Chapter 6

Someone's in the Kitchen with Emily

The groceries were quickly put away and Emily had suggested that Luke, Lorelai and April go down to the beach before dinner. After about half an hour they came back up to the house so that April could swim laps in the pool. Lorelai lounged on a chaise in the sun wearing a royal blue swimsuit with a matching sarong of royal blue and purple flowers.

Luke went into the kitchen and found Emily putting the potatoes into the oven. "Any thing I can do to help?"

She closed the oven and gave him a warm smile. "No, thanks. Not much to do. Salad is made except for the dressing, potatoes are in the oven and it's too early to put on the green beans." She went to the sink and washed her hands.

"Guess you're all set," he said. "Why don't you come out and join us for a while then."

"You know, I think I will." She dried her hands on a tea towel, then walked over to the refrigerator.

Richard walked briskly into the kitchen humming and was surprised to find Luke there. "Back from the beach already?"

"April wanted to get in some laps before dinner," Luke replied.

Emily had taken a cut glass pitcher of pink liquid out of the refrigerator and she placed it on the island. "Richard, would you please get down a tray?" she asked on her way to cabinet where they kept the glasses.

Richard reached easily into the high cabinet over the refrigerator and pulled out a tray. Soon it was filled with the pitcher, and five ice filled glasses, and Luke was carrying it over to the oblong teak dining table on the patio followed by Emily and Richard.

Richard paused at the edge of the pool and watched April practice her freestyle stroke. "Oh, flip turns, always hated those," he commented as she executed the racing turn underwater and headed toward the other end of the pool.

"Is that what that's called?" Lorelai asked as she sat down at the table between Luke and Emily. Her mother handed her a glass of the limeade. "What's this?"

"This is something I discovered last month at Pixie Lewis's garden party," Emily animatedly launched into her tale of discovering the new beverage, "She of course wouldn't tell me where she got it, but I asked around, did some digging and found out that Marjorie Townsend had served it at the bridge club they belong to with a few other people I know. Marjorie finally admitted it was a frozen mix. It's really very good, don't you think?"

"Whoa, nice story, still no clue what's in the glass," Lorelai said picking it up and eyeing it warily.

"It is cherry limeade and stop looking at it. Just drink it, Lorelai." Emily said flatly and then took a sip of her own drink.

"Mmm, good," Lorelai observed then took another sip. "You know what would make this even better? Rum?"

Emily rolled her eyes.

"Very good idea. We'll have to try that," Richard suggested to Emily.

"Really, both of you, must everything have alcohol in it?" she asked looking from Lorelai to Richard and fixing the latter with a stern glare.

"What? You would prefer vodka?" Lorelai teased.

A small smile appeared on Emily's lips as she shook her head and looked away from her daughter.

An electronic beeping sound began and Lorelai called out, "April. April." She continued to swim and the beeping continued too. Luke got up and retrieved his watch from the low table near the chaise Lorelai had occupied earlier. The beeping stopped. April kept swimming. "Luke, tell her it's break time."

Luke crouched down near the edge of the pool as April approached. "April." She stopped at the wall and looked up at him. "Break time," he explained holding up the watch. "Come have something to drink."

"Okay," she answered and swam to the stairs. Picking up a navy and white stripped beach towel she dried off, wrapped herself in the towel and walked over to the table.

"Here you are," Emily said handing her a glass of limeade.

"Thanks," she replied politely and took a sip.

"You've got a very solid stroke. Good extension." Richard praised her efforts.

"Thanks, but my flip turns stink," April said as she moved to stand back in the sun.

"I wouldn't say stink," Richard replied. "I think it if you start your turn a bit further out from the wall you'll get a better push off and you could try using one arm to flip and one to set your orientation in the water."

April nodded in understanding. "I've seen some people do that but I haven't ever tried it."

"Well give it a try next time, see what you think," Richard said.

"I will," said April appreciatively.

"When did you become a swim coach?" Lorelai wondered aloud.

"Never coached," Richard answered, "but I did swim on my prep school team for three years."

Lorelai stared at him in surprise then shook herself out of it and quipped, "Why only three years?"

"I got tired of being water logged," he said with a smile.

Emily glanced at her watch. "I'm going to go check the potatoes. They should have about half an hour left," she told Richard as she rose and went into the house.

"I should see about the propane tank," Richard said as he got up and walked over to the large grill.

Lorelai looked over at April. "Okay, kid, since you're all drippy and everything. I'll let you use the downstairs shower."

"Nah," April said, "I left all my stuff upstairs anyway."

"Okay, just don't say I didn't offer," Lorelai teased then got up and went inside to shower and change out of her swimsuit.

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After a quick shower, Lorelai dressed in a sleeveless yellow sundress and headed for the kitchen to find her mother. Emily had changed too. She was wearing a wrap dress in shades of green and white. The sleeves ended just above her elbows and the skirt brushed the middle of her knees. No pearls and no apron, but Lorelai had a quick flash of Donna Reed as she watched her mother forking the potatoes and closing the oven. She walked into the kitchen and leaned her forearms against the island as her mother shut off the oven and turned around. "So, Mom, who taught you to cook?" she refrained from adding 'and why am I seeing this for the first time at 39 years old.'

"My mother mostly," Emily answered as she reached into a colander on the island and began snapping the ends off of the green beans, "and watching our cooks when I was a girl. In my day, every young girl was taught what she would need to know to run a household." A wistful look passed over her face and she quickly picked up more beans. "My mother always said 'you can hardly supervise a staff if you don't know the correct way things should be done.'"

"Makes sense," Lorelai replied with a nod. "I mean it's the same way with the inn. Since I've done all those jobs myself, I know if someone is slacking off or not doing things the way I want."

"Yes, I suppose it is." Emily smiled at her daughter enjoying the moment of connection, but knowing from experience it would probably be broken soon.

Lorelai rounded the corner of the island and stopped next to her mother. "So, why don't you show me what you're doing here," she said gesturing to the beans.

Emily glanced back down into the colander again and bit her bottom lip then she shrugged and began to explain. "Well, you see these ends of the bean?" She held one up and demonstrated. "You want to snap those off, and then just put it in the bowl."

Lorelai picked up a few beans and did as her mother had shown her. Emily watched her and nodded in approval, then continued working herself. Moments later all the beans were transferred to the bowl only the ends remaining in the bottom of the colander. "So what's next?" Lorelai asked.

Emily emptied the colander into the trash compactor as she said, "Your father needs to start the steaks before we cook the beans or they'll get mushy and overdone," she explained as she rinsed the colander and placed it on the counter next to the sink and waked over to the French doors between the kitchen and the patio.

Outside, Luke sipped his beer as he looked over the Gilmore version of a barbeque which constituted a complete outdoor kitchen faced with decorative slate. There was a huge gas grill, a small refrigerator from which Richard had given him the beer he was currently sipping. There was even a sink and a two burner stove. The platter of prime cut steaks sat on a granite counter top next to the closed grill.

Richard took a sip of his own beer. "Quite a setup isn't it?" he asked with pride.

"Definitely," Luke agreed. "How many BTUs?"

"Sixty thousand plus," Richard boasted happily.

Luke shook his head in awe, "Wow."

"Richard," Emily's voice called out.

He turned and answered, "Yes, Emily."

"You can put the steaks on now," she told him.

"Will do," he called back with a wave then turned and fired up the grill.

Emily stepped back into the kitchen and closed the door. She walked over to the stove where a pot of water was already boiling. "Lorelai, would you please had me the beans?"

"Sure, Mom," Lorelai picked up the bowl and handed it to her.

Emily gently put the beans into the boiling water and then washed out the bowl and put it on the counter next to the colander.

Lorelai looked around, found a kitchen towel and dried both. "Where do these go, Mom? I'll put them away."

"Oh, the colander goes down there," she answered pointing to one of the cabinets in the island, "and the bowl goes with those," she pointed to an open shelf with a larger mixing bowl on it. When Lorelai got it down she found that there were smaller bowls nested inside. She took out the two smallest, put in the one she was holding and then replaced them all and put them back on the shelf.

Emily had retrieved butter and a jar of minced garlic from the refrigerator and placed it on the counter near the stove. She saw that Lorelai was watching her intently. "The beans need to cook a few more minutes," she explained. "You could slice the bread… if you want." Emily pointed out the loaf of French bread sitting in a cloth lined basket. A cutting board and knife were already out next to it on the side counter.

"That sounds easy enough," Lorelai said with a smile as she began the new task her mother had given her.

Lorelai paused in her slicing as she watched Emily out of the corner of her eye. Emily reached into a cabinet under the stove, took out a large skillet and placed it on the burner next to the bubbling pot. Then she took a slotted spoon from the canister near the stove and stirred the beans. She was still absorbing the fact that her mother seemed as at home in the kitchen as Betty Crocker. She quickly went back to her slicing when her mother glanced in her direction. As Lorelai finished putting the sliced bread back into the basket she heard a clicking sound and turned toward the stove. Emily was turning the flame on under the skillet. Lorelai quickly walked over to that end of the kitchen and asked, "So what are you doing now?"

Emily smiled over her shoulder at her daughter surprised that she still seemed interested. "I'm making green bean almandine. So," she began to explain each step as she did it, "you add butter" she cut off a large pat of butter and put it into the skillet, "and oil," she poured oil from a can near the stove into the pan.

"Why both?" Lorelai asked curiously.

"The butter is for flavor, but it has a low burning temperature so that's why you need the oil too." Emily opened the jar of minced garlic, and put small amount into the pan. "I really should chop the garlic myself, but I hate the way my hands smell afterwards," she confessed "this seems to work just as well." She reached for a wooden spatula and began stirring the garlic as it cooked. She was surprised to see her daughter was watching her every move intently. "Now we'll add the beans," she picked up the slotted spoon and began lifting the beans out of the water and into the skillet letting each spoonful drip for several seconds over the water first. With all the beans in the pan, she began stirring them with the spatula. "Why don't you grind in some pepper?" Emily pointed to the pepper mill on the counter next to the stove.

Lorelai picked it up hesitantly as she asked, "How much?"

"Just grind some in slowly and I'll tell you when to stop," Emily answered moving the beans around in the skillet so that the pepper was distributed evenly. "Okay, that's good."

Lorelai put the pepper mill back on the counter. "So, doesn't almandine mean with almonds? Where are the nuts?"

"There's a bag of sliced almonds in the cabinet in front of you, ah… middle shelf, two-thirds of the way over on the right, I think. I must have forgotten to get them out."

Lorelai opened the cabinet and saw the bag of almonds exactly where her mother said it would be. "Wow, that was amazing. Quick where's the…" Lorelai looked through the cabinet for something to quiz her mother on, "where's the…"

"Lorelai, would you please hand me the almonds?" her mother asked a hint of impatience creeping into her voice.

"Oh yeah, sure," Lorelai said putting the bag down on the counter next to her mother.

Emily opened the bag and poured some of the almonds into the skillet and stirred.

"Where's the cocoa powder?" she asked.

Emily decided to play her daughter's little game for the moment. "Middle shelf on the left next to the powdered sugar."

"Okay, you got that one, where's the… molasses?"

Emily shook her head and turned off the burner under the beans. "Top shelf slightly to the left of the exact center."

"Okay those were easy. Where is the… cream of tartar?" Lorelai slowly sounded out the words of the unknown product

Emily pulled on an oven mitt and began taking the potatoes out of the oven and placing them onto a round off white platter. "This is the last one."

"No stalling, where's the cream of tartar?" Lorelai teased then muttered as she closed the cabinet door, "What is cream of tartar anyway?"

Emily placed the potatoes on the island and picked up a matching oblong platter and began spooning the green beans onto it. "Cream of tartar is an acid. It's used to stabilize egg whites or with baking soda as a leavening agent, and it's on the spice rack."

Lorelai whirled around and faced her mother. "Ah ha! Where on the spice rack?" she demanded with a triumphant grin.

"Top shelf near the middle," Emily answered.

"How on earth can you remember that?" Lorelai reopened the cabinet and began scanning the spice rack. "Oh… my… God… they're alphabetized. Your spices are alphabetized."

Emily shrugged. "That way I know where everything is. Now, stop playing around. I hope the steaks are ready. Lorelai, bring the potatoes and the bread to the table please." Emily instructed picking up the green beans and opening the outside door with her free hand.

Once Richard had put the steaks on the grill the men stood watching the sizzling meat in silence for a few minutes. "Your daughter is a lovely girl. You should be very proud of her."

"Thank you, but I haven't had much to do with her up bringing until the last few years," Luke said looking out at the ocean.

"Well, from what I've heard of the situation, that was hardly your doing," Richard said, a bit of anger on Luke's behalf edging into his tone. Richard took a deep breath and checked the steaks, deciding they were progressing nicely, he began turning them over. "Appreciate the time you have now, Luke. You never know when it might end."

"Yeah," Luke agreed noticing with a sideways glance the far away look on the elder man's face. He sincerely hoped that he would not have to go through anything like what Lorelai had put her parents through. Not that they were blameless, but being a parent had given him a different perspective and he had no delusions about how difficult the woman he loved must have been as a teenager. Hell, she was a handful now.

"So how do you like your steak, Luke?" Richard asked.

Startled out of his thoughts, Luke answered, "Medium rare."

"Wonderful." Richard replied staring intently at the steaks and moving a thicker one to the center of the grill. "What about April?"

"Uh… I'm not…" Luke stammered unsure of the answer when the French doors off of the living room opened and his daughter walked outside in a white skirt and blue top. "April," he called out to her "how do you like your steak?"

"Oh medium's fine," she answered walking over to the grill to stand next to them.

"You look nice," Luke complimented her and she looked away slightly embarrassed. "Cerulean?" he asked gesturing to her top.

She smiled at him indulgently remembering when she'd helped decorate his apartment with the color. "Yeah, cerulean, not my favorite anymore, but I still like it."

Richard looked over at them and asked eagerly, "And what is the current color of choice?"

"Sage," she replied. "I think sage is going to be my new color, though I really do like that blue that's in your guest room here, but I don't know exactly what it's called."

"Ah, well, I'm sure my lovely wife will be able to help you with that," Richard said with a fond smile at the thought of Emily. "She decorated the entire house and she's a veritable expert with color."

"I'll be sure to ask her," she said.

Richard turned back to the grill. "Looks like these steaks are done, I hope that Emily…" he trailed off as Lorelai and Emily emerged from the house carrying the rest of dinner.

"Perfect timing," he announced as he began to remove the steaks from the grill and place them on a clean platter.

Emily put the green beans on the table and scanned the surface checking off her mental list. "I forgot the salad." She headed back to the kitchen and when she came out salad bowl in hand everyone was seated around the table. Her husband stood up as she approached. He reached for the salad bowl and used the movement to bend down and steal a kiss before placing it on the table. "Richard," she hissed under her breath as he moved behind her and held out the chair next to his.

He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I love you," as she sat down. He moved to resume his own seat and watched the slight smile that graced her features as she looked down and settled her napkin on her lap.

Lorelai watched her parents with a little bit of envy. They'd always shared an affection that she'd never felt a part of, nothing really overt, but small touches here and there, occasionally a quick kiss. Rory had been let into that little world of physical contact, but she hadn't.

Luke surveyed the food before them and said, "Everything looks wonderful, Emily."

"Thank you," she replied with a smile.

"I helped with the green beans," Lorelai chimed in pointing with her fork. "And I cut the bread."

"That's very good, Lorelai," her father went along with her happily praising her as he would a small child with an indulgent smile.

Notes: Thank you to everyone who has posted reviews since the last update: GilmoreGirlsnOCRock, amelia, LorLukealways, Mary, gilmorefanforever, Valerie, pjt-gg, gilmoregirlsalwaysforever, and UnaVitaSegreta. Special mention to Miss GoodManners, thanks so much for taking the time to write such detail in your reviews.

Also, continued thanks to UnaVitaSegreta and Mel for their assistance and encouragement. Couldn't and wouldn't do this with out you lovely ladies.