Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Author's Note: Thanks so much for all of the encouraging reviews, in spite of the turn the story took. I really do appreciate the feedback. Again I must give huge thanks to the betas for their incredible feedback. iheartbridges, JeSouhaite, and lulabo, you all are wonderful!
Chapter 2 – A month earlier
Lorelai tried to remember if Luke had ever paid any attention to the people she'd dated before, if he had ever reacted at all when she'd mentioned the men in her life. Because she must have mentioned them, right?
Frankly, she wasn't surprised she couldn't remember, given how long it had been since she'd been on a date. Had it been New Year's…no, that was the previous year. It must have been the insurance guy she met when she upgraded her coverage on the house, which meant it had been almost a year. Wow, a year since she'd been on a date. She'd had a seriously long dry spell.
With that disturbing revelation she gave up trying to recall if Luke had ever commented, had ever seemed to care, about the insurance guy.
None of that really mattered, because now he did seem to care. She'd been intrigued by his more than passing interest in the Chilton dad, and when he asked her again to make sure she wasn't going, she realized that he didn't want her to go. That he was glad she wasn't going. And that warmed her just a bit more than she'd expected.
Enough so that later, when she and Rory wandered down the street past the diner, she remembered the way he'd looked at her and even, she reluctantly admitted, how gorgeous his eyes were when trained on her so intently.
It got her thinking, wondering, and for a moment she forgot that while she did consider Rory her best friend, asking your daughter if a guy was cute probably crossed some sort of line into impropriety. If she didn't want Rory looking too closely at any male anatomy anytime soon, she probably shouldn't share opinions with her regarding the shape of a guy's butt. Not that she was looking at his butt or anything.
She had Sookie, but Sookie tended to blow Lorelai's hypothetical musings about the men in her life way out of proportion, and Lorelai most definitely knew better than to bring up Luke in those terms in front of Sookie.
She missed that sort of girl talk though. She hadn't gotten her fair share of it as a teenager, and part of her just wanted to giggle and daydream without any commitment. To imagine what could be without anyone reading too much into it. To dream up silly fantasies about storerooms or tabletops without having anyone start planning a wedding.
But then Rory used the word date. She hadn't even been thinking about dating. Couldn't a girl admire from afar? But no, Rory mentioned it and now she couldn't get the thought out of her head.
A date with Luke. Where would he take her? What would they talk about? Would he kiss her good night? Would she like it?
After a restless night and some surprising dreams, she was a little unnerved to admit to herself that she thought she would, or that she'd at least like to find out.
Except that she couldn't because Rory was right – he was Luke. There was too much at stake, too many ways that their lives could be turned upside down.
It was silly to be thinking about it anymore at all.
But as they headed out the door that morning, she couldn't get it off her mind, couldn't help asking, "So, no dating Luke, but Al is okay?" She kept her voice light, casual.
Rory's brow furrowed, as if she were trying to make sense of the question, but then she nodded, an amused expression dawning across her features.
"I mean," Lorelai continued brightly as she opened the door of the Jeep and climbed in, "maybe we should make a list. It'd be good to know who my prospects are."
"Okay," Rory said slowly, drawing out the word the way she did when she was humoring her mother. "What are the criteria?"
"Guys whose services we could live without – and wow, that came out way dirtier than I intended."
"Mom, focus, and uh…drive, by the way."
"I'm working on it." Lorelai turned the key, flipped the car into reverse and backed onto the street. "Okay, so I just meant like in the case of an evil breakup, we could survive. You know, not go hungry or clothes-less."
"Don't you mean naked?"
"No, naked is what you are when you take a shower. Clothes-less is not having anything to put on after said shower."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Your point being?"
"No one who is integral to our lives."
"Got it." Rory looked at her expectantly. "So, should we start?"
"What, you want me to just throw out some names?"
"How about we go alphabetically? We've already got Al."
Lorelai grimaced. "Does that mean I have to go out with Al?"
"These are just prospects."
"Okay, so…"
"Andrew," Rory finished.
"But, the bookstore. You couldn't live without the bookstore."
"But you could."
"Hey, what are you saying?" Lorelai asked indignantly, as she came to a stop across from the diner and stepped out of the car.
Rory got out of the car and met her mother's eyes over the roof of the Jeep. "Nothing. Just that even if you couldn't go to the bookstore, I could, so Andrew is a valid possibility."
"Okay, but only if you agree to buy me things."
"Sure, if you date Andrew and end up having a horrible break-up, I will buy you all the books you want from his bookstore," Rory said sarcastically as they walked toward the diner.
"Are you mocking me?"
"Mocking you? Not at all. There's nothing remotely mockable about this situation," Rory teased as she pulled open the door to the diner. Lorelai just stuck her tongue out at her, to which Rory responded, "So, moving on. How about Bootsie?"
"Definitely a necessity," Lorelai said, dropping her purse on the back of a chair before sitting down.
"Why? It's not like it's food or clothes or books," Rory protested.
"How are magazines not like books? First you question my need for literature and now you've dismissed my reading material as frivolous?"
Rory shrugged. "Fine, it's a necessity, but you can get them anywhere. Even," she says, gesturing down the street for emphasis, "at the bookstore."
"Unless the bookstore is off-limits," Lorelai pointed out.
"In which case, I'll buy your non-frivolous, necessary reading material." Rory pulled out a pad and began writing. "Okay, so Bootsie and Andrew. Wow, we're off to a rockin' start."
"Wait, you're really going to write them down?" Lorelai asked uncertainly. Watching the words go down on paper gave the silly diversion more importance somehow, made her less able to write this off as some kind of goofy mother-daughter antic. And that made her feel surprisingly unsettled.
"That's kinda the nature of a list."
"Don't you think we'll remember? How many prospects can there really be?"
"Prospects for what?" Lorelai looked up to see Luke bearing a coffee pot and two mugs.
"Oh nothing. Just…uh…trying to come up with some…uh…nothing really important." Lorelai wondered if she looked as flushed as she felt. She wondered if Luke knew how good he looked when he gave her that skeptical look that was part confusion and part amusement.
"Okay," he answered slowly. "Well, I'll leave you to that then. You just want the usual?"
They both nodded silently, but when he returned to the kitchen, Rory turned to her mother. "Well, that was pretty evasive. Any reason you don't want to talk about prospective dates in front of Luke?"
"No," Lorelai's responded quickly, giving a casual wave of her hand as she attempted to brush aside the idea. "Of course not. I just know that Luke doesn't want to hear about my personal life. I thought I'd spare him."
"Ah, how considerate of you," Rory said knowingly.
"Oh, hush you. Now, are we going to continue this list thing or what?"
"Whatever you say."
They continued, speaking quietly, periodically shushed by Lorelai when their whispers became heated.
When Luke appeared with their food, he raised his eyebrow. "I really don't want to know what you're doing, do I?"
Lorelai shook her head, saying, "No, you really, really don't."
She didn't see the mischievous glint in Rory's eye until the words were halfway out of her daughter's mouth. "We're trying to figure out safe people for Mom to date."
"Rory!" Lorelai protested in a loud whisper, shocked and embarrassed at the attention. Between Luke's questions and Rory's knowing glances she felt like she was losing control of what had started as an innocent conversation with her daughter.
Luke gave Lorelai a curious glance, then looked back at Rory. "Safe?"
"Well, you know, someone who…uh…who can handle her unique energy," Rory explained.
"Ahh," he said, his expression becoming entirely amused. "Any possibilities?"
To Lorelai's horror, Rory ran down the list, adding brief commentary about the decision making process thus far, thankfully skirting the issue of why they were making the list. Luke's apparent nonchalance was betrayed by little shuffles of his feet and the way that he avoided Lorelai's eye.
"So that's it?" he asked, as Rory finished up her summary. He glanced at Lorelai. "Sounds like you've got a winning bunch there."
"Well, we're still working our way through the alphabet," Rory clarified. "We were arguing about Kirk."
Lorelai made a noise of protest, and Luke excused himself, chuckling as he walked away,
Rory looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know, it's too bad Luke makes such good pancakes."
Lorelai narrowed her eyes, giving Rory a questioning look.
"He's single, good-looking, and he likes you."
"Rory!" Lorelai tried to shush her daughter even as she felt herself beginning to blush.
"What? He does."
"No, it just creeps me out a little to have you calling him good-looking." Rory gave her a smirk. "And, he does not. It doesn't matter anyway. His burgers are a major part of our food pyramid."
"And there's Danish Day."
"And the coffee…" Lorelai's voice trailed off. She couldn't quite pinpoint the feeling in the pit of her stomach; she just knew that it wasn't comfortable. Rory reached for her coffee and the motion startled Lorelai back to the moment. When she looked up, Rory was watching her curiously.
Lorelai ignored the look in Rory's eye and attempted to change the subject by asking about her English test.
"I thought we were working on the list," Rory said innocently. "If you're sure about Kirk, it's time to move on to the L's."
Lorelai pretended to think for a moment. "Nope, no L's. I guess Martin would be next?"
"Martin? Who's Martin?"
Lorelai didn't get a chance to answer as Luke chose that moment to refill their coffee. While pouring, he asked casually, "So, did you ever make it past the K's?"
"Yeah, we're working on the M's now, apparently debating Martin," Rory said with a smile.
He looked confused. "Martin? Who's that?"
Mortified at Luke's interest, Lorelai buried her face in her arms and mumbled, "Dairy guy at the inn." After a moment though, she lifted her head suddenly, "Oh wait, nix him. I think he's married."
"Definitely nix," Rory said, nodding in agreement.
"Seems logical," Luke added. "So where did you end up on Kirk? That seemed like a match made in heaven."
Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Or perhaps a different location that's a little bit warmer."
Rory clarified, "See, he was on, but Mom remembered that he works events at the inn sometimes, so technically he's an employee."
"You let Kirk work for you?" Luke asked Lorelai skeptically.
"Only sometimes. Although, if it keeps him off this list, I think I'll hire him full time." She narrowed her eyes at Rory. "Right, Rory?"
"Yes, I definitely crossed him off the list," she said, gesturing at the paper in front of her. "Luke can vouch for me, okay?"
Luke glanced down at the paper, nodding. Then his face froze in a stunned expression and he swallowed nervously as he reached both hands up to adjust his hat. "Uh…yeah…Kirk's definitely crossed off. Look, I need to get back to the kitchen to uh…"
"Cook something?" Lorelai asked, unnerved at his sudden nervousness.
"Right…yeah…I'll be back with your food."
Lorelai watched him walk away, then turned to Rory, "Okay, what just turned Luke into a stammering idiot?" The list caught her eye and she snatched it away from Rory, scanning it quickly. Just below Kirk's crossed-out name was Luke, very much not crossed out. Her mouth dropped open in shock. "Rory!" she hissed, dropping the list back down in front of Rory.
"What?"
"The whole point of that list was that Luke was not an option." She pointed at her daughter. "You were the one who said that I couldn't date Luke."
"Yeah, I know," Rory admitted, sheepishly.
"So why is his name here, on this list, in purple sparkly gel ink?" She frowned slightly and her brow wrinkled. "And since when do you write with sparkly purple ink?"
"Since I found the pen…I don't know where," Rory answered, then looked directly at her mother and continued, "and because you like him."
"What are you…why would you say that?" Lorelai stammered. The certainty in Rory's voice took her by surprise. She was used to the occasional subtle hint from Rory or Sookie about Luke's feelings for her, but mentioning her feelings was something else entirely. And Rory wasn't being at all subtle now.
"You said he was cute," Rory said matter-of-factly.
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I asked if you thought he was cute."
Rory shrugged. "Same thing."
"It's not the same at all," Lorelai protested, then let out a sigh. "It doesn't matter anyway, because there's the coffee and the not being able to eat here. That is why we made this stupid list. This whole not-safe-for-Lorelai to date was your idea. You were the one who said-"
"I know," Rory cut in quietly. "But I shouldn't have."
Lorelai just stared at her wide-eyed, trying to make sense of Rory's words.
Rory folded the list twice and passed it across the table. "Mom, if you're looking for a casual date, there might be some possibilities here, or you know, in another town." She gave her mother a long look. "But if you like him, and he likes you, you shouldn't let the coffee get in the way." She paused for a second before adding, "I've got to catch my bus, but I'll see you tonight."
"Wait, Rory. You can't leave," Lorelai called as her daughter headed for the door.
Rory just turned and smiled, and Lorelai couldn't help but wonder how Rory had become so attuned to her romantic feelings, when she'd worked so hard to keep that part of her life separate from her daughter.
Next: Lorelai pays her bill.
