Lindsey Lister sat and stared at the card in front of her and thought about what she should do. After Shria's visit, she had gone to see her mother and was told to take the money. Her mom was of the opinion that Rory deserved whatever would happen, but Lindsey wasn't so sure anymore. After Rory had come and apologized, she thought about what she remembered of Rory, she was quiet, shy and extremely smart. Yes, she dated Dean but from what she remembered Rory didn't pursue him and didn't even realize that he was interested in her. Then there is what Kyle told her about Dean talking about Rory the night before the wedding… It seemed like everyone but her knew the marriage would never last, but she was too naïve to realize it. In some ways she felt she sort-of owed Rory because after a lot of reflection she knew the marriage wouldn't have lasted, they were too young and didn't know how difficult life would be. As much as it hurt that Dean cheated on her at least it was at the beginning and not after they had kids.
Then there was the gossip around town about Lorelai and how she had attacked Rory and Lane at the diner. It seemed the mother wasn't happy about her daughter dating the playboy, but she couldn't see why. She had gone on-line and looked at pictures of the two of them and the look in his eyes… Dean had never looked at her like that, hell, she couldn't recall Dean ever looking at Rory like that. The couple seemed completely in love and from the articles she read they were the perfect couple. How could a mother despise a man that seemed devoted to their child? The couple attended Yale, he was heir to a publishing dynasty, and she was heiress to one of the largest investment groups in the world along with tons of family money. It wasn't a family set-up, they had met at Yale by a coffee cart and became friends since they were both on the paper and from what she could piece together, they didn't start dating until months after she had broken up with Dean. Could she really play a part in trying to break the couple apart? With a frustrated sigh she stood and walked to grab a drink from the kitchen still thinking about what she should do. A part of her thought about telling Rory and seeing if she would match the money but then it seemed sort-of like blackmail. Another part told her to just warn Rory and not take that woman up on the offer and the final, small part of her told her to take the money. With $200,000 she could move out of this town, start college, and hopefully figure out what she wanted to do with her life. Maybe away from here she could meet someone and finally get the life she wanted. A knock sounded on the door and with a sigh she went to open it and was completely shocked at who was standing there.
"Rory," Lindsey exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
The other girl shifted slightly, obviously uncomfortable and gave her a small smile. "Hi, I hope you don't mind me stopping by, but I needed to talk to you… Ummm… can we come in?"
"Sure," Lindsey replied slightly hesitant and studied the man with Rory as he linked their hands. He was more handsome than the pictures gave him credit for and looking at them together she could see why the public was obsessed with their relationship. Even with Rory uncomfortable with the situation he seemed to steady her, comfort her, with just his presence.
As soon as the door closed Lindsey led them to the couch and after they sat Rory took a deep breath before speaking. "Lindsey, this is my boyfriend Logan Huntzberger."
"Its nice to meet you," Logan replied with a smile as he squeezed Rory's hand and Lindsey stated the same.
"Well… it's just that…" Rory paused and took a breath to get her thoughts in order, "we just found out the Logan's mom hired a PI and they found out that I slept with Dean. We don't know what she plans on doing with the information but more than likely she will try and use it to hurt me," she paused and let out a frustrated sigh. "If this gets published… I know reporters will come and see you, ask a bunch of personal questions and I didn't want you blindsided. We are already trying to come up with ways to get rid of the story and I deserve whatever people may say about me, but you… you have already been hurt so much by what I did, and you don't deserve it being brought back up and reopening all those wounds. I had to warn you before it came out. I don't know what gossip will say about you…"
Lindsey looked at the other girl in shock. The last thing she expected Rory to say was that she knew the affair might come out and wanted to try and warn her. But the part about what people would say about her… she never thought about the possibility that things would be said about her and not just Rory. The news probably wouldn't be kind, she married a guy that she hadn't dated long, right after high school and he cheated on her with his girlfriend that he had been with longer… a girlfriend that she knew he still had feelings for. She took a deep breath and knew she needed more information before she revealed that Logan's mother had already come to see her. "Logan, why would your mother do this? I've seen the pictures of you guys with your families…"
Logan let out a mirthless chuckle. "To put it nicely my mom is a gold-digger. My family is… rich and from what I understand is that my mom knew this and went after my father to try and 'trap' him and she did. She hates Rory because Rory is everything she is not. Rory has her own money, is accepted in society and what's worse is I love Rory and my father never loved Shira."
Lindsey watched as the man's eyes hardened as he spoke about his mother. It was obvious that the mother-son relationship was nowhere close to how the woman painted it. Briefly she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths and knew what she needed to do. "Shira Huntzberger came to visit me the other day…" she trailed off when she noticed the quick look the couple gave her. "She told me that Logan and she had such a great relationship before Rory came along," she was interrupted by an irritated scoff from Logan but then she continued. "She kept saying that she wanted to protect her family and then she offered me $200 grand to talk to a reporter about how Rory slept with Dean and caused the divorce."
"Ummm… did…" Rory started but was quickly cut off by Lindsey.
"No!" she exclaimed but then sighed. "But I thought about it. I talked to my mom and she said I would be an idiot if I didn't take it… it could get me out of this town let me go to college… A big part of me wanted to turn it down but it's a lot of money." She paused and took another deep breath and the couple waited to talk since it looked like Lindsey had more to say. "And then you came in here today not knowing that Shira had come to talk to me… you weren't worried about yourself; you were wanted to warn me. I knew then… I couldn't take the money."
Logan studied the other girl for a moment and knew how difficult it would be to not take that money. The amount his mother offered would give her the chances that she was talking about… "Can you two excuse me for a moment?" he asked and at Rory's nod he walked out of the room to make a call.
When Logan walked out of the room Rory moved closer to Lindsey. "It's a lot of money Lindsey…"
"I know," she replied and met Rory's eyes. "I know and my mom is going to tell me I'm an idiot for not taking it… but I can't intentionally hurt you. I believe what you said when you apologized, you thought Dean and I were getting a divorce, so you didn't set out to break us up. Now if Shira had come to see me before your apology…"
Rory couldn't stop her laugh and Lindsey joined in a moment later. "I wouldn't have blamed you then or now," she stated when the laughter died down. "You said you want to move away and go to college. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?"
Lindsey thought for a moment before replying, "I thought I might stay here for a bit but enroll in community college, see what I'm interested in. I always liked acting… so maybe move to New York. I never really had the opportunity to think about things. I wasn't the best at school, I got decent grades and got accepted to a few colleges, but I didn't get offered any scholarships and my family didn't have to money to pay for it. I think that's why I jumped into things with Dean. He wanted a housewife and I figured I could do that, and we could be happy."
"You deserve to be happy and find something that fulfills you," Rory stated and reached over to grab Lindsey's hand. "And I will do whatever I can to help you. So, tell me what you enjoyed in school."
While Lindsey talked Rory thought about what she could do to set Lindsey up to pay for college and maybe help her find a place of her own.
Logan stepped out of the apartment and leaned against the wall. He didn't want to believe that his mother could be such a heartless bitch to try and hurt Rory like this. But what Shira failed to tell Lindsey was that by the girl going public the Huntzberger's, Gilmore's and Hayden's would have probably attacked and made Lindsey out to be a mindless bimbo and there would have been nothing Rory could have done to stop them. He knew his father and grandfather and if they felt attacked then there would be no stopping the wrath. He couldn't blame her for wanting the money, but it was her integrity for telling them about Shira and saying she wouldn't take it that made him want to help her. With that thought he pulled out his phone and called his father. The call didn't last long since Logan knew his father was angry and had his own schemes he wanted to get into place. Mitchum told his son to give the girl his number and he wanted to talk to her, and Logan got his promise there would be no threats to convince her not to talk.
When he walked back into the room, he saw Rory sitting close to Lindsey and they were deep in conversation about what Lindsey wanted to do with her life. He heard Rory tell the other woman that she would do whatever she could to help and they could talk again after Lindsey thought more about what she wanted to go back to school for. Hearing the conversation start to end he cleared his throat and both women looked at him. "Lindsey, I talked to my dad. He wants to talk to you about what Shira did. He hoped that you would call him and you two could set up a meeting." When he noticed Rory's tense stare, he gave her a reassuring smile.
"Well… ummm…" Lindsay stammered nervously.
"I promise he just wants to talk," Logan continued as he sat back down. "He isn't happy with what Shira is trying to do. He isn't upset that you were thinking about taking the money, but he is impressed that you told us about it."
Lindsey looked nervously at Rory but when she got a reassuring nod, she gave a small smile. "Okay, I'll call him."
Logan quickly wrote down Mitchum's number under where Rory had written hers and the couple made their excuses to leave so they could help Lane move.
Lindsey closed the door behind the couple and couldn't help but smile. She was happy she had not called Shira back. After talking with Rory, she knew the girl would help her find her way and had even promised to try and set her up with an entry level job at Hayden while she thought about what she wanted to do. While it still felt somewhat like charity it felt a lot better than taking money to try and destroy someone. Also, seeing the couple together she knew that the gossip and pictures were real and that even if the story came out, they would get through it. Logan already knew the truth and he and their families would support both Rory and the couple. Lindsey also knew that Rory was right and some of the gossip would not paint her well, especially with Logan's family owning the news. Feeling like a burden had been lifted off her shoulders she walked into her bedroom to grab her laptop. It was time for her to seriously think about what she wanted to do with her life.
Mitchum Huntzberger stared at the phone long after he had hung up with his son. He was fuming at Shira's nerve to try and bring that other girl into this mess. He knew that Shira would not go down without a fight, but this was the last straw and now he needed to set some plans into motion. A part of him wanted to destroy that Lindsey girl but Logan was right, she was young, and the money would help her so they would come up with a way to make her untouchable to Shira. Between the Huntzberger, Gilmore and Hayden names he knew that they could get the girl into college and find her a job after she decided what she wanted to do. But while he waited for her call he would work on his plans for his wonderful wife.
Rory, Logan, Colin, Finn and Lane loaded up the packed boxes into Rory's car and Finn's SUV. Mrs. Kim still wasn't happy about Lane moving to New York but was placated that she was moving in with another girl and that the band seemed like it would be successful. The woman had plied them with flax seed muffins and some weird tofu dish that everyone was barely able to take a bite of before trying to find ways to get rid of it. The group was lost in laughing and joking with each other that they didn't notice that they were drawing the attention of the townspeople. Rory was more relaxed than they had ever seen her as she laughed and joked with the others.
"Last box!" Rory exclaimed as she placed the box in the SUV.
"Yes!" the boys cheered in unison. "We ready to hit the road?" Colin asked.
"I was thinking we could stop by Luke's first," Rory replied as she moved toward Logan.
"If that's what you want babe," Logan answered as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"It is. I think Lane needs a final meal before she heads off for her next adventure," she stated with a giggle.
"Well love you have been talking about Luke's since we met you," Finn laughed. "I think it only right that we finally try it."
The group started to walk over to Luke's only for Rory to freeze when she saw her mother's Jeep drive closer to Luke's.
"Babe, you okay?" Logan asked when he felt her tense and then noticed where she was looking. "If you want to go back to Lane's we can get it to go…"
"No," Rory vehemently replied and shook her head. "She is not going to keep me away from this town any longer. I said what I needed to say and like I already told you, she is my past and has no need to be in my future."
"Ace," Logan sighed but was cut off by her kissing him.
"I know what you are going to say," she stated as she pulled slightly back. "And you know what I am going to say. I love you and she is not going to change that."
"Okay," he finally relented, and the group started the walk back across the square.
"So, what do you suggest we order?" Colin asked trying to ease some of the tension.
Lane let out a laugh as she looked at them. "Have any of you ever been to a diner before?"
"I don't think so," Finn replied as he studied the building in front of them. "Well, maybe drunk we have been to one."
The comment made the group laugh harder as they walked into the bustling diner.
It had been a long few days for Lorelai Gilmore and she knew that it would be awhile until things got better. After her impromptu trip to New Haven, she had arrived back in Stars Hollow and spent a lot of time thinking about everything that had happened since that fateful day at Weston's. She never would have thought that Rory would have chosen that world over her. From the moment she had left the Gilmore mansion she lived by her own rules and refused to let anyone make any decisions that would affect her. No matter what anyone said, she had done everything for Rory, to make sure she didn't grow up in that world. But now… now Rory was gone and after everything over the last few months she didn't know if she would be able to ever get her daughter back. It made her angry to know that Logan had replaced her. Rory didn't need her mother anymore and because of him Rory was in the middle of society. Hours had been spent looking at photos of the couple and reading articles about them and it all made her sick. The Rory she had raised didn't dress in designer clothes or drip with diamonds, she didn't drive a Jag or live in a fancy apartment. She had raised Rory to work for everything just like she did but her daughter decided to take the easy route with her life. There was no way the Rory would be working after she graduated, if she still graduated. It wouldn't surprise her if Rory dropped out of college and became the socialite wife with a baby soon. A part of her knew that she needed to let go of this anger and feelings of betrayal, but she couldn't do it. Especially not after that confrontation at the diner, especially not after the entire town stopped talking to her. After seeing the couple in New Haven, she thought she could move past it and try and come to terms with them but the longer she was alone in with her thoughts the more she hated him. It was because of him that she was alone and she couldn't move past the anger.
Now today, she had finally decided to brave Dosse's to get some groceries only to see them walking through the square to Luke's. She knew the moment Rory noticed her and saw the immediate tension, but it was soon smoothed away by him. A large part of her wanted to storm over to that playboy and give him a piece of her mind but she knew another public outburst would push her daughter even further away. Watching as the group continued into Luke's as if they didn't have a care in the world, she tightened her hands on the steering wheel to prevent herself from going after them. A part of her still believed that Rory had to miss and her and she still held onto that tiny hope that one day Rory would wake up and finally come back to her. With those thoughts she decided grocery shopping could wait and she made her way to the Dragonfly.
She had barely made into her office when there was soft knock on the door and she took a few deep breaths to try and compose herself before she called out a 'come in.' The door opened and there stood Sookie and Lorelai gave her a small smile hoping that things could be salvaged with her friend.
"Hey Sook," she greeted happily. "What's up?"
Sookie sighed as she studied the other woman and slowly made her way to the seat in front of her. "Do you remember that offer that you received to sell the Inn?" Lorelai looked at her worriedly and slowly nodded. "I think we should contact them and see if they are still interested. I don't… I can't be in business with you anymore."
"What?" Lorelai exclaimed in shock. "Why?"
"I don't think I can do this," Sookie replied. "I just… this person that you have become since everything started with Rory. I think its best if we sell. You can take that job and travel and I'll have more time with Jackson and the kids."
"We worked so hard for this!" Lorelai argued, feeling the world slipping away from her. "You wanted this restaurant, everything we built here!"
"Your right, I did," Sookie agreed. "But dreams and priorities change," she continued and let out a sigh. "If you want to keep the Dragonfly maybe we can come up with a way for you to buy me out, but Lorelai, I can't be in business with you anymore."
"Why?" Lorelai managed to get out and she saw a flash of something that looked like regret in her friend's eyes.
"I told you after I found out about what you said to Rory," Sookie sighed. "I tried to move past it and just… work with you. But I can't. The things you said to your daughter, the way you tried to manipulate her… It was so wrong Lorelai. I can't be in business with someone that would those things to their child. I know you and I know that you are trying to find someone to blame for this situation, for everything that is going on but you need to look in the mirror. Everything that has happened over these past few months… I found out the fight started because Rory wanted to go to London last summer, I found the articles that she wrote and I also heard about how she told you she wanted to figure out what she wanted to be but you were so insistent on that overseas correspondent thing," she paused with a sigh before continuing. "I always thought it was cute when Rory was younger, and she talked about what she wanted to do but now to hear that they were your dreams that you convinced her were hers… Can you honestly picture Rory living in a warzone, living in tents? That's not her Lorelai and you refuse to listen to her and what she really wants." Slowly she stood up and walked toward the door. "You want to see the world, travel around, well here is your chance. Sell the Dragonfly and take that offer. Here is your chance to follow your dreams instead of trying to force Rory into something." She didn't give her old friend a chance to reply before she stood up and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.
For a long time after the door to the office closed Lorelai sat at stared off into space. She couldn't believe that Sookie wanted out of the business. They were in agreement that they didn't want to sell in the past and now… now Sookie wanted an out. This was just another reason for her to hate Logan, because of the rift with her daughter her best friend now wanted to be done with her as well. The tears started and she couldn't hold them in. Everything she had worked for, all that she had done and now everything was falling apart… but while it was easy to blame Logan for yet another thing Sookie's words kept echoing like so many others. She had no one to blame but herself for this situation, it was her words and her actions that pushed Rory away and then kept her away. Maybe she should sell.
Mitchum hung up the phone with Lindsey Lister and the first part of his plan was in place. He had to agree with Logan on his assessment of the girl. She wasn't heartless, just naive and a small part of him that he didn't recognize wanted to help her… maybe that was because Rory planned on helping her. It took time but he had come to terms with Rory's sweet nature that was so out of place to the ruthless business world or society that he was accustomed to. He had started to understand Logan's protectiveness, along with that of the male's in her family. There was something about Rory that was strong as steel but had that underlying kindness that was a slight contradiction. But now that he had gotten off the phone it was time to call the lawyers back and get everything into place. He had always tolerated Shira because he had been stupid enough to get her pregnant and then because she had been the mother of his children, but it had been a long time since he thought of her with anything other than disgust. This stunt crossed the line and now that he had reviewed the pre-nup and knew exactly where everything stood…