Silence greets her. She looks up from her book; he doesn't seem too busy. A little preoccupied, perhaps? But he is just looking through some loose paperwork.
"Luke?" she tries again.
No answer.
"Uh…Luke?" This time, she raises her voice, as if she's trying to get the attention of one of those annoying boys on the playground.
"Oh. April."
Finally!
"Sorry. I…um…I was kind of distracted there for a minute."
She raises one eyebrow above the rim of her eyeglasses, and then shrugs her shoulders. She moves closer to him, inclining towards him across the diner counter.
"So, this weekend."
"This weekend?"
"Yeah, remember?" she says. "I was wondering if I could have another sleepover."
"Sure. Don't you have a lot of those?"
"I mean here."
"Here?" He puts down the papers.
"Here. Because Mom's going out of town."
"Oh…right. The Boutique Owner's Association thingy..."
"Yep. Some grup thing."
"You want to have a sleepover here?"
"Something like that."
An uncomfortable and awkward silence falls upon them.
"Luke."
"Yeah, April." She notices that he has reverted to becoming more monosyllabic lately.
Monosyllabic. She likes the way the word flows through her mind. She thinks it would feel quite mellifluous on her tongue, were she to say it aloud. She giggles.
"So, how many girls can I invite?"
"To what?"
"The sleepover, Luke."
"Uh, I…dunno. How many do you usually have?"
"Depends."
"On what?"
"Well, shouldn't Lorelai have something to say about that?"
Lorelai. The L word.
"Lorelai?"
The word flows over his tongue, mellifluously. It's been weeks since he has said her name out loud.
"Yeah. She's so cool. I'm so glad she was able to make it to my birthday party! I bet your wedding is going to be the coolest!"
Lorelai.
"Look, April, maybe a sleepover's not such a great idea."
"Why not?"
"Well, because…uh…Lorelai's gonna be out of town that weekend."
Funny how the revelation of Anna's twelve-year lie of omission has led to his apparently now habitual lying to the important females in his life.
The look on her face is crestfallen.
"Well, can she come over some time when I'm here? I really liked her."
"Lane!" he calls into the kitchen. "Lane!"
"Hey." Lane comes out from the back of the diner. "Busy?"
"Naw. Can you play some games with April for a while?"
"Sure." Lane turns to April. "C'mon kiddo. Come stimulate my brain. Zach and his PSP…" She grins at April and they simultaneously roll their eyes.
Luke turns to head upstairs.
"Hey Luke?" April calls after him.
"Yeah."
"Mom said I could go to her weekend meeting with her if I didn't stay here, and bring a friend. Who should I bring?"
Luke forces out a smile. He still can't remember their names, even if he's spent ten days on a bus with them. But he can remember their food preferences, he thinks.
"Depends. Where's this meeting?"
"Mom says it's at this really cool hotel. Quiet, she said."
"Probably best if it's…hey, no boys, right?" He remembers Freddie.
"Ewww. No way." She thinks for a moment. "Maybe Marcie. Marcie likes horses. Mom said this place has horses."
"Sounds like a plan. Hey, don't forget to bring helmets for riding…"
April rolls her eyes and exchanges a look of mock exasperation with Lane.
"So Luke, let me write the info down so I don't forget."
He has a puzzled look on his face.
"So you can call me, silly, when I'm gone this weekend!"
"Oh. Right. Sure."
"Hey kiddo, I can do ya one better!"
Anna has come to pick up their daughter.
Anna hands him a folded piece of paper, and leans in and whispers conspiratorially, "She loves it when you call her on her new cell phone. You should hear her ringtone for you! Diner bells!"
He now rates a kiss from April. Anna has already warned him to enjoy it, because, well, kids stop doing that kind of stuff. He remembers when Rory...
Luke's happy about the kisses he now rates. Because it's the only reason he has for shaving these days.
As they leave, Luke unfolds the paper.
The Connecticut Boutique Guild Craft Show.
At the Dragonfly Inn.
Lorelai Gilmore, Proprietor, it says at the bottom.
Lorelai.
The word is still mellifluous.
And his heart is still broken.