Disclaimer: I do not own anyone who you might recognize. Mickey and Elizabeth are owned by Lindsay.
A/N: Many thanks go to Sarah for being a kick-ass beta-reader. She keeps me honest and on-target and what more could one ask for? Thanks also go to Lindsay for being the one who came up with this idea. She's the one who demanded that I write it down and for that I'm very grateful. She's got good taste.
I am really sorry for the length of time it's been between updates. My little laptop was under the weather for a while and I've only just gotten her back from the doctor. ::cough, cough:: Here that? She's still not feeling great, but she's doing much better.
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The next few days passed the way they usually did. Lorelai began interviewing for the job Mickey would be giving up and at breakfast one morning a book on how to study for the G.E.D appeared near her plate.
As promised, Mickey took the conversation she'd had with Lorelai to heart and spent her evenings with the book propped up in bed. With Elizabeth sleeping, Mickey fought her own exhaustion to study as late as she could. Unfortunately, hard work did not necessarily translate into an easy understanding of the material and her study sessions quickly spilled into daytime hours as she spent every spare second with the book in front of her eyes.
One Wednesday shortly after Sookie and Lorelai had decided to eliminate lunch, Mickey was once again trying to push the information into her head while Elizabeth sat next to her in the playpen banging some of Davey's trucks together. The kitchen would be quiet until about three when the dinner prep would start.
For the third time, Mickey read a paragraph on some mathematical equation and was just about to throw the book across the room when she heard the back door open and she looked up. Standing before her, looking a little bored, was a guy. A really cute guy. A guy with shaggy blonde hair, deep set blue eyes, a crooked nose, and a wide friendly mouth. There was also some luggage at his feet and Mickey thought for a second that he must be a confused guest. Still, the little experience Mickey had with members of the opposite sex rushed back to her now and she actually felt her mouth go dry.
Catching herself, Mickey said softly, "Can…can I help you?"
"Yeah, I'm looking for Jackson Melville," he answered shortly glancing around.
"Uh, he's not here," she told him tentatively. "I think he and Sookie took Davey to a doctor's appointment."
His attitude was seriously diminishing the rush was warmth she'd felt a second ago. The guy looked around the kitchen with a good bit of derision and then his eyes fell on Elizabeth. Cutting his eyes back and forth from E to Mickey, understanding grew and he almost looked contemptuous. Mickey felt her cheeks get hot. Almost everyone in town had been so nice to her that she'd forgotten that there had been a few people before she'd come here who'd made her feel pretty bad about herself.
With a soft blush, Mickey looked down at her lap and tried to think of something to say. Her temper was flaring and she was about to give him a piece of her mind when the sharp click of heels that always announced Lorelai's arrival saved her and they both swung their eyes over to the door. Sure enough, Lorelai came around the corner and made a beeline for the coffee pot as she chattered away.
"Hey, Mick," she breezed without looking. "I'm dying for a hit." Lorelai filled a mug and lifted it to her lips, then pulled it away with a deep sigh of satisfaction. "Much better," she murmured.
Looking up, Lorelai suddenly noticed that Mickey wasn't alone. "Can I help you?" she asked, repeating Mickey's initial question.
"I'm looking for Jackson or Sookie," the guy said, clearly annoyed.
"Well, Jackson doesn't work here, he's just our produce supplier and Sookie took Davey to the doctor. I'm Lorelai, Sookie's partner."
"I'm Owen," he said, extending his hand.
"Ah, yes," Lorelai answered. "Owen. Sookie mentioned you'd be coming, but I didn't get the entire story."
"It isn't a long one," he said crossing his arms over his chest. "I wanted to take a year off before starting pre-med, my parents wouldn't let me, so I flunked out the first semester."
"And they sent you here."
"Yup."
"Huh," Lorelai said thoughtfully. Then, as if just noticing Mickey she continued, "Have you two met, then?"
"Not officially," he said, remembering his manners and extending his hand to Mickey. "I'm Owen Melville."
"Mickey Stone," she answered giving him a firm, no-nonsense handshake. She'd recovered from her initial awe and refused to be cowed by him. The three of them stood in silence for a second until Lorelai said, "Well, I'm going to go try to call Jackson. He should be home."
Lorelai took her leave and left Owen and Mickey alone in the kitchen. Breaking the silence Owen said, "Studying?"
"Yeah."
"This your kid?" he asked stooping down so that he was at E's height. The baby gazed up at him, a stranger, with solemnity.
"Yup," Mickey answered ready to tear his head off.
"He's cute."
"Her name is Elizabeth."
Owen shot a glance at her and said, "Her outfit has dump trucks all over it."
"Since when are women banned from the construction industry?" Mickey blazed sarcastically.
"Since never, but – "
"But nothing," Mickey interrupted.
"Hey, it's not like you can always tell with babies, okay? I'm sorry I thought she was a boy."
"Fine," Mickey answered looking back down at her book. Her eyes fell on the math problem she'd been struggling with and she made a face and heaved a sigh.
"Trouble in paradise?"
Mickey looked up and said, "Excuse me?"
"It sounds like you need some help."
"I'm fine, thanks," she answered haughtily.
Without asking, Owen peered over her shoulder at the problem and said, "I remember these."
Mickey looked up at him suspiciously. His shaggy hair had fallen forward into his eyes and she wanted to do the unthinkable – push it back for him. Clasping her hands tightly in her lap again, she said, "The test is in four weeks. Can you show me how to do this before then?"
"Most definitely," he told her as something else crept into his face. Not respect, she thought. It couldn't be. The look he'd given her before precluded anything like it.
Lorelai found them fifteen minutes later sitting together, hunched over the book with her notebook open and full of equations. Clearing her throat, she said, "Owen?"
Glancing up, Owen saw Lorelai in the doorway and said, "Yeah?"
"Jackson's on his way over. Apparently they weren't sure when you'd be arriving so they're not quite prepared. He'll be here soon."
"Thanks," he answered.
Lorelai left and a few minutes later Jackson arrived. After greetings were exchanged, Jackson left them to speak to Lorelai and Mickey and Owen continued to work on the dreaded math problems.
While Jackson was gone, Owen took the opportunity to study the girl sitting next to him. She was about his age, maybe a little younger. He wondered what her story was. When he'd arrived she'd looked him over the way women had been looking at him his entire life – as if he were the daily special. God, he was sick of it. The last year of his life had been about getting away with murder because he could charm anyone into anything and he was thoroughly bored with it. She'd fallen under the spell right away and he'd been a jerk in response. He didn't want just another chick bending over backwards for him.
She'd changed, though. After he'd looked Elizabeth over and implied that she was less than pure, she'd gotten defensive. Then, when the adults had gone, she'd actually given him crap. He'd been intrigued. Nobody gave him crap.
The math problems had given him a chance to get closer to her, but she wasn't backing down. She'd accepted his help, but it was as if she'd completely closed herself off from him. She'd schooled her features to give nothing away about what she was thinking or feeling. Their conversation was limited to her studies.
For her part, Mickey found him to be thoughtful and interesting and a surprisingly good teacher. It would just be for this one time, though, she reminded herself. The last thing she needed was some hoighty-toighty boy making her feel insecure. If he didn't think she was good enough him, then she didn't think he was good enough for her.
Just as they'd finished the last problem, Jackson and Lorelai came back into the kitchen. Mickey glanced at the clock and noticed that it was getting close to three. Sookie would be back soon with Davey.
"Owen," Jackson began. "Lorelai and I have been talking and she's willing to give you a job here. Ever since your uncle Rune went home, they've needed a handyman and you should fit the bill pretty well. Also, we just found out that Sookie is expecting again, so the guest room at our place is going to be taken. That means that you're going to get one of the servant's rooms upstairs."
"Servant's room?" Owen repeated.
"Yep. Is that okay with you, Mick?" Lorelai broke in. "It means you'll be sharing a bathroom."
"Oh, yeah," Mickey said, not feeling at all okay. "No problem."
"Great. Owen, what do you think?" Lorelai asked.
Owen shrugged. "I guess so. What would I be doing?"
"Handyman stuff," Lorelai answered. "Mowing the lawn, fixing things when they break, mucking out stalls when we need you to, stuff like that."
"Sure," he said. "That sounds okay."
"Great," Jackson said.
After Owen had gotten his luggage together, Lorelai brought him up to the third floor and led him to a room that was about the size of a toaster.
"Good lord," he said, tossing his biggest bag on the narrow bed.
"Yep. Dropping out was such a good call," Lorelai joked sarcastically. She'd noticed some weird vibe going on between Owen and Mickey and she felt very protective of the girl.
"Who else lives up here?" he asked, looking around her down the dim hallway.
"Mickey and E are in that room," Lorelai said, pointing to the room next to his. "The bathroom is there," she continued, pointing to another door, "and that's it. You can start by going down to the stables and making sure that Amos doesn't need any help with the horses."
"Horses?"
"Yeah!" she said brightly. "Med school's probably starting to look pretty good, huh?" she added before ducking out.
Owen stood in the little room and looked around. There was a bed, a small dresser, and a sad nightstand. Lorelai was right, med school was starting to look pretty good.
