Humming happily to herself, Lorelai quickly gathered her things from the storeroom. She had finished her shift early and was in a hurry to get home to spend some time with Jess and Rory before dinner. As she was walking through the lobby, considering the possibility of taking the kids to the park to enjoy the nice spring weather, she suddenly remembered that she needed to let Mia know she was leaving.

When Lorelai reached Mia's office, the door was open, so she knocked once to announce her arrival and walked in. "Hey, Mia."

Mia looked up from the stack of papers she was reading and smiled at Lorelai. "Hello, Lorelai. Are you finished for the day?"

"Yeah, I was just about to head home."

"Do you have a moment before you go? I was hoping to discuss the sous chef applicants with you."

"With me?"

"Who else? You've met most of the people I've interviewed."

"So has Peter and he's going to have to work with whoever you hire."

"I've tried talking to him, but he just complains that the hiring process is taking too long. He says if I don't hire a sous chef soon, he's going to quit. If he quits, I'll really be in trouble."

"And you think I can help you choose who to hire?"

"Yes."

"Um, okay." Lorelai pulled a chair close to Mia's desk and sat down.

"Thank you. I still have a few interviews left, but so far I'm leaning toward Marie. Do you remember her? She was here last week."

"I remember."

"Her resume is impeccable, but I'm not sure she'll get along with Peter. What do you think?"

"She kinda reminded me of Peter. They seem a lot alike."

"How so?"

"They both want to be in charge."

"How do you know that? I didn't think you spent a lot of time with Marie," Mia commented, surprised by Lorelai's observation.

"I didn't. Not really. It's just a vibe I got."

"A vibe?"

"Yeah. She seemed a little controlling. Like Peter. And she got this weird, unhappy look on her face when she was asked to do something. Even something simple like stepping out of the way to let someone get by. Like Peter."

"Interesting. I didn't notice that. Well, what about James? He was here about five weeks ago."

Lorelai smiled widely. "Oh, I definitely remember James."

Chuckling, Mia said, "I won't tell Luke that you find James attractive. Other than his physical attributes, did you happen to notice anything about James?"

"I barely spoke to him, but I overheard him tell Peter that he wasn't planning to be here long. He said he was still looking for a job running his own kitchen in Hartford."

"So, if I hire him, I'll be back to interviewing applicants within a few months."

"Maybe," Lorelai agreed with a shrug.

Discouraged, Mia sighed and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "I guess I'll just keep interviewing people and hope that Peter doesn't quit before I find a suitable sous chef."

"I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't much help."

"Nonsense. I'd prefer to keep interviewing than hire the wrong person."

"Do you have many people left to interview?"

Mia held up a stack of applications and resumes. "A few, including a local girl who just graduated culinary school and wants to come home."

"She sounds better than James already. Do you think she'll get along with Peter?"

"I'm not sure. She left town right after high school. That was a couple years ago."

"Didn't you know her before she left?"

"Not well."

"I thought everybody in Stars Hollow knew each other."

"Not quite," laughed Mia. She opened the top drawer of her desk, threw the stack of applications and resumes inside, and firmly shut the drawer. "That's enough of those. I have to go cover the front desk, so the concierge can take a break. Give the kids a kiss for me?"

"I will, but you'll see them tomorrow," Lorelai reminded Mia as they walked toward the front desk.

"That's right, William has another appointment."

"It's just his monthly check up, but I'll have the kids here all day."

"Good. It's been way too long since they've been here."

"I doubt you'll still be feeling that way by lunch time," Lorelai predicted ominously.

"Oh, hush. Get out of here. And be nice to those sweet kids of yours."

"Me?" Lorelai gasped, bringing her hand to her chest in an exaggerated gesture of offense. "I'm always nice."

"I know you are. Now, go."

Lorelai held up her hands in surrender and turned to leave. "I'm going. I'm going."

L&L L&L L&L

Lorelai sat next to the pond behind the inn. During the early part of summer, before the weather got too hot, the pond was her favorite place to spend her mid-morning break. On this particular day, Jess and Rory were at the inn with her, so she was breaking off pieces of bread for them to feed to the ducks. The kids knew not to step too close to the edge of the pond, but, occasionally, Lorelai had to remind them.

"Jess," Lorelai called. "You need to step back."

"Duckies, Mama," Jess whined pitifully.

"If you don't step back, you can't feed the duckies anymore."

"No!" Jess stomped his foot and mimicked Lorelai's trademark pout.

"Now, Jess," Lorelai commanded sternly.

Recognizing the frustration in his mother's voice, Jess reluctantly took a step back. "Mama's mean," he muttered under his breath.

Lorelai ignored the remark and finished tearing up a piece of bread. "Here's some more bread."

"Do we get to feed the duckies too?" Mia asked playfully, alerting Lorelai to the fact that she had arrived during Jess' attempt to rebel.

"Mia!" Jess and Rory screeched, racing past Lorelai to grab Mia's hands and drag her to the pond.

Rory handed Mia some breadcrumbs. "Feed the duckies."

While Mia helped the kids feed the ducks, Lorelai rose to her feet and turned to greet the woman who had arrived with Mia. "Hi, I'm Lorelai Danes," Lorelai introduced herself, holding out her hand.

The other woman shook Lorelai's hand and said, "Hi, I'm Sookie St. James."

Mia joined Lorelai and Sookie, bringing Jess and Rory to stand on either side of her. "Lorelai is a member of the housekeeping staff."

"That's her way of saying I'm a maid," Lorelai interrupted.

"She's also a very dear friend," Mia continued. "These are her kids, Jess and Rory." As they were introduced, Jess and Rory waved shyly at Sookie. "Sookie is the sous chef applicant that I wanted you to meet, Lorelai."

"Oh! Right. The one who grew up in town."

"That's right," confirmed Mia. "Can you finish showing her around outside? I'm going to take these two inside to get a snack."

"Um, sure."

"Thanks!" Mia began walking toward the inn with Jess and Rory. "We'll see you later," she called over her shoulder.

Lorelai turned to Sookie and gestured toward the potting shed that sat on the other side of the pond, away from the inn. "I guess we can start over there." She started walking away.

Sookie quickly caught up to Lorelai. "I've been to the inn before, back when I lived in town, so I'm not really sure why Mia wants you to show me around. If I get the job, I'll be in the kitchen all the time anyway."

"I don't think Mia is really concerned with you finding your way around. I think she wants us to talk, so she can ask me about you later."

"Ask you what?"

"She'll probably just ask if I think you'll get along with Peter."

"Oh. What are we supposed to talk about?"

"I'm not really sure. I don't think it really matters."

"Okay, so, uh, your last name is Danes, right? Are you related to Butch Danes?"

"Butch Danes?"

"His real name is Luke, but in high school everybody called him Butch."

"Luke is my husband, but he conveniently forgot to mention that nickname." Lorelai smiled to herself, thinking about all of the ways she could tease Luke.

"No kidding? I can't believe you're married to Butch Danes or that he has kids."

"Why not?"

Sookie shrugged. "I don't know. He was really upset when Rachel left town. She was his girlfriend all through high school. I didn't think he'd ever recover."

"He seemed to be over her by the time I met him."

"Clearly. Your kids are adorable."

"Yeah, when they're not fighting me on everything," Lorelai joked, referring to Jess' earlier act of defiance.

Thinking she had hurt Lorelai's feelings, Sookie attempted to soothe Lorelai by saying, "It didn't seem too bad."

"No. They're both really good kids. They're just testing limits right now. Especially Jess. He's going to be our little rebel."

"Are they twins?"

"No. Rory is a couple months younger," Lorelai explained, laughing at Sookie's mistaken presumption. "It's a long story."

"Okay," Sookie replied amicably, effectively dropping the subject. "So, uh, Mia lets you bring them to work?"

"Yeah. Sometimes they're here and sometimes they're at the hardware store with Luke."

They continued to discuss Luke and the kids, as well as Sookie's family and her memories of Luke from high school, while Lorelai led Sookie around the inn's gardens and outbuildings. They were laughing at one of Sookie's stories about Luke's success as a high school track star when Lorelai realized they had made their way back to the inn.

"There's nothing left to see," Lorelai announced. "We should go rescue Mia from my kids." Sookie chuckled and followed Lorelai inside.

L&L L&L L&L

After work, Lorelai skipped into the hardware store and over to the counter. 'You're cheery," Luke commented when Lorelai leaned over the counter to kiss him.

"Mia hired a new sous chef. She starts next week."

"I take it you like the new sous chef."

"Mhmm." Lorelai nodded enthusiastically and smiled widely. "I like her a lot, Butch."

"No."

"Oh, yes."

"Who?" Luke groaned.

"The new sous chef."

"A name, Lorelai. I need to know who to kill."

Lorelai giggled. "Sookie St. James. She said she went to high school with you, but I think she was a few years behind you."

"I sort of remember her."

"Good, but you can't kill her."

"Why not?"

"I like her," Lorelai answered with a shrug. "It would be a shame for you to kill her before I decide whether I want her as a friend."

"Fine. I won't kill her," Luke conceded reluctantly. "But you can never call me Butch again." Lorelai grinned, batting her eyes in a showing of false innocence. "I'm serious, Lorelai," Luke warned.

"Okay, Lucas."

"Ah geez."

L&L L&L L&L

A week later, Luke tucked Jess and Rory into their beds, said good night to his dad, and went to the living room to wait for Lorelai to get home from work. She had called earlier to say that she had to work late and wouldn't be home for dinner. Despite knowing she would be late, Luke had expected Lorelai to be home before the kids fell asleep. Now, he was starting to get worried.

After waiting another hour for Lorelai to come home, Luke picked up the phone to call the inn. The phone was still ringing when Lorelai finally walked through the front door. Luke quickly hung up the phone and rushed to meet her. She didn't even have a chance to kick off her shoes before he wrapped her in a hug. "There you are!" Luke exclaimed with a sigh of relief.

"I told you I'd be late." Lorelai returned the hug, pressing herself close to Luke's chest.

"Yeah, but I wasn't expecting you to be this late."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."

"It's okay," he mumbled, burying his face in her hair. He pulled back, his nose wrinkled in disgust. "Why do you smell like smoke?"

"Today was Sookie's first day. It was…," she paused, searching for the right word. "Eventful."

"What does that have to do with you smelling like smoke?"

"There was a small fire in the kitchen this afternoon."

"What?" Luke asked, his shock evident as he stepped away and began inspecting Lorelai for injuries. "Are you okay? What about Mia? Was anybody hurt?" he demanded, firing off questions at a rapid rate.

"Luke, calm down. Everybody's fine. Some of the guests panicked when the fire alarms went off and some stuff got broken, but other than that everything's fine."

"That's good. That's very good. How did the fire start?"

"I don't really know. Sookie said something about a towel, a wooden spoon, a sauce, and a stove."

"Sounds like a bad joke."

"It kinda does, doesn't it. When Sookie was trying to tell us how the fire started, there were a lot of hand gestures, but not a lot of words that made any sense."

"How bad is the damage? I'll go over tomorrow to help Mia."

"The fire didn't really do any damage. Putting it out is what made a mess. There was water and food and broken dishes everywhere. It took forever to calm everybody down and then we had to clean everything up."

"I think I'll still stop by the inn tomorrow to check things out."

"I'm sure Mia will appreciate it. You can meet Sookie while you're there."

"She still has a job?"

"Mia is very understanding."

"Apparently she's also very forgiving. Maybe too forgiving."

"Maybe, but I'm glad she's giving Sookie another chance. I think Sookie and I could become very good friends. And I can't wait to see what she has planned for day two."

"Hopefully something a little less dramatic." Luke pulled Lorelai against his side and began to lead her toward the bathroom for a shower. "I'm glad you've made a friend."

"I'm working on it anyway."

"She won't be able to resist you."

"I am pretty irresistible."

"Yes, you are."