Chapter 7: Trying
Her movie having finished, Emily roused herself from the couch to go upstairs and check on Lorelai. She found her sitting up in bed, reading a magazine.
Emily tapped on the door that stood ajar. "How does your head feel?"
"Better," Lorelai said with a smile. "Thanks for the allergy pills."
"You're welcome."
Emily lingered at the door and gazed at her daughter, a vibrant, beautiful woman who turned heads even on her worst days, who had found a wonderful man who clearly adored her, who hadn't rushed to settle into an appropriate marriage but had instead taken time to decide what she wanted from her life and with whom she wanted to share it. A courageous, determined woman who, at thirty-something, was just beginning a new leg in her life's journey.
Noticing the wistful expression on her mother's face, Lorelai said with concern, "How're you doing, Mom?"
"Fine," Emily answered, briskly. She entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "I can't believe I wasted half the day loafing around."
"That's okay," Lorelai said. "It's your vacation; you're allowed to be a loaf." Her browed furrowed. "Hm. Now I'm hungry. Is there any of that cinnamon-raisin bread downstairs?"
"Just like when you were a little girl," Emily said. "The first sign I took that you were well enough to go back to school was when your appetite returned."
She and Lorelai headed down to the kitchen.
"Until I got smart and learned to go on a hunger strike," Lorelai said. She twisted around on the stairs to face Emily, put the back of her hand on her forehead, and channeled Scarlett O'Hara. "Mother, I do declare, I'm too weak to learn geometry."
"Turn around, you're going to trip and break your neck," Emily said, smiling.
In the kitchen, Lorelai cut thick slices of the decadent bakery bread to toast while Emily put the teakettle on to boil – and started the coffeemaker, when Lorelai made her opinion clear about "boiled weeds." The kitchen filled with the heavenly aroma of sweet cinnamon and strong coffee.
When they had settled into the breakfast nook with their snack, Emily asked, "So tell me, how long have you been seeing Luke?"
"Uh, I'm not sure, exactly," Lorelai dodged. "Why do you ask?"
"I'm your mother; I like to know about the people who are important in your life."
"Oh. Well, I guess it's been about a month, something like that." Lorelai crunched down on her buttery slice of cinnamon-swirled heaven.
"You 'guess'?" Emily asked neutrally.
"Well, he took me to his sister's wedding, but that wasn't really a date. Just the end part." Lorelai stirred her coffee with a private smile.
"Ah," Emily said, smiling.
"What? No, no, not that kind of 'end of date'," Lorelai laughed. "We danced – waltzed, actually. It was really nice. And then he walked me home, and he asked me to a movie."
"And the movie was a month ago?" Emily said. It was wonderful to be able to ask Lorelai a question about something important in her life and get a straight answer. Somehow – exactly when, Emily couldn't say -- Lorelai had stopped being so defensive and secretive. It made Emily felt like a resident, not a visitor, to Lorelai's magical mystery world. It was all she'd ever wanted, really, when she made the Friday night dinner deal over four years ago.
"No, actually, the – um." Lorelai blushed absurdly at revealing even an innocent detail to her mother. "We kissed a month ago. At the Inn's test run. And that was, like, the beginning of our relationship."
"Ah," Emily said.
Lorelai pulled her toast into little chunks, raccoon-style. "We're taking it slow," she said thoughtfully.
"I see," Emily said, looking at Lorelai over her teacup.
"It's a big transition, going from friends to dating," Lorelai said. "Luke's always been really important to me, for years."
"And you're afraid that sex will change things?"
"Mother," Lorelai said, embarrassed. She started collecting the dishes they were finished with.
"I wasn't born yesterday, Lorelai," Emily said archly. "I've heard the word before. I've even –"
"Okay, stop right there. You picked me out of a cabbage patch, and, I'm sorry, but I'm never going to change my mind on that." Lorelai stood, intending to take the dishes into the kitchen.
Emily smirked, amused to provoke a reaction. "Fine," she said. Before Lorelai could escape the conversation, she continued, "I'm only saying, waiting and taking things slow is all fine and well. But I've known you for thirty-five years, Lorelai, and I know you better than you think I do: You're scared."
Lorelai laughed, shortly and forced. "That's crazy, Mom. Luke is the nicest guy in the world."
"Yes, exactly; he's 'important'," Emily said. "And you think that if you keep dating him casually, you'll always have a reset button at the ready if things go sour. But relationships aren't a can of tuna, Lorelai. You can't keep them on the shelf and expect them to last forever."
"Mother, when was the last time you were within visual distance of a can of tuna?"
"Lorelai," Emily said flatly.
"Mom," Lorelai said, her voice a brick wall. "Luke and I are fine." She collected the plates and cups and took them into the kitchen.
Three years ago, the judgmental tone in Emily's voice alone would have stirred Lorelai to anger. Lorelai would have wrapped her indignation around herself like a cloak and have felt fully justified to say something, like, 'Just because I accepted your invitation to your lake house doesn't give you a green light into my personal life.' Perhaps it was progress, then, that as Lorelai loaded the dishwasher, she decided that Emily's comment – which was probably innocent, anyway – wasn't worth an argument.
Lorelai ventured back into the breakfast nook, where Emily was gazing out of the window at the pebbly beach, where a little boy was feeding a flock of seagulls.
"So, Mom," Lorelai said brightly, "what would you like to do today?"
Emily turned to face her. "Well, there are some splendid antique shops in town."
"That could be interesting," Lorelai said. "The inn could use a few things."
"All right, then," Emily said. "Just let me go change into something appropriate."
"Sure," Lorelai said. "By the way, have you seen Rory and Luke?"