Logan stood frozen to the spot, not sure whether to call out or just pretend he hadn't seen her. It had been so long. What would he say? In the end, before he really even knew what was happening and before he could stop himself, the words just tumbled out of his mouth.

"Hey! Lorelai!"

Lorelai, who was absentmindedly admiring a dress in a shop window immediately spun around to see just who was calling her name. It was a rare occasion that she actually bumped into anyone she knew in Hartford so she was surprised to hear someone calling her.

"Logan!" she exclaimed, somewhat shocked as she realised that the person calling her name was none other than her daughter's significant ex-boyfriend and one-time near fiancé. Lorelai hadn't seen or heard of Logan in a long time and the last she'd heard, he had actually made the move to California and didn't come back this way very often so he'd been pretty much the last person she had expected to see that day. Lorelai took a deep breath as she watched him as he crossed the road to greet her properly.

"Wow, Logan, it's been…" Lorelai paused as she mentally tried to add up exactly how long it had been since she had last seen him walking away dejectedly at Rory's graduation.

"….about eighteen months" Logan finished the sentence for her.

"Sure" Lorelai nodded and smiled " So, how have you been Logan?"

"Oh you know, pretty busy. California is keeping me on my toes."

"Right. Of course. Looks like it's been treating you well, the sun-kissed surfer dude thing is really working for you" Lorelai joked. Logan had always been extremely good-looking but his time in California had meant that his hair had got blonder and he had a slight golden tan which only added to his overall appearance.

"Ha, thanks," Logan said as he brushed his hand through his hair. "It's taken some adjusting to the lifestyle that's for sure. I'm not really into yoga and juicing, you know the healthy living type of stuff. Green liquid for breakfast was never really my thing."

Lorelai shuddered at the thought "Well quite. Who in their right mind would want green goo for breakfast? I tell you, it's all that California sunshine, it's fried their brains".

"I couldn't agree more" Logan laughed "Hence the adjustment, they're not quite at the same level of coffee drinking as us east coast dwellers…Anyhow, you look like you have been kept pretty busy yourself!"

"Huh?" Lorelai asked him confusedly.

"Who is this little princess" Logan gestured towards the baby girl sitting quietly in the stroller that Lorelai had been pushing.

"Oh, right, yes." Lorelai smiled, catching on. "Yes, busy is one way of putting it. Life has certainly changed a bit since I last saw you. This little ray of sunshine is Lily".

"Hi, Lily!" Logan said crouching down with a smile "She's a real beauty" he said looking back up at Lorelai. "She's definitely got those dazzling blue Gilmore eyes huh."

"She sure did" Lorelai smiled down at Lily proudly. She was biased of course but Lily really was a heart-stealer with her wide blue eyes and cheeky dimples. Everyone who met her fell immediately in love with her. Lorelai watched as Logan effortlessly made the baby girl break out into a toothless smile. "I never knew that you were so good with children!"

"Nor did I, but my sister Honor has a little girl herself now. Her name is Ophelia or we call her Fifi for short, and what can I say, it turns out, I am a natural!" Logan said standing back up. "She's lovely Lorelai."

"Thanks - and you seem to have completely won her over already. You'll have a friend for life! Damn that Huntzberger charm" Lorelai joked. "I forgot how the ladies always fell at your feet."

"Ha, I don't know about that" Logan laughed. "At least, there's not been too much falling at my feet recently anyhow."

Lorelai cocked her head to one side. "So there's nobody special in your life at the moment then?" She knew that she was straying into dangerous territory and sticking her nose in where it really wasn't her business, but she was intrigued and couldn't help herself wanting to know a little more about what Logan's life was like.

"No, nobody special. Though, I have seen a whole heap of totally unspecial people" Logan joked before his faced turned a little more serious. "So….erm…how…"

Lorelai knew exactly where Logan was going with his next sentence but he didn't seem able to bring himself to say her name. She looked at him sympathetically with a gentle smile. "Rory's fine" Lorelai interrupted his thoughts. "She's keeping herself busy, you know Rory, always on the go, never stops for a minute that one" she shrugged with a smile. Lorelai paused before continuing, "She's actually around her somewhere" she added, a little nervously as she looked over her shoulder. She was unsure whether telling him that Rory was in the vicinity was the right thing to do or not but she didn't want to risk them running into each other unexpectedly and as yet, she couldn't quite tell whether Logan would welcome seeing his ex-girlfriend or not. He was obviously interested in hearing about her in some way but Lorelai noticed that he had visibly tensed when she had mentioned her name.

Logan's head snapped up and Lorelai saw something flash quickly across his face. It was a look that she couldn't quite determine. He said nothing so she continued to ramble nervously in her own imitable way. "Yeah, I am meant to be meeting her soon so I had better get going as it's almost time for Lily's lunch and nap and don't be fooled by that innocent wide-eyed look she has on her face, you know how grouchy us Gilmores get without food."

Logan smiled. He remembered only too well, though he had tried often to put all thoughts of Gilmores out of his mind, or one in particular anyhow. "Of course, I'll let you get on your way. It was good to see you Lorelai. You too Lily" he said smiling at the little girl who beamed back up at him. He waved as he walked away before turning back. "Say hi to Rory for me".

Lorelai smiled brightly. "Sure, of course. Bye Logan" she said as she turned Lily's stroller around and started to walk towards the coffee shop where she was meeting her daughter.

All kinds of thoughts were running through her head as she walked down the street. Logan looked good, healthy but he didn't seem very happy. He was clearly putting on some sort of brave face for her – she'd noticed the mask sleep when she mentioned her name. Did he still have feelings for Rory or was he still hurting after she turned down his proposals? He certainly didn't seem comfortable talking about her. Lorelai didn't know whether she should mention seeing Logan to Rory. They hardly ever spoke about him – it was normally a subject that was totally off-limit but this was different. If she didn't tell her and then Rory found out at a later date she'd be mad, wouldn't she?

Lorelai pushed the stroller through the doorway and walked over to where she could see Rory sitting at a table reading a newspaper. Lily had fallen asleep so she parked the stroller next to her and flopped down on the chair opposite. Rory looked up.

"You're late," she said as she eyed up her mother.

"So, you'll never guess who I just bumped into?" Lorelai said, ignoring Rory's first comment. Lorelai was always late, it was her thing.

"Oh, I love this game!" Rory rubbed her hands in glee "This easily fills a few dull hours…"

Lorelai scowled at her daughter. "I'm serious! You will NEVER guess who I just had a conversation with on the street."

"So in the interests of saving time, why don't we just cut to the chase and you tell me already!" Rory said picking up her coffee."

"Logan". Lorelai said quickly looking at her daughter.

Rory spat out her coffee. "Huntzberger?"

"Hey!" Lorelai shouted "Say it, don't spray it!" she said as she wiped down her dress. "You know more than one Logan?" she rolled her eyes at Rory.

"No," Rory said sarcastically. "Actually, I don't really know any, anymore," she added quietly.

Lorelai gave her a sad smile. The break-up had been hard on Rory. She hadn't felt ready to marry Logan but she in no way wanted it to be the end of their relationship. She had missed him terribly and it had taken her a long time to get used to him not being in her life anymore.

"Yes, Logan Huntzberger."

"What was he doing here?" Rory asked, "He's still living in California right?"

"Oh, I didn't ask him why he was here," Lorelai said "but yes, he's still living the Californian dream. He looked good Ror."

Rory scowled. "I don't want to know about that mom!"

"I'm just saying!" Lorelai said as she put her hands up in defense.

"What did you talk about?"

"Erm, you know, the usual, juicing and yoga. I inappropriately asked him if he had a girlfriend…"

"Mom!" Rory yelled.

"I don't know where it came from! I couldn't stop myself! I was nervous, I developed a bad case of word vomit." Lorelai complained to her daughter before she added: "The answer to that question was apparently no by the way" she said with a raised eyebrow. "And then I introduced him to Lily".

Rory frowned. "Why? Logan's never been interested in children."

"Because he asked about her, it would have been rude and slightly weird for me to have pretended like she didn't exist when she was sitting right there dribbling and demonstrating some impressive gurgling noises in front of us both".

Rory rolled her eyes. "You didn't…" she asked tentatively.

"Of course I didn't!" Lorelai sighed.

Rory breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at her daughter Lily sleeping soundly in the stroller next to her.

"You could go talk to him you know"

"I don't need to talk to him," Rory said firmly.

"There's nothing you'd like to say to him, or tell him?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

"No" Rory snapped. "And stay out of it, it's none of your business"

"Oh, that's real nice Rory!"

Rory dropped her head into her hands. "I'm sorry mom, I didn't mean it to come out like that," she said as she looked up at Lorelai. She knew she had hurt her mom's feelings and she felt bad. The truth was it absolutely was her business. Nobody had been there for Rory like Lorelai. When she was broken and confused and facing difficult decisions, Lorelai had completely and utterly supported Rory in every way possible and she knew that there was no way she would have got through the tough times she had faced without her. Rory didn't mean to snap at her mom but the fact that Logan was in town and her mom had spoken to him AND he'd met Lily had completely set her on edge.

"C'mon, let's go. We should get Lily home". Rory said quietly.

Lorelai nodded quietly and followed her daughter as she stood up and pushed the stroller out of the coffee shop.

Rory paused as she stepped outside and felt her heart almost stop as she looked down the street, just in time to see Logan, the man she had once loved with all of her heart, walking out of a shop and down the street in the opposite direction. She bit her lip and quickly looked the other way.

"You sure you don't want to go say hi?" Lorelai said gently as she looked back down the street.

"I'm sure," Rory said as she walked away without looking back.