Just got back from Disneyland! That's right, I'm graduating from college in five weeks and I spent my last Spring Break in the Happiest Place on Earth. No windows, Rory.

So: here's two chapters, one very important revelation, and my thanks again for all your reviews. Enjoy!

Luke Lore

"Did he ever tell you about the time he pushed Jess in the lake?" Rory asked, her voice tinged with amusement.

"No!" Sookie's eyes popped open, and she giggled. "I would have paid good money to see that!"

"It was right after Taylor accused Jess of stealing money from the market, which he probably did, and Luke had already had it up to here," Rory held her hand level with her forehead. "He just gave Jess a big shove as they went over the footbridge and kept on walking."

"Remind me not to go on any walks with Luke in the future," Sookie chuckled. Her smile faded for a moment as the heaviness of the night weighed down on her again, but she roused herself. "How did you find out? Did Jess tell you?"

"No way," Rory scoffed. "Luke kept right on walking to Mom's, ranted in classic Luke style about kids and jam hands and parenting, and she, of course, told me all about it."

One chair away Emily eavesdropped on their conversation as she pretended to read an out-of-date trashy magazine, and she half-smiled before she caught herself and stopped. She'd only met that little punk Jess once, but it would have given her great satisfaction to have pushed him in a lake herself.

"Remember how he always complains and grumbles loudly about how pointless the Revolutionary War re-enactments are?" Sookie said. "On and on, in the town meetings, in the diner, when he sees them in the square- he doesn't shut up until it snows and they get it over with."

"But he always takes them tea and hot chocolate," Rory added fondly. "What about the time when he spent two hours chasing my science-project chick around the house?"

"Oh, I knew about that one," Sookie said meaningfully. "Stella got out and the only person your poor mom could think of to call was Luke. I told her at the time, but she didn't listen."

"Told her what?"

"That she was secretly in love with Luke and wanted to jump him."

"I've been telling her that for ages," Rory sympathized. "She had a dream once that she and Luke were married and she was pregnant. I told her it was because she was secretly in love with Luke and wanted to have his twins."

"I can't believe she didn't figure it out sooner," Sookie marveled. "Everyone's been telling her for years- you, me, Patty, Babette."

And me, Emily thought, feeling strangely left out.

"Isn't it funny how he always yells at me when I go behind the counter?" Sookie wondered aloud.

"Don't feel special- he yells at everyone who goes behind the counter," Rory commented wryly.

"Except for Lorelai."

"No, he yells at her, too," Rory corrected, smiling. "But he doesn't mean it. He never means it when he yells at Mom." Her smile faded and she shot a brief, worried glance at Lorelai sitting on the other side of Emily. Her legs were drawn up close to her body, and she hugged her knees as she stared unfocused at an unspecific spot on the floor. She was listening closely to every word of the conversation, but gave no sign.

"Well, he means it when he yells at me," Sookie lamented. "All because I tried to add a little something to the sauce…"

"He's just set in his ways," Rory explained consolingly. "He doesn't like change."

"So it's a good thing he's already a decent cook," Sookie sniffed. "I can't actually find fault with much of his food, and there's not much I would change, even if he took criticism well. Which reminds me- can you keep a secret?"

"From everybody but Mom- she always tortures them out of me with Dr. Phil reruns," Rory warned.

"Eh, she's the one who told me in the first place," Sookie said dismissively. "Apparently, Luke actually tries out some of my suggestions when he thinks no one's watching."

"And he told Mom this?" Rory asked incredulously. "She'll never let him live that down."

"He doesn't have much to worry about," Sookie said reassuringly. "Luke's a fabulous cook, but even Michelangelo studied other artists."

"He made me a coffee cake for my sixteenth birthday," Rory remembered.

"Michelangelo?"

"No, Luke. It was amazing. He even blew up balloons and wrote 'Happy Birthday, Rory' on them."

"He loves you like you're his own kid, you know," Sookie said.

"Yeah," Rory agreed. "And I take him for granted. He's always just there, you know? I wish…I wish I would have told him that he's been more like a father to me than Dad ever was. I mean, I love Dad and everything, but he didn't teach me to ride a bike, or make me mashed potatoes when I had the chicken pox, or give me a big awkward hug when I got accepted to Harvard and Princeton and Yale. Luke did."

"Good old Luke," Sookie sighed.

Their conversation died out, but their words still rang loudly in Emily's ears. She stared thoughtfully at her magazine for so long that even Lorelai grew curious and roused herself from her daze. She peered over Emily's shoulder at the article that had so completely captured her mother's attention. Her eyes widened as she read the title, "What Kind of Lover Are You?" Knowing she probably didn't want the answer, she leaned over anyway and asked quietly, "So, what's the verdict?"

Emily slammed the magazine shut quickly. Guilty, Lorelai decided.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Emily asked, almost regretfully.

"Tell you what?"

"All this," Emily indicated Rory and Sookie's conversation with a tilt of her head. "I never knew what he did. What he does."

Lorelai stared at her in bewilderment. "What do you mean?"

"How old was he? When his parents died?" Emily seemed to suddenly and nonsensically switch topics.

"What?" Lorelai was confused, and a little reluctant to share such information. "Umm, he was really young when he lost his mom- nine or ten, I think. And his dad died fifteen years ago. Luke was in his last year of college, but he quit to come home and take care of his sister and his father's business."

Emily nodded silently.

"He had a baseball scholarship," Lorelai added, not really knowing why she was telling her mother all of this. "He probably could have gone pro."

"But family was more important," Emily analyzed.

Lorelai smiled. "Yes, family is important to Luke. Even though he hardly has any."

"You're his family," Emily stated.

Lorelai nodded, proudly. "Me and Rory."

"She obviously cares a lot about him," Emily noted. "She thinks very highly of him."

Wistfully Lorelai realized that Rory's opinion held more weight with Emily than her own did, which hurt. But she would take what she could get.

"Yes," she agreed.

Emily sat for a long moment, silent, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I hope he's all right," she finally said.

Lorelai nodded twice, swallowing in a throat that was suddenly closed to words. Slowly Emily reached out and took Lorelai's hand, and Lorelai squeezed it tightly, still hanging on.