softly, then took a drink. And then shuddered as she handed the bottle back to him.

Luke chuckled at her reaction. "Not a beer type of girl, huh?"

"I guess I've gotten used to drinking the sweeter stuff."

He looked at her curiously, on the edge of alarm. "Like what?"

Now she was the one to feel stupid. "Just some wine coolers. No big deal."

Luke made a face. "How can you stand to drink those things?" He paused momentarily. "Why are you drinking those things?"

"No reason. They're just…available."

He thought about that as he looked out towards the street. "Are you doing OK?"

"Yeah. I miss him. But yeah…I'm OK."

He nodded and started eating the second slice of pizza, slowly, this time. "Do you want to go to school this fall? If you do, I'll get you the check."

Panic and fear and excitement rushed through her and she shivered. "I…I don't know. I think maybe I want to wait until spring semester starts. I want to have a good plan in place for Rory and studying and how to get back and forth to Hartford. For some reason jumping in this fall just seems too fast."

"It's totally up to you. Whenever it feels right, I'll get you the money. Obviously, that's what Dad wanted for you."

"Yeah, I know. And I will. Thanks."

Luke wiped off his fingers and mouth.

"Do you want more?" Lorelai reached out for the plate.

Instead, he stood up. "I think I'll go in and get it myself, say hi to everyone." He reached a hand down to her, to help her up. "Thanks for sitting out here with me. And thanks for letting me…figure out how to deal with this at my own pace."

"You know, you don't have to talk about it at all," she told him, "but if you ever need to, I'm here. And willing to listen."

He held her eyes for a moment. "I'll keep that in mind," he said, after careful consideration.

She nodded and went to hold open the door for him.

"Luke!" Liz and Oliver shouted when they saw him. And the kids came shrieking over to greet him.

It was the most boring time of the day.

Luke walked up to the front windows and stared down the street for the fifth time in the last half hour. No one was in sight.

He remembered his dad's complaints from over the years, about the crazy ebbs and flows of customers visiting the store. The one thing Luke knew for sure was that the middle afternoon hours during the summer were the absolute worst. He'd sent Liz home earlier, told her to take Jess and go enjoy the day. There was no need for all of them to be shut up inside.

He strolled through the aisles, automatically straightening as he went. Soon he was back at the window, staring out at the gazebo across the way.

He wondered if Liz was with Lorelai. Or was Lorelai still at work? He wasn't sure what her schedule was any more. Somehow, he'd lost track of a lot of things.

Standing there, looking out of the window, made him remember the summer before when he'd been so obsessed with spotting Lorelai. He remembered how he'd stared down the street for what felt like hours, watching for her and Rory. With a smile, he remembered the bright pink overalls Rory always seemed to have on. He bet they didn't fit her anymore.

His memories shifted, and he thought about the day he and Liz and Lorelai walked down the street together, after the meeting at the lawyer's office.

This town needs another place to eat, he recalled Liz complaining that day, as they made their way to Al's. He smiled again.

Boy, that's true, he thought in agreement. He could go the rest of his life without ever having to eat what Al passed off as lasagna again.

He turned around and idly looked towards the counter…but suddenly it looked different to his eyes. The big old-fashioned cash register was still at the end, but there were stools all along the counter's edge. Behind the counter, coffee pots sat on warmers. Chalkboards hung on the wall with today's specials written across them. Napkin holders were placed at convenient intervals. Colorful mugs were piled on the shelves behind the counter.

"Whoa," Luke gasped out. He walked slowly towards the counter. Then he walked around it, seeing so clearly the way it could be. He put his hand out here and there, taking automatic measurements.

"That's completely nuts," he told himself. He turned his back on the counter, on that crazy vision. He walked to the windows once more. But he wasn't seeing the street any longer. He was seeing a solution. A way to cut through the boredom. A way to turn the store into something he enjoyed. Maybe even a way to make those numbers in the books into something less worrisome.

Unable to resist, he returned to the counter. He reached for a paper bag and took a carpenter's pencil from a jar on the counter. And then he started to sketch out what he'd imagined, before he could talk himself out of it.

That night, Luke made sure to get home earlier. Liz was just putting Jess to bed.

"Hey, when you get him down, will you come to the kitchen?"

"Sure, I suppose. What's going on?"

"I'd just like to talk to you for a little bit."

Liz looked into his face, frowning. "Something's wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. There are just some things I'd like to go over with you."

She looked suspicious, but she nodded. "I'll be there as soon as tonight's quota of books are read."

While he nervously waited for his sister, Luke warmed up some leftover spaghetti and gobbled it down, barely tasting it.

Liz appeared about fifteen minutes later and slid into a chair at the table. "Weird to see you before the 11 o'clock news is on."

"Yeah, I left a little earlier tonight."

Liz shrugged. "That's a good thing, Luke."

"I guess." He rubbed his hands together nervously.

"OK, let's hear it. What's got you so worried?"

He chuckled dryly, seeing that she'd already zoned in on his mood. "How would you feel if we completely changed our lives?"

"Oh, cool! Are you finally ready to embrace the gypsy lifestyle?"

"I'm not talking that big of a change. I think I'd still like a bed to come home to every night."

"Darn. Well, OK – let's hear your idea then."

He worried his hands together again. "I guess…the main thing is, I don't like running the store."

Liz looked exasperated. "Duh. I could have told you that! Didn't I say at the beginning, you didn't have to do it? And I still mean that. Let's sell it and set you free."

"No, I don't want to sell it. I have…another idea. A pretty unconventional idea."

"Like what? Ooh, a tattoo parlor? That would drive Taylor nuts!"

"Not that unconventional." Luke drew a deep breath. "Do you remember, when we were kids, when Mom and Dad would take us into the city sometimes? And we'd have lunch at a drugstore? There'd be a counter somewhere in the store where you could get sandwiches and stuff."

"Of course I remember that! Oh wow, they always had the best milkshakes. And Mom would get one of those sandwich platter things – what did she call them? Patty melts, right?"

"Right." Luke nodded his head, making a mental note to add patty melts to the list he'd started that afternoon. "Well, it suddenly hit me today, that maybe places other than drugstores could have lunch counters in them. Maybe hardware stores could, too."

Liz tilted her head. "I'm intrigued. Go on."

Luke pulled out the paper sacks he'd used to capture his creativity earlier in the day. "I don't feel confident enough about it to completely give up on the store. It's providing us a living and I'd like that to continue. But I don't think we need the whole space devoted to selling nuts and bolts. I did some calculating today, and I think we could condense what we sell, and free up some space for a lunch counter."

"In…the hardware store?"

"Yeah." He paused, fighting his nerves. "Is that completely stupid?"

"I don't know. Explain it some more."

"You know as well as I do that we don't get enough customers through the door for a good part of the day. A lot of the business is ordering the big-ticket items and specialty stuff for people who are remodeling, and for the builders and contractors, too. That's the moneymaker for us. What's on the shelves for people to come in and pick up is basically a convenience for the town. Every sale helps, but it doesn't add that much to the bottom line. So my idea is that serving food might get more people to come in, and maybe while they're in the store, they'll buy something else. In any case, cooking for them adds some money to the till during the slow times."

Liz nodded thoughtfully. "And maybe people coming in looking for the nuts and bolts smell the patty melts and decide they need something to eat."

"Yeah, it works both ways." Luke motioned towards the scribbled plans. "What do you think?"

Liz looked off into the distance. "It's either brilliant, or the craziest thing I've ever heard."

Luke barked out a laugh. "That's what I'm afraid of."

She pointed to a section of his rudimentary drawing. "What's this?"

"I was thinking we'd leave the counter where it is, but make it into a place to sit down and eat. There'd need to be a wall put up behind, so that a kitchen could go back here." He ran his finger over the spot. "Not too big of one, but I'd need a grill and a refrigerator, probably a fryer, and some way to wash up."

Liz's head shot up, a big smile on her face. "Oh yeah – let's talk about the food! What will you have on the menu?"

"Nothing too fancy, and not too many items, at least at first. I was thinking I'd open earlier, to take advantage of people needing a fast breakfast. Several of the builders have told me they wished we'd open earlier, so that they could grab their deliveries first thing and head to the job site. Maybe they'd like to be able to grab some breakfast, too. Just eggs and pancakes, maybe. And easy-to-transport stuff, like coffee and Danishes, or muffins or something like that."

"You're thinking just breakfast?"

"No, lunch stuff, too. Again, small menu, easy things to fix. Like hamburgers and fries, of course, maybe a soup. Or salads, when it's hot. Maybe some sandwiches that are easy to put together, like egg salad. If this works, I could see about expanding the menu later." He smiled at her. "Milkshakes and patty melts, maybe."

"What about dinner?"

Luke shook his head. "I don't think so. If I'm opening so much earlier, I don't want to hang around all night, too. My thought was I'd probably hire someone to help work the food part, but it would be mainly me doing kitchen duty. The others – you, Aaron, Dora – you'd still be the ones watching the actual store."

Liz sat back in her chair and smiled at him. "You're excited about this. Just seeing you talk about the food, I can tell. That's good, Luke. I know these last few months have been a drag on you."

He was going to downplay it but decided there was no reason not to be honest with her. "I miss cooking. Looking through recipes. Even shopping for groceries. It's been killing me, knowing what you guys have been eating here and not being able to do anything about it."

"We've been doing OK."

"Your arteries may disagree." He looked down at the hastily-drawn plans. "Seriously, though, what do you think?"

"I think you should go for it! If it makes you happy, I'm onboard."

He shook his head and briefly tapped her hand. "But it's not just me, Liz. This affects you. And Jess. I'm talking about doing something that could drastically alter the income we need to live. I don't want this to negatively affect you. If we do this, let's put the house in your name. If I fail, then you've still got something that's yours."

"You're not going to fail, Big Bro. You never fail!"

"Yeah, I'm not so sure about that," he muttered. "Look, it will make me feel better, if I know you'll be OK regardless. We'll go see Dad's lawyer about it."

She waved her hands in the air, not caring about that part. "When are you going to get started? How soon can I order a milkshake?"

"There's an awful lot I don't know yet. I don't know what permits I'd need or what kind of rules there are for serving food inside another business. I need to get some estimates about renovating the store."

"You know a lot of builders you can ask."

"True. And I thought I might go talk to Buddy. They had to renovate Sniffy's when they started. I know that was years ago, but still, I'm sure he knows where I'd need to start."

"Good idea! You know he'd love to help you."

"And one of my instructors built his own restaurant and ran it for years. He talked about it all the time in class. I thought maybe he'd be willing to discuss particulars with me." Luke drummed his fingers on the table. "I'll need to go to the bank and find out how I get a loan."

"A loan?" Liz looked perplexed. "Dad left us some money, didn't he?"

"I know, but I don't want to touch that. I'd rather figure out a way to do this on my own, so that all of his hard work stays put. Plus, I'll probably need those accounts as collateral."

"Won't the hardware store itself be collateral?"

"Liz, I just don't know. That's why I need to go talk to the people who do."

She gave him a stern look. "But you are going to find out, right? You're going to do this, aren't you?"

He took a deep breath. "I want to, yes. Unless every person I talk to tells me I'm crazy, I want to do this."

"And maybe even then you should do it," she urged him, with a big smile. "Sometimes it's doing the crazy things that make you the happiest."

"Maybe. As long as we don't go broke in the process."

"Stop worrying about the money part, Luke. We'll make this work."

He shook his head. "I'm not doing anything until I'm sure we can keep our heads above water."

She bent to look over the plans again. Before long she began to chuckle. "Hey, you know who's going to be the most excited about this, don't you?"

Luke met his sister's grin with one of his own. "Yeah. I know."

"She'll probably want to live there."

"If she does, we charge her rent."

Liz laughed again. "Maybe we should convert Dad's old office to an apartment for her. I mean, while you're renovating and all."

"Let's tackle one thing at a time." He stood up and began to roll up the paper sacks penciled in with all his hopes and dreams.

"It's OK for me to tell Lorelai about this, isn't it?"

Luke scoffed. "As if I said no you wouldn't tell her anyway."

"I don't tell her everything."

Luke turned skeptical eyes on her.

"Well, OK…I mostly do."

"Sure, tell her," he said lightly. "I'll be curious to hear what she thinks."

Liz stepped around the table and gave him a hug. "She'll think it's an amazing idea, just like I do."

He hugged her back. "And I hope everyone in town agrees with you both."

The first thing Luke did was to schedule a day off. Then he went to the bank, he went to the permit office, he went to see his former instructor. He managed to get to Sniffy's before their dinner prep started and had an informative (as well as filling) talk with Buddy and Maisie. He even drove out to a building site to meet up with the contractor he trusted the most. Buoyed by the mostly affirmative conversations, he went to Doose's and bought enough food to feed the household for a week.

At home, he put a chicken in the oven to roast and cleaned and chopped ingredients for a salad. He made a cheesy broccoli rice casserole that everyone liked. Of course Lorelai would pick the broccoli out of her portion, but he decided he wouldn't even comment when he saw her do it this time. He mixed up a cake for dessert, because it felt like a celebration to him, and what's a celebration without cake?

The more he worked in the kitchen, the more confident he felt that he was doing the right thing. Cooking was what he wanted to do. Cooking was what he understood. Cooking was what he needed to do to be happy.

He was taking the chicken out of the oven when the door opened. Rory stopped right in the middle of the doorway, blocking the rest from entering.

"You doing food?" she asked in amazement.

"I am," he confirmed. "Do you want to help?"

"Yes!" she said, and automatically went over to the stepstool kept by the sink, so that she and Jess could wash their hands.

"Wow, look who's here!" Liz said.

"Better yet, smell!" Lorelai insisted. "It smells like old times!"

"You had a good day?" Liz asked.

"I did." He smiled at her. "I think there's a chance this is going to work."

"That's fantastic," Liz said warmly.

"Yay!" Lorelai started to cheer, and of course, the kids immediately joined in. It felt like a celebration to them, too.

"There's still a lot of details to put in place," Luke warned, "but I'm cautiously optimistic."

"Well, I'm overly optimistic about this meal." Lorelai put her hands over her stomach and looked longingly at the oven. "When can we eat?"

"You know the drill. Help me get it on the table."

"Yes sir!" she said smartly.

They fell into their old routines of watching the kids, talking about their days, and setting the table. Luke felt himself relax in a way that he hadn't been able to for months. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed being home and taking care of his family. How much he needed to be a part of that familiar warmth.

Everyone was in a jolly mood as they sat down to eat. The girls had a million questions about what he'd learned through his meetings that day, as well as further thoughts about the lunch counter.

"Maybe you just call it a diner," Lorelai suggested.

"But it's not a diner," Luke said with a shrug.

"Close enough. People will understand a diner. Lunch counter may be more of a foreign concept. Especially if you're serving more than lunch."

"That's a good point," Liz agreed.

"But that's not confusing? Two businesses in one spot?" he argued.

"I don't think so. It's…um, Luke's Diner inside of William's Hardware," Lorelai put forth.

"Hey, that's another question," Liz interrupted. "What about a name? You need a good name to draw people in."

"We've got like a dozen of them," Lorelai assured him. "How about Soup to Nuts? Your logo is a soup bowl and a nut, like in nuts and bolts."

"No," Luke said, cringing a bit.

"How about Doorknobs and Drumsticks?" Liz said. "Picture it: A chicken with their hand on a doorknob, ready to open it."

"Wing," Lorelai said.

"Wing what?"

"Chickens don't have hands, it'd be their wing on the knob."

"Right, right," Liz said, nodding.

"Personally, I like Hardware Eats," Lorelai suggested next, barely taking a breath. "It's short, memorable, and gets the point across."

"Please stop," Luke pleaded.

Liz grinned at him. "Nope."

"We worked on these all day," Lorelai told him, acting offended. "You don't seem to realize how crucially important it is to choose the right name."

Luke shook his head at her. "If we left it up to you, you'd just name it Lorelai. Again."

"Ooh, I like it!" She bounced in her seat. "Please name it the Lorelai Café! That's perfect! I'll even allow you to use my likeness as a logo."

"With a burger in one hand and fries in the other, I suppose."

"Yes! And then you can name food after me too. The Lorelai Burger. The Lorelai Omelet. The, um… Lorelai 7-Layer Taco Dip."

"Yeah, that's not happening," he informed her.

Just then Rory looked towards the kitchen, something having caught her eye. "Rachel! Hi!" she said, waving enthusiastically.

Everyone else looked, and sure enough, Rachel was standing there. "I knocked," she said, "but you all were so loud that no one heard me." She waved back at Rory. "Hi, Rory. Hi, Jess."

"Rachel! Come in, sit down! I'll run and get you a plate," Liz said, and jumped up to set a place for their newest guest.

"I was out this way on an assignment," she explained, taking a seat. "I thought I'd stop by to say hi." She looked at Luke with a playful sternness. "Imagine my surprise when I went to the store and was told that you weren't working tonight." She shook her head at him, but her accompanying smile looked tense. "Don't tell me you've cut back on your hours."

"Just for…just for today," he struggled to say. Because immediately, he saw how this was going to end. It was a car crash already in motion. Too late for him to put the brakes on the disaster in the making.

The girls were fussing around Rachel, making sure she had enough to eat. They asked about where she'd been; what she'd been photographing. And then, inevitably, it happened.

"So what do you think about the name?" Liz asked.

"Name for what?" Rachel, logically, wanted to know.

"A name for Luke's lunch counter."

"Diner," Lorelai interjected.

"He hasn't liked any of our suggestions so far," Liz filled her in.

"I bet you can come up with a great one," Lorelai said. "You've got that creative gene."

Very, very slowly, Rachel lowered her fork to the table. "Luke's…what?"

Instantly, Liz and Lorelai went still and quiet. They shot a panicked look at each other, and then looked down at their laps.

Rachel turned to Luke. "What's going on?"

For some reason, Luke thought that maybe if he played it off casually, like it was no big deal, it would turn out that way. "Yeah, I'm thinking about putting a lunch counter in at the store."

She stared at him for the longest time. "And you didn't think that maybe you should mention it to me?"

"There's…there's really not that much to tell, yet."

"But they knew about it." She motioned across the table.

Liz quickly opened her mouth to respond, but then thought better of it. Lorelai hesitantly pointed at Liz. "I heard about it from Liz. Not Luke," she told Rachel, as if that was going to make a difference. "He didn't tell me anything."

"Well, join the club, I guess." She stood up and walked to the kitchen. The back door slammed shut.

Luke pushed back his chair and got to his feet. The girls watched him with big, round, horrified eyes.

Outside, Rachel was leaning against the side of her car, her arms folded over her chest. He stood opposite of her, hands on his hips, head down, waiting for her to start.

"Luke, I just…I don't get it. Why am I even here?"

"On the planet?" he said, then cringed. Why in the world would his brain think that now was the time for a flippant response?

Angry, Rachel pushed away from the car and started pacing. "Here, Luke. Connecticut. The last place on earth I want to be. Taking pictures of the same boring things over and over again. With a boyfriend who doesn't even want to talk to me. Why am I still here?"

"It's not that I don't want to talk to you. It's just an idea, that's all. Something I'm exploring. I was waiting until I had something concrete to show you." He'd never heard such feeble excuses.

Rachel turned and glared at him. "Do you know, the morning Will died –" Abruptly, she broke off the sentence, having second thoughts. But then she reconsidered and continued. "The morning he died, I was sitting at my desk, waiting to go in and talk to my editor. I was ready to give my notice and get the hell out of here, because I knew. I knew that you weren't going to keep up your end of the bargain. I knew you had no intention of leaving Stars Hollow. I was angry. So angry that you couldn't even tell me the truth! And sad that you weren't willing to give up even the slightest bit to keep us together. But then Mia called, before my boss had time to see me. She told me about your dad. She asked me to go to you, because you needed me." She stopped long enough to draw in a shaky breath. "So that's what I did. I came here. I took care of you. And my window of opportunity slammed shut, because how despicable would I be, to leave you right after we'd buried your father?"

Her words stung. "If you want to leave, leave. I'm certainly not forcing you to stay."

"Boy, that's an understatement. Luke, tell me the truth, do you even care if I stay?"

"Of course I care," he muttered, because what else was he going to say?

"Really? Because it sure doesn't seem that way."

"Rachel, I'm always going to care about you, but I'm also not going to stand in your way if you want to go do something else. I'm stuck here. You're not. If you're happier somewhere else, go."

"You are not stuck here!"

Exasperated, he pointed back at the house. "Sister. Nephew. Store."

"Liz is an adult. She's been on her own, taking care of Jess, for years. She can do it again. The store runs itself. Put someone in charge, set up a fund for Liz, and there you are, free as a bird."

"Right. It's all so simple from where you stand! Responsibilities? Families? Who needs them? Just chuck them away, right? Why suffer through the inconvenience?"

"Here's the truth. You're always going to find an excuse not to leave Stars Hollow, because you don't want to go! You'd rather stay right here for the rest of your life. If it's not Liz and Jess or the store, you'll find some other reason to stay."

Without warning, an image of Lorelai, the way he'd seen her on that first day, popped into his head. Lorelai, down at the bottom of the hill on that perfect summer's day, the roses behind her, her hair flying out over her shoulders. That bewitching smile on her face. Holding Rory on her hip, in those bright pink overalls. His memories then zoomed to the day his dad died and he felt her arms around him, comforting him. Her kiss on his forehead.

He came abruptly back to the present, where Rachel, fed up, was getting in her car. He went over and put his hands on the rolled down window. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the ideas for the store."

She regarded him frankly. "No, you're not."

"You deserved to know. You're right. We should have talked about it."

She shifted her gaze and stared out the windshield. She sighed heavily before turning his way again. "Look, I'll call you later. Right now I need some distance. Let me…let me come to grips with this. I don't know what comes next. I need time to process."

"Sure," he said. "I understand." He felt like he should reach through the window and touch her, as a goodbye, if nothing else. But he didn't. Instead he nodded and stepped back, so that she could drive away.

When he went back into the kitchen, Liz and Lorelai were there, washing and drying industriously. They stopped all movement when he came in.

"Oh, Luke," Liz said mournfully.

Lorelai glanced at Liz and then faced him bravely. "We're so sorry. I am so incredibly sorry. Luke, please believe me, if I'd had any idea that Rachel didn't know, I wouldn't have said a word."

He dropped onto a chair at the kitchen table. "It's my fault. I'm the one who didn't tell her." He rubbed his hand over his eyes.

It got suspiciously quiet. When he looked over at them, they were both staring at him.

"Look, I'm just going to ask," his sister said. "Why didn't you tell her?"

He didn't really have to think about it. He knew why. But he took a minute anyway, just to prepare himself to say it.

"I didn't tell her because I knew it would turn into a fight. I knew it would end up exactly like this, no matter when I told her. And I just wanted…I wanted a day to be happy. One day to be excited over the possibilities of what I could make happen. I wanted a day to celebrate, before everything crashed down again. But I guess that was too much to ask," he grumbled.

After a pause, Lorelai glanced tentatively at Liz before she spoke. "Well…there's still cake."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"There's cake. You made the cake to celebrate, didn't you? We can go ahead and have cake and be happy, at least for right now, can't we?" Uncertainty crossed over her face. "That is, if you still feel like celebrating. I understand, this fight with Rachel is a big deal. But even so, I think we should celebrate the change you're making, because that's a big deal, too."

"You know what, it is." He stood up decisively and pushed his doubts and Rachel's anger as far away as possible. "Call the kids and let's have some cake."

"I think there's some ice cream in the freezer," Liz added.

"Even better," Luke agreed. "I seem to recall that all of the best celebrations have ice cream."

The phone rang about 11:30. Luke was still in the kitchen so he picked it up.

"Hey, it's me. Too late to call?" Rachel asked.

"No, it's fine. Just going over some store stuff." Guiltily, he pushed the ideas and lists for the lunch counter aside.

"So…I've been thinking quite a bit since I left. Just driving around, letting things mull."

"That's probably what you needed to do."

"Yeah. Probably."

"Reach any conclusions?"

"Nothing except that I need to get away."

He drew in a breath. "OK."

"I'm going to ask for a leave of absence from the paper and just wander. Maybe do some freelance stuff. But I need…I need to feel the difference, to remember what it's like, to be doing something I want to do. Then maybe I can think more clearly about everything else. Especially about…us."

"OK," Luke said again.

"OK? That's it?"

"I'm not going to try and talk you out of it, if that's what you mean."

"The last time I left, we fought, Luke. You yelled loud enough for half of Stars Hollow to hear. You kicked a dent in your car."

"Maybe I've matured since then."

"Or maybe you just don't care as much."

"Or maybe I've got so many other things to worry about that I don't have the time or the energy to obsess solely about what goes on with us."

There was a silence.

"Sorry," he said. "I really didn't mean for that to sound the way it did. Of course I care. But I just can't let it dominate everything else, you know? There are other things going on in my life now."

"Right. I get it," she said coolly. "When I know for sure what I'm doing and when I'm leaving, I'll let you know."

"Thanks. I…I'll appreciate that." He cradled his head for a minute. "And I know I should have shown you the same consideration."

Another, slightly more awkward silence lengthened over the phone line.

"OK, guess that's it. I'll call you sometime tomorrow," she said curtly.

"Great, sounds good. And Rachel…" He struggled, trying to find an ending. "Wherever you land, take care of yourself, you know? Travel safe."

"Really, Luke? Travel safe? That's what you want to say to me?"

"Yes?" He shook his head. "Look, if that's not good enough, tell me what you want to hear."

"Never mind. I guess travel safe will have to do."

Hours into a sleepless night, it dawned on him that she'd wanted him to say he loved her.

The problem was, he was pretty sure that was no longer the case.

Author's Chat: Happy New Year! Oh my goodness, we made it to 2021. Unfortunately, Mother Nature is hitting my house with an ice storm today, so the ch-ch-changes are not yet apparent here. But my fingers are crossed that good things are in store for all of us, no matter where we live. And that includes Stars Hollow! Many thanks to Eledgy for the quick turnaround she's been providing on these chapters. She's definitely one of the good things of 2021!