5.20 How Many Kropogs to Cape Cod? episode addition. A week or two later.
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Dark blue for light blue.
Because the light blue feels more like Spring. And sets off her eyes better. She'd waffled on the choice for awhile, mostly because she could, and then had gone ahead and made the exchange.
And it had been nice to get out of town and make the drive to New Haven. It was sunny and pleasant out. A beautiful new day.
She'd decided against the capri pants though. They looked too bon vivant for her taste right now. And she was in no mood for bon vivant. But to be out and alone is... nice. She hasn't done something like this in a very long time.
So she walks along the boutique-filled street, pausing now and then to look in a window.
Richard and Emily are in Cape Cod compound shopping for the week.. At least that's what the maid's told her.
She's not real sure why she called. Harboring illusions that they would listen to her, much less believe her, when it came to her concerns about anything had melted permanently away from her when she'd left home nearly two decades ago.
So why does she still let it bother her?
Her real worry, she supposes, is that they no longer were listening to Rory. To what Rory really wanted: A career.
And she'd always thought there was hope for Rory (to be heard) as far as her parents were concerned.
But it's out of her hands now.
She knows this. She'd let her fear and emotion speak for her.
Never a good idea.
The light blue sweater was definitely a better choice, she thought again, as she continued to stroll.
Oh, cute! A pet store! Lop-eared rabbits in the window. Sweet.
There'd been no real choice to make those two decades ago. Having Rory and Leaving Home remained Rock Solid Choices by her to this day (marrying Christopher hadn't even been a blip on the screen.)
And, she's fine. She really is. Great even.
For twenty years now, she has made the best of it. Always the best of it.
No money for toys? Well, make up a game, by God! No money for clothes? Learn to sew. Television broken? Head to the square to play 'One Two Three He's Yours'. Boyfriend who loves you but doesn't want kids? Buh-bye. Career? Scrub the toilet and be glad for the sprawl of loose change left behind on the bureau.
Her character was built, dammit.
She slips into the Starbucks then and orders a decadent, over-priced concoction with whipped cream. She watches the expensively dressed kids talk on cell phones, then slip them into Prada bookbags. She wonders which will be the doctor she goes to see in a few years, or the broker her father considers, or the socialite her mother cultivates.
Once out on the high street again, she thinks about calling Rory.
But knows she'll be hung up on as she has the last three times she's tried.
Rory has made her choice for now.
She can only sincerely hope that it doesn't include petty thievery in some of Connecticut's finest homes.
She has a sudden memory then of the day Rory got her very own library card. How excited she was. How Sookie made a cake to celebrate! Making the best of that day had been effortless.
She thinks about Luke then.
His loving her so much that he both wants her to stretch her wings and doesn't. Silly man is afraid. Thinks he is only Stars Hollow. Still doesn't fully believe how fiercely she loves him back.
As far as she's concerned it's another in the handful of the Rock Solid Choices.
But does she have it within her to run her Inn and consult?
She never did go to a real college.
You can do anything, Luke has told her over and over through the years. You can go to school, you can run your own Inn, you can be a professional out in the wide, wide world. Anything.
You can.
A warmth spreads through her then. He has believed in her in a way her parents never have. He has listened and heard her.
She's always Made The Best of It. Made Do. Because she had to.
So she's not real sure how to go about choosing more. Or, if she should.
You can.
She stops then in front of a Travel Agent. The poster before her shows vineyards in Burgundy. An enormous blue sky spreading above. It's dizzying. Limitless. She lowers her eyes to read the caption sprawled boldly across the lush purple grapes...
You deserve it.
She takes a deep breath then...
You can.
And pulls her phone from her purse, "Mike..." she begins...
You can.
When she's finished talking, she snaps the phone shut and strides into the Travel Agency with her chin up...
And buys two tickets.
You can.
Afterwards, she plans on picking up the capri pants. Luke should have some new clothes too. And some sandals. She laughs out loud at that. Luke in sandals!
She wonders then what his ring size is.