Chapter 15 – Birthday Party Bingo
Rory stumbled into the main living area of the impressive suite of the Morgan Hotel that Finn had checked them into the night before. She managed to get herself to the little kitchen area, sighing in relief when she saw the full-sized coffee maker on the counter. The little ones that were usually in hotel rooms would not have sufficed for today.
She watched as the coffee began to pour from the spout, grateful that she could make coffee in any number of states of consciousness. She jumped in fright as a voice called out from the dining table off to the side.
"Morning, Precious," Colin said without looking up from his paper. "Fancy some food to go with that coffee? By the way, there's another vat on its way if that doesn't suffice," he added as he glanced her way with a smirk. "We are all well aware of your coffee consumption."
"You know, normally I would be offended by that, but today—today I will take all the coffee I can find," Rory said with a rueful grin. She poured her first cup of the day, bringing the full pot with her to sit at the table with one of Finn's best friends.
"I'm also aware of your appetite, so I ordered a little of everything for breakfast," Colin said with a wave of his hand over the food-laden table. "No tacos though," he lamented, knowing she preferred the greasy food after a night of drinking.
"Guess a place this fancy can't lower itself to have tacos. Especially first thing in the morning," Rory said, sipping her coffee with delight.
"We do have a reputation to keep, Kitten," Finn said as he grabbed a coffee cup off the counter before slipping into the chair beside Rory. "Besides, not everyone can be Hector's."
"No, there's no one like Hector's for sure," Rory said draining her mug only to immediately fill it again.
"So, what's on the agenda for the day then?" Finn asked after he'd answered the door, allowing the waiter to put the two vats of coffee on the side table near the dinning table.
"Well, depending on what the clothing situation is, we may have to do a little bit of shopping," Rory began, thinking that she didn't want to go to the festival in her dress from the previous evening.
"Leave that to me," Logan said as he came out to join everyone.
"Where's all the girls?" Rory asked. She wasn't worried about just being with the guys. It wasn't like she'd not done that before. Many times. However, not being outnumbered was nice.
"Catching up on beauty sleep. We probably won't see them until noon," Robert replied from his prone position on the sofa.
"Damn, guess I'll have to make do with you lot, then, won't I?" Rory managed out with a smile.
"Sorry, Kitten," Finn said, loading a plate of food, sitting it in front of his girlfriend before beginning to fill a plate for himself.
"It could be worse," Rory said, taking a bite of the pancakes, "I could be stuck with Dean."
"Don't ruin good food and coffee mentioning that ass-hat," Colin muttered. "You'll put me off my food and then how will I keep up with dear Poppy over here," he added gesturing toward his best friend.
"Poppy?" Rory asked as she filled her cup for the third time.
"We like flowers, right, Violet," Logan answered looking at Colin with an evil smirk.
"How did I not know this?" Rory asked with a shake of her head.
"It's recent," Finn added with a smile. Seeing the sparkling eyes of her boyfriend, Rory knew there was more to the story than the boys were letting on, but she decided she probably didn't want to know.
"Think we can get everyone ready to head out by one?" Rory asked, sneaking a piece of bacon off Finn's plate.
The group of LDB-ers who had stayed at the hotel the night before arrived, en masse, outside Luke's around two. The idea was to have a late lunch at Luke's then tour the town and watch the set up of the rides, games, and food booths. Choosing appropriate clothes from the racks upon racks Logan had sent up to the suite had taken a lot longer than Rory had originally anticipated.
All of the girls had wanted to choose cute dresses that were more appropriate to a night in New York than the small town festival they were going to. Rory had tried to explain that the festival was more like a fair, without the elaborate rides, but most of those going had never been to something like that. Finally, Rory was able to convince everyone that jeans, t-shirts, and/or a sweater or jacket was the most appropriate attire. Of course, that then lead to footwear and another long conversation that heels were probably not the best option.
Rory was finally able to convince most of the girls to go with cute flats or decorative sneakers for the evening while also convincing the guys to go for sneakers as well. Logan, of course, had insisted on a pair of Italian loafers. Rory was just hoping that there weren't a lot of animals present that night. She really didn't want to hear the blond bitch about scuffing the five hundred dollar shoes. Or worse, stepping in some dog's business.
"All right, everyone, this is the famous Luke's," Rory said to the group gathered around her on the sidewalk. "We'll go grab a burger, some coffee, and maybe pie then I'll give you the nickel tour."
"That's probably all this little town of yours is worth, RG," Colin said with a smile.
"Don't be an ass Colin," several people responded.
Rory just laughed, not taking offense at the dig at her town. She knew it was nothing this group had likely ever experienced before, except for Paris who'd just joined the group, but she loved the smallness, and quirkiness, of the little hamlet.
"All right, let's go," Rory said, leading the group into the diner. As the little bell above the door rang out, the only two visible occupants turned, staring at the mass of people entering. "Hey, Mom," Rory stopped at the side of the door staring at Lorelai who was seated at the counter. "I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you'd be at the Inn."
"I just stopped in to grab a cup of coffee and talk to Luke before heading over to make sure everything was set up for your friends for tonight," Lorelai responded somewhat hesitantly.
"No worries, it was just a surprise is all," Rory managed to get out. "Right, so, everyone this is my Mom and her boyfriend, also owner of the diner and maker of the coffee, Luke." Rory pointed toward the two by the counter. "Mom, Luke, this is everyone. Finn, of course, Logan, Juliet, Seth, Rosemary, Colin, Stephanie, Robert, and, of course, you already know Paris," Rory said, pointing to each person beside her, thank god they'd all spread out to make the introductions easier.
"Yeah, leave me to last, Gilmore. Thanks," Paris responded in her usual brusque manner. "Hi, Lorelai, it's good to see you again," Paris said as she crossed the diner to give Lorelai a big hug.
"We're not all expected to hug your mom, are we, Kitten?" Finn asked hesitantly. His previous run in with the elder Gilmore hadn't been under the best of circumstances and, if he were being honest, he was a little afraid of the woman.
"Yeah, what he said," Robert piped in. "I mean, she's hot and all, but he seems a little scary," he added with a smirk pointing toward Luke.
"I heard that," Luke said with a scowl. "Put some tables together and I'll bring over a pot of coffee once I get another started," Luke said pointing toward the table in the larger area of the diner.
Rory and her friends quickly moved several of the tables together, forming one large table in the middle of the diner practically. She smiled at the disgruntled, yet resigned, look on Luke's face as he brought over a dozen mugs on a tray along with the pot of coffee.
"You'll need to eat and get out," Luke began.
"Ed Debevic's" the guys sang out in chorus.
"Huh?" Luke questioned while tilting his head. "You know what? Never mind. If you're friends with this one," he indicated Rory, "It's probably some inside joke I won't understand. It gets busy here at dinner time, so I'll need the tables back in their original places."
"Don't worry, Luke," Rory began, "I'm planning on showing them around town before watching the final set up for the festival tonight. We'll be out of here before you know it."
"Ah, geesh. You know you're just feeding into the crazy right?" Luke asked, not really expecting an answer. "I know what she wants, everyone else look at the menu," he finished before walking back behind the counter.
"Such wonderful service," Logan said with a smirk.
"That's small town life for ya," Lorelai said as she stood by her daughter's chair. "Uh, do you think we could talk for a minute?" she asked looking down at her daughter.
"Uh, sure," Rory said. "Don't let anyone drink my coffee?" she added, looking toward Finn.
"No one would dare," he responded with a laugh. "No one here has a death wish."
"Today," they all heard Lorelai mumble.
"Mother!" Rory barked as she got up from her chair. "At least try to be nice," she added as she moved off to talk to her mother.
"Luke, can we use your apartment for a minute?" Lorelai yelled as she began walking to the curtain leading to the stairs.
"Yeah, sure," Luke replied, poking his head out of the back.
Rory followed her mother up the stairs, not saying anything for fear of an argument. When they reached the door leading into the apartment, Rory watched her mother pause to take a deep breath.
Once inside the apartment, Rory took a moment to look around, marveling at the lack of change since the last time she was there. "Luke really is adverse to change, isn't he?" she asked after a moment.
"Yeah, he is. I think he's bought the same type of socks since he's been buying his own socks," Lorelai responded with a laugh. She shuffled her feet, looking anywhere but at her daughter.
"Mom? You wanted to talk to me?" Rory finally asked after a minute of silence. "I have friends downstairs and I don't want to be rude and ignore them."
"I'm sorry!" Lorelai blurted suddenly.
"About?" Rory questioned.
"Accusing you of sleeping with Dean last spring? Being rude to your friends? Ranting to Luke and causing Dean to show up last night? Everything?" Lorelai began rambling.
"That's a start I guess," Rory said as she moved to the dining table, pulling out the worn chair and taking a seat. "Can I ask why you accused me of something like that?" She tried desperately to keep the hurt out of her voice, but she heard it just the same.
"Oh, hun," Lorelai said as she, too, pulled out a chair and took a seat next to her daughter. "I was so stressed out about opening the Inn, having to ask Luke for money, the fact we kept missing each other, and a hundred other little things that just added up with no place to put them."
"But why accuse me of something like that? You know me better than that. You raised me for god's sake," Rory said, playing with the salt and pepper shakers, not looking at her mother. She didn't want the other woman to see the hurt bleeding through her gaze.
"It had nothing to do with you, Kid," Lorelai began. "Seeing you and him standing in the kitchen that night, looking so awkward, and the messed up bed. I just jumped to the worst case scenario. I was tired, Luke had just kissed me, Jason was at the Inn trying to get back together—" she stopped, knowing there really wasn't a defense for her actions.
"We hadn't talked in so long. I knew nothing about your life, and, yeah. There's no excuse. I'm sorry."
"Okay, I forgive you," Rory said after a long moment.
"Yeah?" Lorelai said in awe, "Just like that?"
"Yeah, you're my mom. I love you. What you said hurt, but I get that you were stressed," Rory said. "I had been too. And not being able to talk to you for any amount of time for most of the semester was hard on me too," she added. "I missed my mommy, my best friend."
"Thanks, Kid," Lorelai said, patting her daughter's hand gently. "So, fight over?"
"Not quite," Rory said, moving her hand out from under her mother's. "I forgive you for thinking Dean and I were sleeping together, but your attitude towards my friends, toward my boyfriend, is something entirely different."
Lorelai sighed, hating that she had hurt her daughter so much.
"What is it about Finn and my friends that you find so offensive? That they care for me? That they've been there for me when I was having trouble or feeling down? Without any thought of something in return? Is it that they're from society?" Rory tossed question after question toward her mom.
"They're rich spoiled—" Lorelai began.
"Yes they have money," Rory interrupted. "And, yes, I can agree they are spoiled at times and arrogant, however, that is not all they are. They're my friends. They help me when I need it. Robert helped me last year when I was failing a class and—"
"You were failing a class?" Lorelai interrupted. "Why didn't you tell me kid?"
"It was during that time when you were so busy with the Inn. We just kept missing each other, and—"
"Hun, you're always more important to me than anything else. Anything," Lorelai said with passion. "I don't care if I'm in the middle of dirty things, call me. Smoke signals, whatever you need to reach me."
"Gross, Mom," Rory said, scrunching up her nose at the thought of her mom and Luke. "What I'm trying to say," Rory began, quickly diverting from the troubling topic of her mother's love life, "is that my friends are more than their bank account. Yes, they blow off steam a lot, but most of them are simply taking advantage of the freedom they have because they know once they graduate it'll be time to get down to real work."
"They know what's expected of them when they graduate, so they're taking the time they have to experience all that they can. It's why I brought them here."
"But, Rory, I worry that you're running headlong into the world I worked so hard to take us out of. I'm afraid you're going to change and become one of those vapid socialites who only worry about their husband's social calendar," Lorelai said. "Like my mother," she added in a whisper.
"MOM!" Rory yelled in frustration. "Grandma was from a different generation and time. Not all society girls are expected to just marry some rich man and be at his beck and call." She paused to run her hand through her hair, wondering how, or if, she would be able to make her mother understand. "My friends, even the girls, are planning on working. Yes, they may be going into more traditional 'girl' areas of fashion and art, but it's because it's important to them."
"And as for Grandma, she enjoys what she does. We talked over the summer. And, I saw and heard many conversations between her and Grandpa as they made up," Rory paused to laugh at her mother's disgusted look. "Not like that. Eww. But, they did have many serious talks about expectations and lack of appreciation for what Grandma does on the part of Grandpa. But, Mom, Grandma really does love all the charities she sits on, planning parties, and the DAR. She's still able to use her art degree in those areas, just channeling it in a slightly different way."
"I will never understand that world. I don't want you to forget who you are and what you want to do in life."
"Do you really think I could forget everything you taught me over the last twenty years?" Rory patted her mom's hand before continuing, "Granted I may not remember the first few years, but you've instilled in me a strong work ethic and what it is to be an independent woman. I'm not going to forget that just because I go to fancy parties and hang out with people who have a lot of money."
"But—"
"No, listen," Rory cut over her mother. "I like hanging out with my friends. They pull me out of my shell, make me feel more brave and daring. If I'm going to be traveling the world reporting, I need to be able to take chances. And, I like some of the parties I go to. I don't like every aspect of what it is to be in society, but I really don't mind getting dolled up every once in a while. As long as Grandma isn't trying to auction me off."
"Yeah, not one of her better moves," Lorelai agreed. "I laid into her this morning when I called to check up on you. Where did you stay last night?"
"Finn's family owns the Hartford Hotel and he was able to get us the family suite. Everyone downstairs, minus Paris, stayed over and celebrated my escape from the marriage market."
Lorelai sighed as she ran her fingers through her curls before saying, "I don't begin to understand what you see in that world, but, you're an adult. I guess I have to let you make your own decisions. Just, please, don't give up your dreams."
"Never," Rory said before leaning over and hugging her mom tightly. "So, fight over?"
"Fight over."
"Great, now let's get back downstairs before Luke starts tossing everyone out."
When they got back down to the diner it was to everyone eating. As Rory moved back to the tables, taking her place next to Finn, she couldn't help laughing at the number of salads. She shared a glance with her mom, laughing at Luke's smiling face.
"Do you think any of you could teach Rory here to eat more salads?" Luke asked as he sat a plate with a burger and fries before her.
"Bite your tongue, Luke," Rory and Lorelai said together.
"Ms Gilmore," Seth, ever the gentleman began, "do you want to join us?"
"Listen, Kid," Lorelai said, focusing her gaze on the young man, "if you're going to be hanging around here you need to know a few things. First, it's Lorelai, none of this Ms business. Second, you want on my good side? Bring me coffee. Finally, if you want to fit in with my daughter and me, you'll have to learn how to eat something other than rabbit food." With that she kissed her daughter's cheek and left the diner.
Everyone just stared at her retreating form, except for Rory who'd started digging into her burger. After swallowing the bite she'd taken she looked at her friends who were all staring at her now.
"What?" She asked the tables at large, "That's Lorelai Gilmore the Second for you. Just remember it."
"What she said," Luke added as he refilled cups before moving off once again.
"And I hope you're only eating those," Rory added as she pointed toward the salads in front of nearly every person, "because you're saving up for tonight's bounty of fair food. Corn dogs, cotton candy, candy apples, salty nuts." She added the nuts at the end, enjoying the stunned expressions and the guys who all spit whatever had been in their mouths. Yeah, tonight was going to be so much fun.
"This is just—wow," Stephanie said as she looked around the town near the gazebo. "I mean, we saw it going up this afternoon, but there's just—something about seeing it all lit up," she continued.
"Yeah, this town does nothing in half measures," Rory said as she came to stand beside her blonde friend. "You should see this place for Christmas," she added, thinking about the millions of twinkle lights alone that were strung through the trees during the holiday season.
"I bet it looks like Santa threw up in this town," Juliet added with a laugh.
"Yeah, but it's pretty barf," Rory responded with her own laugh. "Shall we?"
Rory led her group of friends around the perimeter of the square, making note of all the booths, mentally marking the ones she wanted to go back to.
"Let's start there," Rory said, pointing toward the Seventh Day Adventist's booth where she saw Lane. "I want to introduce you to my best friend."
Rory introduced the LDB crew to Lane, watching as she and Robert got into a discussion about music and the merits of one type of symbols over another. Rory shook her head and moved off with the others in tow, making her way to the first of the food carts.
"You are a marvel, Kitten," Finn said in awe when Rory finished her third 'snack' from the various food carts. "You should be studied. By someone other than myself. Specifically for food related things."
Rory laughed as her boyfriend continued adding qualifiers to his statement. "I think you've done a good job so far of studying me. Physically at least," she added with a wink. While the pair hadn't done "it" yet, they had started exploring each other. Finn was letting Rory lead where they went sexually, a willing Guinea pig as it were as his girlfriend explored her sexuality.
"And I've enjoyed every moment of that study," Finn responded with a heated look, leaning down and planting a hard kiss to Rory's lips.
"Get a room," the pair heard from behind them. Breaking apart, the two turned to their friends with unrepentant grins.
"We have one, for later," Finn responded. "So, what next? More food or some more games? There was a shooting game that looked interesting down that way," Finn said, pointing off to the right.
"Let's go find the fortune teller. I'm curious if they let the one from last year back," Rory said as she moved off down one of the aisles.
"Excuse me?" Logan asked. "What did she do to possibly not be let back in this town?"
"I'm not sure, but she was arrested halfway through the night of the festival. It was quite the scandal," Rory said with a shrug.
The group was following Rory as she made her way through the crowd. Finn ran into her back as she suddenly stopped, staring at the booth before her.
"What the—" Rory started, unable to complete her thought as she stared at her mother working the booth.
"What's your mother doing? Did you know she was working a booth?" Finn asked as he put his hand on Rory's shoulder.
"I have no clue. But, I've seen that dog before." Rory walked up to the booth, staring at the shaggy mutt sitting next to her mother with a shiny turban on its head. "Mom?"
"Oh, Rory, hey!" Lorelai responded with a start. "How's the festival been so far?"
"Great," Finn pipes up when his girlfriend just continues to stare silently. "Who's your friend there?" He asked, pointing toward the dog.
"This is Paul Anka," Lorelai replies as she pets the dog. "He's new to the family," she adds stealing a glance at her daughter.
"How did you manage that? We've been banned from owning pets since Skippy," Rory finally responds as she comes out of her stupor.
"Skippy?" Several people question.
"A hamster that mom smothered with Kleenex," Rory replied beginning to move toward the dog.
"He was an evil hamster," Lorelai argued. "Approach slowly," Lorelai warned as her daughter made to move forward. "Bow your head, and hold out your hand, palm up."
"What?" Rory asked, stopping to stare again at the dog.
"He's a little peculiar on how someone approaches him," Lorelai explained. "He's got a few quirks," she added as she watched her daughter continue to approach. "I got him Labor Day weekend. When you didn't come home I realized how lonely I've been since you've been gone, and well, you know how I get when the ASPCA brings their animals around, and, well—"
The entire LBD group stared, stunned at the woman sitting before them. They'd heard Rory ramble before, but just thought it was one of her many odd quirks. To see another person do the same was awe inspiring. They now knew where she got the ability from.
"Are your friends okay, Sweets?" Lorelai asked as the group continued to stare at her.
"Yeah," Rory said, waving her hand dismissively. "They're probably just awed that someone else can ramble like I do."
"It's a thing of beauty," Finn said, giving Rory's shoulders a squeeze. "Perhaps you both should be studied for more than your food consumption?"
"Many have made the suggestion," Lorelai said, shifting her focus to the man standing behind her daughter for a moment before turning back to her daughter. "Just approach him slowly and it should be okay."
Rory hunched her shoulders a bit, lowering her head so she could barely see the dog and held her hand palm up. She just managed to keep from jumping when the dog sniffed her hand then began licking her palm.
Laughing she moved her hand closer and let her fingers scruff the dog's fur under his muzzle. "That tickles," she said after a moment, attempting to take her hand back. Rory heard the group behind her laugh but kept her focus on the dog who'd raised his paw to stop her from removing her hand.
"He really likes you," Lorelai said with a soft smile. "Your brother from another mother really likes you."
"Are you saying Dad's a dog?" Rory asked, quirking her brow toward her mother.
"Well—" Lorelai began shrugging with her palms up, "If the breath fits."
"I'm telling him you said that," Rory said with a laugh, finally managing to get her hand back. She quickly wiped her wet hand on her jeans. "Dog drool is not cool," she added even as one of the girls handed her a wet wipe. "Always prepared, you are," she said as she turned toward her friends to smile her thanks.
"Society," Juliet shrugged as she returned the packet of wipes to her purse.
"The one good thing about the elite," Lorelai agreed with a nod. "Have you tried Morey's salty nuts yet? Babette swears they're extra spicy this year." Lorelai asked with an evil grin.
Rory heard chokes and stutters behind her but ignored them to answer her mom. "I thought we'd go there before hitting up Gypsy's lemonade, then another trip around to allow the boys to relieve their testosterone fueled desire to shoot things with some of the games before heading back to the Inn."
"No Miss Patty's punch? Lorelai asked. "Actually," she added after a moment, "that's probably a good idea. That stuff is lethal. You can use it as paint thinner."
"That sounds intriguing," Finn piped up. He'd been gazing around the festival at the way the town interacted with each other and with the strangers that were wandering through as well.
"NO!" Rory screamed. "It's deathly."
"Sounds right up our alley," Logan said with a grin. "Lead on fearless leader," he added.
"I guess we're visiting Miss Patty now," Rory said, waving toward her mom as the group began walking off.
"Seriously try to get them to only drink one," Lorelai said before Rory left. "If they barf all over the Inn you're cleaning it up," she tacked on as her daughter walked off after her friends.
A couple hours later Rory found herself back at the Dragonfly trying to corral the male contingent of the Life and Death Brigade. They'd been kicked out of the festival after the third or fourth cup of punch when the boys had started taking the balloons filled with paint for the art booth and started pelting each other with them instead. When one went wide and broke at Taylor's feet he'd chased them off.
"When did they fill their flasks with punch?" Rory asked no one in particular as she once again removed one of the tchotchkes from Colin's hands and set it back on the shelf. She'd managed to keep the guys from breaking anything, however, it had been a close call on a few things.
"Somewhere between the caramel apples and that ring toss game," Stephanie said as she once more steered her boyfriend to sit on the sofa in the library. "Thank god we have the run of the inn," she added before moving to help Rosemary wrangle Seth to a nearby chair.
"Great," Rory said as she moved to help Juliet keep Logan from causing Tobin to quit. The Inn's night manager, usually a very chill man who took everything with a spoonful of sugar, looked like he was moments away from clubbing Logan over the head and tossing his body in the lake that was behind the inn.
"Logan, why don't we go over here and see what Finn's up to, shall we," she offered the blond. She took hold of his arm and smiled warmly at her only slightly less drunk boyfriend. She couldn't help laughing as Finn followed his friend down to the sofa, both men tilting to the side as they tried to act sober. This caused all the guys to start giggling like school children.
"I'm going to go make a pot of coffee," Rory said, glancing around the room where her friends were all spread about. "Maybe a vat of coffee," she muttered as she saw Stephanie struggling to keep Colin away from the shelves with the breakables again.
Five minutes later Rory came back into the room with a tray of mugs and two pots of coffee. She laughed, wondering briefly if she'd been gone longer than she'd thought. "How in the world—" she began, stopping to place everything on the coffee table in front of the sofa where Logan and Finn were cuddled up together, lightly snoring. She quickly glanced around the room and saw that Colin was on the other sofa, laying on his back with his hands over his face like a sleeping kitten. Seth was curled up in one of the winged-back chairs, Rosemary leaning over the back staring down at her boyfriend.
"Where's Robert?" Rory asked as she scanned the room once more. She poured herself a mug of coffee, adding a dash of cream. She wasn't overly concerned for the man because the women were keeping a close watch making sure non of the drunks escaped the Inn to go torture Taylor again.
"Over here," Juliet said with a deep sigh. "He was the last to crash," she added as she pointed toward the area next to the fire place. "Do you think he'll be safe here if we just leave him?"
"I say we leave them all down here," Rosemary said. "Just toss some blankets on them and let them sleep it off. If they wake up and can somewhat function they can find their beds."
"Good idea," Rory agreed. "And, yes, Juliet, I think Robert is safe enough there. There's a mesh screen over the fireplace. It keeps the big chunks and sparks from popping out. And, he's far enough away that any little sparks that escape won't reach him. Let me go get blankets from Tobin."
She was back quickly, Tobin in tow, with blankets and pillows for all the passed out men. "Tobin, thank you for your help. If any of them wake up just send them upstairs. Assuming they can navigate them," she added with a laugh as she and the rest of the women made their way upstairs.
"No worries, Rory, I'm sure your friends will be fine," Tobin said as he moved back behind the desk. "Happy birthday," he added as he pulled a small gift out from under the desk and handed it to her.
"Tobin, you shouldn't have," Rory gushed as she tore open the brightly wrapped box. "Oh, Tobin!" Rory exclaimed as she pulled out a first edition of Jane Austen. "Really."
"It wasn't that expensive," Tobin demurred. "I found it in a box of books I bought, sight unseen, at an auction."
"Tobin—" Rory began, trying to hand the book back. "You should sell it. I'm sure you'd make a fortune."
"Nonsense," Tobin said, pushing the book back toward Rory. "Books are meant to be loved, not put on a shelf and forgotten. I remember you reading at the Independence Inn all the time. I know you will appreciate it for what it is."
"Thank you, Tobin," Rory said, wiping a tear from her cheek. She moved around the desk and gave them man a hug. "I'll treasure it always," she added as she moved to the stairs.