I smile at him warmly. "Relax Logan, we'll get you sustenance from Luke's as soon as possible. Did my mom go over the dynamics of our darling little town?"

He nods. "I think so. Something about never turning my back on a lady named Patty and to ignore Mrs. Kim's screaming."

I shrug. "It's a little more complicated than that, but it'll do. One more, if you see Dean with a blonde…or we run into him with one…just let it be."

"Dean being truck guy from last night?"

I nod.

"Ex-girlfriend?"

I close my eyes, and shake my head. "Wife."

There's a short pause. "Good to know."

"You don't seem to be freaking out."

He smiles. "I'm not. It's sort of nice to know that you're not perfect."

"Who are you kidding? I am perfect."

He leans on the counter next to me. "I'm going to let that slide in hopes of leniency later."

I look up at him. "For what?" What did he do?

"Long story. I do believe we have a tour to get to?"

"What did you do Logan?"

"You already know Ace, but I'd rather discuss the ramifications in public so that you can't hurt me too severely."

I narrow my eyes, and lead him to the porch. "This is the porch. It was here that my mom apologized to Max for accidentally standing him up on their first date."

"Who's Max?"

"My mom's ex-fiancé."

"Why did she stand him up?"

"We had to go to Cinnamon's funeral."

I smile as his face twists in confusion. "You guys went to the funeral for –

"Babette and Maury's cat." I supply quickly.

"You had a funeral for a cat."

"Cinnamon was their companion on the road of life!" I grin.

"I know we agreed you're perfect, but does that have to mean you're sane?"

"No one ever said I was sane Logan. Just that I was perfect."

"Right. So cat funeral?"

"Cat funeral."

"This is going to be a long day."

"Yep." I lead him away from the house, and as we turn onto the street, I gesture at Miss Patty and Babette walking toward us. "That's Miss Patty and Babette."

"The rose ladies?"

"Don't forget to watch your back." I murmur, and then meet their eyes. "Hi Miss Patty! Hi Babette!"

They approach quickly. "Welcome to Stars Hollow darling. Come on then, give us a hug." Patty gestures at Logan.

"She's talking to you limo boy." I mutter, pushing him forward, then grinning as Patty grips his ass firmly.

"Mornin' sugar." Babette says warmly. "How're you feelin' after last night? We heard Dean stranded you in Hartford."

Logan's eyes are wide, and a little bit scary as Patty releases him and hands him over to Babette, who carefully examines his arms. "How you doin' blondie?" she asks him.

"I'm good Babette. Logan and a few other friends were kind enough to give me a ride home, and then he brought my car in this morning."

"The limo – we saw. Very slick young man." Patty smiles.

He nods slowly as they begin to move away. "Nice to meet you darlin'!" Babette says with a wave. "Rory, say hi to your mom for me!"

I wave back. "You'll probably see her first! I think she's at Luke's."

As they move away, I hear Patty commenting on how cute Logan is, and glance at him.

His eyes are dark as he moves closer to me. "You owe me Ace." He growls, and I shrug.

"Both my mother and I told you to watch your back around Miss Patty." I point out carefully, backing into the fence post as he moves right in front of me.

"You did not tell me that two middle aged women were going to fondle me in the street Rory."

I bite my lip. "I may have neglected to mention that particular aspect of the proposed encounter, yes."

"Should I be expecting any more surprises?"

"Kirk."

"Who is Kirk?" he asks, and I feel the warmth of his breath on my face as his voice drops slightly.

I tilt my head. "That's Kirk."

He turns his head slightly to take in the sight of Kirk in full lumberjack regalia, pulling a red wagon of wood and being trailed by Lulu.

"Hello Rory." Kirk says warmly.

"Hi Kirk. What's new?"

"I'm taking this wood to the Inn. They ran out ahead of schedule. You remember my girlfriend Lulu, right? She's my girlfriend."

Lulu waves a bit, and I smile at her. "Hi Lulu. Kirk, Lulu, this is Logan." I tilt my head at him.

Logan nods carefully, "Nice to meet you Kirk, Lulu."

"Have you met Lulu before? She's my girlfriend."

I feel Logan tense next to me, and smile. "We should get going Kirk, Logan wanted me to show him around town."

I see his eyes light up. "A tour? I could get my cart!"

I wince. "No! No, go deliver the wood. I'm pretty sure my tour won't be quite as detailed, but Logan really wanted me to do it."

He nods. "You're right. My girlfriend and I should get going before Sookie finds us and yells at me for not having the wood at the inn sooner."

I lead Logan past Kirk quickly. "Bye Kirk!" I call, pulling Logan away, even as he begins to shake with laughter. "If you think that's funny, just wait until you meet Taylor."

He leans against a building. "Who was that?"

"Kirk." I remind him.

"But how, but…"

"There is no other explanation for Kirk Logan. That's it."

"Is that Lulu chick aware of how cracked he is?"

"That's sort of why she's with him." I move to lean on the same building as him and smile sadly, pointing. "That's the gazebo." I tell him.

He nods. "No cute porch story to that one? No cat funeral?"

I shake my head. "Dean and Lindsay got married there."

I feel his arm come around my shoulder and pull me into his chest. "You're going to be okay Ace."

I nod. "I mostly already am. Dean and I have been over for a long time. This time around…we were mostly looking to return to the safety of what we used to have, I think, and it got out of hand."

"That sounds reasonable enough."

"Remember how I mentioned he's still technically married?"

"A minor ripple."

"Why do I trust you?" I ask suddenly, looking up at him sharply. "I mean, I haven't even been able to talk to Lane about this, feeling like this about him. Why you?"

"Probably the same reasons I trust you. Unknown but powerful. Don't get me wrong, I trust Colin, Finn, and Steph with my life, but I've never taken a side trip into the boonies to bring them their cars."

"That's because they haven't caught your attention for some reason you can't comprehend."

"Something like that. You really do see to the center of things, don't you?"

I shrug. "I can sort of relate. There's this guy I met recently that caught my attention, and I'm not really sure why, since he's nothing like anyone else I've ever known."

"Just something about him?"

"Pretty much."

"Perhaps we should explore this mystery of being drawn to one another together then?"

I look up at him and feel his breath on my face once more. "Perhaps we should." I whisper.

"Ace?" he suddenly asks.

"Yeah?"

"Why are there tables in that hardware store?"

"That would be where our tour ends. That's Luke's."

"The diner?"

"Yep."

"I'm not even going to ask."

"Good plan." I lead him across the street and into the small diner, looking around.

"She had to go to the inn, Michel called. Something about your grandmother and a friend of hers…Miriam something?"

I feel Logan tense next to me. "Huntzberger." He deadpans. "Miriam Huntzberger."

I stare at him incredulously as Luke nods. "That would be the one."

"Ace, you remember that leniency you promised me?"

"I do."

"We need to talk, pretty much now."