Something, somebody must know what—probably some scientist who studies the effects of the sun on mood—Something about this time of year makes things a little easier, a little better. Not so hard to bear.
Something.
For Lorelai, who loved winter best, the coziness and snow, it was paradoxically about the flowers. About the possibility of them. And the trees coming back. And new lighter clothes...
Not that she had time for any of that these days.
She was swamped. Daily inundations of fiddly little details needing her constant attention.
For instance: Who was going to seal the grout in all the freshly laid tile?
You really need two applications by hand with a couple of hours to dry in between, something the owner was supposed to take care of after the tile guys left. And not something you want to ignore either, not unless you like that grungy look in your bathrooms.
How the hell was she going to get the grout sealed in fourteen bathrooms?
And the ceiling fans hadn't been wired to double switches as she had paid extra for.
Double switch plates were in each room all right, but they both turned on the fan and light simultaneously. Lorelai spent nearly an hour with Howard the electrician on the phone about this.
"One switch should work the light, the other the fan. No one is going to want a ceiling fan on in December. ------Well, Howard I know you want to go to the lake to try out your new jet ski, but I really need this taken care of. We had an understanding, pal."
But because it was Spring all these complications weren't really so horrible.
They were now two weeks away from opening the Inn. And they were gonna make it.
Come hell or high water, and Kirk too, they were gonna make it.
They had to. They were completely booked now for the first six weekends running.
And, yeah, there was the personal stuff still hanging over her too.
It had been a week to the day now since the episode she now referred to as 'Emily's Entrapment.'
And there was no way in hell she was going to dinner tonight. Emily could just Kiss her Ass on that one. And Lorelai just left that thought hanging there. She resigned herself to it.
Resigned herself to the fact that some things will never change and maybe there wasn't much point in getting into any further flap about it.
Even Rory understood this and could only hope that this was a hiatus of some kind and that detente would eventually be reached.
She sure wasn't looking forward to going to dinner on her own, though.
And it was almost exactly a week now too since the Jason summit.
He had come running to her home the next day with coffee, trying so hard to understand, to negotiate. Heartbreakingly earnest. But Lorelai couldn't go back and it wasn't even about her parents.
It was about truth.
About knowing and facing that Jason just wasn't it. And that she was at the point in her life where that was what she sought.
They had parted amicably, actually.
Sort of.
And after it all she wasn't entirely certain that Jason didn't harbor some kind of hope that she might come around. But there was nothing she could do about that but let time wear him down.
And that made her terribly sad.
But Spring and time would somehow make it easier, she hoped. She was a little guilty about that. It shouldn't be made easier---hurting someone. So she tried to take solace in the fact that this would have been the eventual outcome anyway.
And then it was only a week until the opening.
And the only thing that neither time nor Spring had eased for Lorelai, was Luke.
The heart-tightening problem of Luke.
And this weighed upon her.
She hadn't been to the diner. She hadn't even seen him since he'd taken her to pick up her car in Hartford that night. It wasn't that she was avoiding him per se.
Only she was.
She had excellent excuses, though. The craziness of the Inn, and the mutual plan she and Sookie had formed to feed the workers breakfast and lunch in order to bribe them into finishing up on time.
But she hadn't been completely rude.
She was keenly aware that Luke had, once again, bailed her out. So she'd had Kirk deliver an extra large be-ribboned jug of Mega Man Protein Powder to him at the diner one afternoon.
She'd even attached a Spongebob post-it to it by way of a witty thank you note, albeit hastily written.
And through all this, somewhere in the back of her head, nagged a memory. A memory of sitting on a bench in her Inn's garden and thinking maybe, just maybe Luke could be it.
And then.... what if he was?
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For Luke, Spring mostly meant good business.
The tourists poured in to quaint towns like Stars' Hollow to see flowers springing from bulbs, to buy overpriced useless 'country' stuff, and to breathe 'natural' air.
Good business meant keeping busy and keeping busy was rated very high in his book these days.
It's not that he was avoiding Lorelai.
Only he was.
He just didn't know anything about anything anymore and so fell into the reliable rut of waiting it out. It was a comfortable place for him to be.
So he worked and he waited.
Sure, there was the usual crap to deal with. And some new crap too. His sister was getting married. She was marrying that TJ-Gary-Etch-a-Sketch guy and tonight was the bachelor party at some awful bar in Hartford. And Jess was going to be there, and Jeez, he really did not want to go. But Liz seemed so happy, so sure. Then again, she always did. So, go he must.
It was late Friday afternoon and Lane came in for the dinner shift at four.
"Hey, Luke," she smiled. "What time do you have to leave?"
Luke groaned which gave Lane's smile a sympathetic cast.
"Luke, you have to go—it's for your sister."
"A party at a bar where a bunch of drunken men ogle half-dressed women who are probably just scraping by on tips to singlehandedly support their latch-key children is not for my sister."
"Wow. That's really seeing the seedy side," said Lane thoughtfully. "But on the brighter side, I think you've got the makings of a good country song."
Luke had to smile a little at that. Lane was a great kid.
"It doesn't really matter what time I turn up for this thing, so I'll see you guys through the rush and then leave about seven-thirty or eight. Do you remember where the cash register key is?"
"Yes, Luke, don't worry. Cesar, Sam and I will be fine. Oh, before I forget, I saw Jerry on the way so I grabbed your mail for you," she said pulling it out of her back pocket and handing it over.
"Thanks," said Luke. "He's always late on Friday."
Luke began flipping through. Bills, circulars, and... huh... he slide his thumb under an envelope flap... Yep, there it was... from the great state of Connecticut: his final declaration of divorce.
Wow.
Nicole must have pulled some strings to expedite things. He sure as hell hadn't been expecting this so soon. But there it was.
Lane had noticed. "Sorry, Luke," she said quietly.
He nodded at her, not really knowing what he felt. Sad, he guessed.
Then he saw yet another envelope at the bottom of the pile. He recognized the embossed Dragonfly on the flap—it matched the towels. He opened it up and saw that Lorelai and Sookie were inviting him to the Inn's opening party...
'In honor of all those who have helped make our dream come true...'
Lorelai had added a note by hand at the bottom of the printed invitation,
'This means you Mister Backwards-Baseball-Cap-Coffee-Man! Please, Please, Please Come! (and wipe that Dirty! smirk off your face) You don't even have to wear a tie, not until we find a flannel one that is. I wonder if they even make flannel ties?---L.'
Luke smiled. Only Lorelai could babble in a note.
He set the invitation down and looked at it next to the divorce decree.
There it was in black and white. In a nutshell.
Opposites. Like night and day.
And suddenly he knew that he needed to pour some starch on his spine and choose happiness in his life already.
Waiting wasn't enough any more. Just not enough. So hokey as it was, he needed to make the choice to be happy, whatever happened.
Otherwise, what was the point?
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The rush ended early that night.
Everyone had already been in and many had gone on to sit in the park to enjoy the evening.
Luke looked around. Everything was pretty cleanbut he had no desire to go up and change yet.
"Hey, Lane," he called. "Did you get dinner yet?"
"No!" she called from the kitchen. "Ceasar and Tom are just finishing."
"Get what you want and have Ceasar make me a turkey sandwich with fries, will ya?"
"Sure!"
A bit later as they sat at a table together eating, Lane eyed Luke's fries.
"I didn't know you ate fries, Luke."
He shrugged, "Sometimes. There'll be a lot of alcohol tonight."
"Lining your stomach?"
"Something like that. Not that I really plan on drinking much."
"So, the wedding's tomorrow?" asked Lane around her bite of cheeseburger—one of the few perks she'd discovered living away from Mama Kim–greasy food whenever she wanted it!
"Yeah, at the church in town here. Apparently it's been some sort of dream of hers. I can't believeshe's having a church wedding at this point, after the life she's lived, but it's what she wants."
Luke took a drink of his iced tea.
"Are you taking Lorelai?" asked Lane innocently enough.
Luke set his glass down and looked at her a moment.
"Excuse me?"
Oops.
"Well, since she broke up with Jason and everything... And then Rory told me that Lorelai told everybody that night that you and she had, well, kissed. And then when Jason, Mr. Gilmore and Mr. Stiles were all yelling at each other in the office after Lorelai left, Mrs. Gilmore went in and broke it up saying that no one could help it if she was in love with someone else... Lorelai, that is, not Mrs. Gilmore....And, I'm not making any sense so I'll just shut up now..."
Silence.
"...Luke, I'm really sorry! It's none of my business. Do you think we could just pretend that I didn't say any of that?" she looked up at him pleadingly.
The look on Luke's face was unreadable.
"I don't see how, but let's try," he said after a moment.
Lane nodded gratefully and ate the rest of her dinner as quickly as she could.
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And so it ended up being another helluva Friday night for everyone.
Luke went upstairs to shower, shave (he figured he should) and change. He grabbed the usual black sweater and black pants out of his closet that Lorelai had bought him years ago and absently wondered if they were still in style or not. He should ask her, but the mocking cost of that would be too high.
He sighed. Was he even ever going to see her again? She hadn't been in to the diner in nearly two weeks. And he wanted to see her. He really did. He knew she was busy but they had been friends before... before whatever it was had happened.
He didn't know what he was gonna say or do when he did see her, but he could figure that out then.
But Emily had said that Lorelai loved someone else...?
How could that have possibly worked into her scheme for bringing Jason and Lorelai together? Was she trying to make Jason jealous? Why would she try to make someone Lorelai had just publicly dumped jealous? That seemed too cruel even by Emily Gilmore standards.
What was now clear was that, despite Jason's adolescent parade through the diner the morning after, he was clearly out of the picture now.
Luke smiled a little fiendishly at that.
Petty yes, but satisfying.
Ahgh! Lorelai, Lorelai, Lorelai...
Enough already.
He shook his head then. Jeez, if he'd had any brains at all he would have run away from these Gilmore women a long time ago.
But what fun would that have been? he heard Lorelai's voice whisper in his ear.
Luke grabbed his keys and left.
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For Lorelai's part, she planned on working the night away. Why not? It was easier than thinking and this was the second official Friday night in a row of Emily Can Kiss My Ass.
So she donned old jeans, a Hello Kitty sweatshirt, covered her hair with a bandana and snapped on a pair of rubber gloves. She popped Barry Manilow (a guilty pleasure) into the boom box and walked into the largest downstairs bathroom the Inn had to offer, king-sized bottle of grout sealer in hand.
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The Gilmores, on the other hand, were having Duck l'Orange tonight, a specialty of the new cook. It was pretty good, though the conversation decidedly less than riveting.
Rory couldn't help it.
She had never been a grudge holder but she was not happy with her grandmother. This was more than the usual Lorelai vs. Emily flyweight match. This was serious. This was 'Emily Can Kiss My Ass' mode.
And Emily was uncomfortable and distracted.
True, she had staged a coup d'etat, she was willing to admit that. Well, in her own fashion, anyway. And only to Richard. But, things had not turned around the way they were supposed to.
She had perhaps underestimated her daughter's stubborness. Something she'd have sworn on a stack of Town and Countrys that she'd never do.
After dinner the three present and accounted for Gilmores adjourned to the living room for coffee.
Where they all sat in silence, their small talk petered out, until the doorbell rang. A moment later the maid ushered in Jason who quickly apologized for interrupting their evening but asked to see Richard privately. He had some documents he wanted him to see.
And then Rory had enough. She begged leave, and wasn't lying by saying she was tired and wanted to get back to the dorm to sleep.
"Aren't you going to Stars' Hollow tonight?" asked Emily.
Rory looked up at her, this being the first near-mention of Lorelai she'd heard from either of her grandparents in over two weeks.
"Mom is working at the Inn tonight. She's sealing the grout in the bathrooms," Rory told her.
Emily's eyes widened but for once she held her tongue.
Rory was actually impressed by this show of self control.
"I'm going over tomorrow afternoon to help out. Mom has a wedding in the morning."
"Oh? Who is getting married?"
"Luke's sister."
"Is your mother going with Luke?"
"No, I don't think she's even seen him in a couple of weeks. We're not even really sure why Mom was invited. She's only met the woman once."
"Oh. You're not going?"
"I wasn't invited and I didn't really want to meet her anyway."
Emily nodded suddenly remembering who the bride was the mother of.
And then Rory said goodnight and left.
Emily sat lost in thought for a few moments until she heard Richard calling her to join them in the study.
She sighed, got up and went in to Richard and Jason.
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Luke drove home later that night.
The bar had been God-awful. Lap dancing and mud-wrestling women, TJ and Jess fighting, he and Jess fighting... The worst. He hadn't even wanted to go in the first place, damn it. And if he'd ever had any hope at all for Jess... He sighed remembering his failure there yet again...
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Lorelai fell into her bed in the small hours, aching everywhere, damn it, and not smelling so great either...
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Emily, however, had gained a renewed zeal. So she lay awake thinking things through. Lorelai was her only daughter, damn it. And so she must press on. And press on she would, for tomorrow she would go to Stars' Hollow...
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Wow, looks like the whole town turned out.
Looks like the groom has a pretty big family, too.
Hmm, also looks like no one told Kirk that only the bridal party were going to be in costume.
Oh, well... Que sera, sera... it just adds to the entertainment factor in my opinion, poor slob.
Oh, there's Ruth Cassinni and Hank Cooper over there...
Oh, and who is that blonde with Jerry?
Note to self: Get scoop on that.
Oh, the music! I love this part...
Oh, Liz looks very nice. Good move, not wearing white...
And, Luke... ooo la la! But that man gets hunkier every day. If Lorelai doesn't put the moves on him soon, I will. Older women are very chic these days. If Demi can do it, so can I, darling.
Umm hmm, I could show him a few tricks, yes I could... I have Milton Berle's testimonial on that.
And why is Lorelai sitting in the back? That woman sometimes does not have the brains God gave a cat. She should be closer, on the aisle, legs crossed, skirt a little high...
If I still had legs like that...
Aw, now that was sweet—the way Luke kissed his sister before handing her off to the groom like that...
Oh, I do love a wedding, though not as much as a honeymoon, perhaps...
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Luke came back into the church.
Everyone had gone to the reception now and he was supposed to bring the flower arrangements over in the back of his truck. He didn't mind. It was a relief actually to have a break from the chaos.
And had Patty actually just squeezed his ass in the crush outside?
Nope, did not even want to think about that.
He grabbed some baskets of flowers and took them out to the truck. On his return trip down the aisle, he noticed someone still in the corner of the back pew.
It was Lorelai.
Her chin on her chest, sound asleep.
He smiled, and watched her for a moment before bending over and picking up the remaining basket of flowers. Then he walked over to her pew and side-stepped in to be closer to her. Once there, he set the basket down with a bit of an intentional thud.
Lorelai started and looked up, "Hey there, stranger," she said with a sleepy smile. "I don't know the protocol here—am I supposed to congratulate the brother of the bride?"
Luke sat next to her and sighed.
"How the hell did you sleep through that trumpet thing?"
Lorelai smiled again.
"It was difficult. I wasn't quite prepared for the pageantry element of the festivities. Did the men really wear long velvet cloaks to weddings during the Renaissance? And what about the purple feathers in their hats? I mean where would you even get a purple feather during the Renaissance?"
"Beats the hell out of me. I'm still trying to understand why grown people want to dress up to celebrate a time of plague and non-existent sanitation."
Lorelai frowned, "Yes, well I'm glad the realism wasn't taken to that extreme. I've never been to a theme wedding before. I about jumped out of my skin when Kirk yelled 'Huzza!'"
"You managed to fall asleep after that though," said Luke looking at her.
"Did anyone else notice?" she blushed.
"I doubt it, the big banners on tall sticks were a little distracting," he comforted.
Lorelai nodded.
"But you were watching me?" she asked, looking back at him.
He nodded, "I was."
Silence.
"I didn't drool or anything, did I?" She finally smiled.
He smiled back, "I missed you."
"I've missed you too," she said sincerely. "Luke, I'm sorry about the divorce..."
"How did you...? Nevermind. Jeez, I hate this town..."
Lorelai wisely changed the subject, "I saw Jess down there."
"Yes, I'm sure you did."
"You and he were the only ones in the wedding not wearing costumes."
"Yeah, well, we actually agreed on something for a change. There was no way in hell either of us were going to wear tights."
Lorelai nodded, "Well, your tux looks nice."
"I look miserably uncomfortable in it."
Lorelai laughed, "You're right! You do!"
Luke smiled at this, "If only Emily knew that I was wearing a black tie before six in the evening..."
"She and Queen Elizabeth would have heart attacks!"
"They just might," he agreed.
"Oh! Let's call and tell them then!"
"Things still bad there?"
"Oh, honey, they were never good—but now, they're just... well, nothing."
Luke nodded.
They paused here, happy to be together in the quiet.
"I guess I need to get over to the stupid reception. This Renaissance wedding is going to culminate in Carrie Duncan's backyard. Fifty gallons of chilli, and all the beer you can drink. Pretty damn classy."
Lorelai smiled, "It does have that ring of historical authenticity."
"You coming? I could drive you over..." said Luke standing.
Did that sound hopeful or desperate?
Lorelai shook her head, "It sounds great but I have to get back to work." She stood up too.
Luke nodded and walked her out to her car.
"What are you working on today?"
"I have to do the second coat of grout sealer in all the bathrooms."
Luke lifted his brows and smiled an amused kind of smile.
"What? I am a modern woman! How hard is it? You just dab it on with a sponge..."
"Umm Hmm," nodded Luke. "Ruined your manicure didn't it?"
"Right through my frickin' rubber gloves! I mean who-the-hell knew you had to seal grout? Seal an envelope, seal a deal, my-lips-are-sealed, sure..."
Luke laughed, "I could come over and help you."
"And let you miss Renaissance chilli and beer? I don't think so," smiled Lorelai.
They paused a moment here before Luke ended it, "I'm pretty sure you and I are overdue for a conversation." He looked at her directly.
Lorelai nodded reluctantly, "It does seem that fate likes to throw up these roadblocks."
"Fate? Hmm..." said Luke.
"Why don't you come find me later this evening? Rory's coming home to help me out."
Luke nodded, set the flowers down, and opened her door for her, but not before taking her handin his.
She looked down at their linked hands and then back up at him.
He gazed back steadily.
And there he was, just about the dearest friend she ever had, making her tummy flip and her toes curl...
"I do believe wearing a tux has emboldened you, Mr. Danes.."
He responded by bravely lifting his other hand to gently cradle her cheek.
It was incredibly soft.
He held his breath and watched then as Lorelai tilted her head back slightly, closed her eyes and breathed deep, then nestled her face into his warm touch...
And that's when she felt his lips lightly and quickly on hers, followed immediately by the thousand tiny shivers down her back which weren't going to go awayfor a very, very long time.
When she opened her eyes he was standing so exactly as he had been before, she wondered briefly if it had been real.
But then he smiled and she had to smile back at him.
Definitely, real.
"Next time, I want your eyes open," he said. And then, "I'll see you later."
And with that he handed her into the car and she then somehow found a way to turn it on and drive home.