Synopsis

AN: This story is set in the future, which makes both Rory and Logan around their mid-to-late-forties. Despite having lived a large chunk of their lives just a few degrees of separation from each-other, they've never actually met. At least not knowingly. They've both had their careers, relationships, as well as kids. Now at a new stage of their lives, they both find themselves away from their everyday lives at a fresh setting in Maine with their minds unusually idle, pondering what is the mystery behind this new person on their radar, who seems to be just out of reach, is.

Pregnancy, marriage, and a very classic fluffy love story is not the goal of this story. But I don't want to make this angst-filled either, just… hoping to try something different. A more mature romance would perhaps be the best phrase for it. Also, I have no intention of painting the image of these two as flawless people - so I am sorry for that in advance if you don't approve of their present or past choices. But I do hope to show a stronger, more confident, Rory in this compared to some of my former stories. Not everything in their OS backstories applies here, I'll try to point out the information vital to understanding them as we go. If there are any questions, please ask.

Why Maine? The mention of Logan's family's house in Maine in AYITL inspires me (and has inspired me before). There could've been so many cool possibilities with a new set too. Plus, having grown up in similar settings (but with less luxury and on the other side of the world), it's a very cozy setting for me and I love settings with the elements at one's doorstep.

This is holiday writing for me. So, I hope to have time to update often, but just as often as I feel like. It's not so much about the end goal but the getting there, as this is just the type of setting that feels most like a holiday to me and I like to enjoy the process of writing and story development. So, instead of making this action packed, the story might on occasion dwell on small moments or observations instead. I write my stories with a general storyline in mind, but I am known to not really stick to my pre-determined plots. I make things and situations up as I go. It wouldn't be the first time I end up somewhere I didn't plan on with my stories, so, you'll just have to wait and see. M rated for mature topics, such as the possibility of some more intimate scenes in future chapters. But this is probably not the story to read if you're after solely those as I want this to be a slow burn.

I hope you want to stick around for the ride. Comments & reviews are deeply appreciated.

Just out of reach

Chapter 1

The drive up to the house was tranquil - it was therapeutic almost. Even just a couple of hours away from the bustle of the city one could on instinct breathe a little easier. Symbolically crossing the state line was meeting the promise of peace and quiet. It was what Rory had spent a whole school year working for. There were not too many perks to a teacher's jobs in the eyes of most people, but having the summer off was definitely one of them. But not every teacher had such perks as Rory had. And her destination was a prime example of that.

Rory drove, listening to the music of her choice - "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire playing currently, enjoying the changing countryside - broadleaf trees changing into coniferous ones, the occasional views of the vast ocean replacing with the Maine Archipelago as she approached her destination. For the last ten years this setting had been symbolic of freedom to Rory, time that was just hers.

This year, however, Rory's travel companion who'd used to love coming here, had transformed into a grumpy teenager, currently trying very hard to ignore her mother. The girl had earbuds in her ears, making a point that her mother's taste in music didn't match hers, and during the entire ride she'd done everything in her power to show her reluctance towards joining her mother on this holiday. She was at the age where leaving her friends for weeks at the time seemed like the end of the world.

"Corinne, you want us to stop for pizza before we get to the house?" Rory asked her daughter, tapping her forearm for attention, as they drove past the Freeport town sign.

Freeport was the closest town, but considering Corinne didn't drive yet, Rory hoped she wouldn't have to make too many trips back here to keep her entertained. After all, for her, the holiday was not just about reading and sleeping late.

"Pizza has carbs," Corinne mumbled reluctantly, taking one of her earbuds out.

"Yes, and carbs give energy. It's fuel for the body," Rory replied in her teacher's voice, knowing from the first second already that this was going to deaf ears. But that was what a mother was supposed to say, Rory was just sorry that not caring about what other people thought was not a concept the girl grasped. Hell - she'd learned it far later than she could've used it too.

All she got back was a shrug.

"I'm sure they have other things too," Rory tried to spark some enthusiasm.

She could only be relieved of the fact that the girl was fairly easily entertained by the contents of her phone or computer, their shared love for reading as well as movies, ensuring to keep her entertained at least part of the time. But Corinne was definitely at the age where her mother's company was not the preferred kind. Rory could look back on the past years where they'd spent their summers here making cookies, going on little scavenger hunts at the beach or taking a pottery class together, but those days seemed to be over, at least for the forseeable future.

Rory pulled up in front of the Tuscan-style bistro, parking her fairly nondescript gray sedan next to a petroleum blue Land Rover that looked like it had been freshly polished. It was the kind of car that stood out, wanting to be noticed. Rory knew people who drove cars like that. Too well, in fact. Those tended to belong to the parents of her students who believed their kids who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths were supposed to be brought up by their schools and teachers, not so much by hard work and discipline, which included effort from their parents. Rory knew she must've sounded like a hypocrite thinking that, and it was for that reason she rarely expressed it, having essentially born into luxury herself, despite having grown up in more humble conditions.

For a Saturday afternoon the Italian style-bistro was pretty crowded, but they were directed to a vacant table on the terrace almost instantly. It wasn't the best table at the restaurant, offering them a view of other people rather than a view of the town.

At the sight of a couple of cute guys, Corinne's reaction was to straighten her back, cross her legs under the table, and gently tug her off the shoulder blouse lower. She pulled her brown hair over her right shoulder, definitely wanting to show her best assets off. She was a beautiful girl, even if to Rory she didn't quite look adult enough to flirt like that.

Rory sighed. So far this was mostly just facination with the opposite sex. As far as Rory knew, Corinne had never actually had a boyfriend. But she could just sense new worries approaching fast.

"What can I get you two?" a teenager, who couldn't have been more than a few years older than Corinne, asked Rory, stopping by their table to take their order.

"I'll have an iced macchiato, and a bistro burger," Rory said, glancing at her daughter, having changed her mind about the pizza since she would be the only one eating it. She looked a lot like her at that age. But because personality wise, especially these days, she felt so different from her, prioritizing looks over content more often than not and taking a lot of things money could offer in life for granted, Rory really felt like she was looking at an alternate reality of what she could've turned into herself had she been brought up differently. Like maybe if her mother had stayed with hre grandparents when she was little.

"Mixed greens salad and water," Corinne requested.

The waiter excused herself to get their order in.

"You realize we'll be mostly having salads, poptarts and sandwiches for the next couple of weeks, right?" Rory said, having hoped for the girl to see sense in treating herself to something of more sustenance. It wasn't that she didn't cook, she did, but she aimed to waste as little of her time in the kitchen, especially if Corinne didn't want to join her, aiming to fill their stomachs with anything she could prep quickly, or supplement with an occasional pizza delivery.

Corinne rolled her eyes at her. "When was dad coming to pick me up again?" she asked, figuratively stabbing Rory's heart with a miniature spear.

"In two weeks," Rory said.

"I don't understand why I couldn't just stay home. I mean, I'm old enough. It's not like I need a babysitter," Corinne announced.

"You're 14!" Rory began, but felt too tired to argue.

"My point exactly," Corinne replied.

"I want to spend time with you too. Is that so bad?" Rory said.

Despite having things she wanted to get done during this holiday of hers, she was still hoping to fix what the divorce had done to her relationship with her daughter. She hoped Corinne would trust her the same way she'd trusted her mother at her age. They'd been best friends. But she knew there was an extent of which this was realistic with Corienne.

At that comment Corinne's attention was drawn away from the boring statement of her mother and onto a blonde guy with a surfer look, who'd just walked past them and given her daughter a small smile.

Rory remembered the time when her mother and her had gotten flirted with at Luke's once when she'd been 16. No such luck now, as she herself wasn't 32 anymore.

The guy walked ahead and joined the large table in the back, the prime table - it seemed, of seven. Five kids - two of them teenage boys, and what looked like two parents. A picture of them definitely would've fit in some local tourist brochure, their blonde hair and beachy-looking linen clothing that screamed old money, adding the dot on the "i".

"Could I get another glass of champagne please?" Rory heard the blonde woman in that table request, and raise her sunglasses on top of her head.

Rory definitely knew people like that.

As Corinne turned her attention back on her phone, Rory was left in her thoughts and her eyes drifted around in other patrons, stopping at the prime table time and time again. There was something odd about the dynamic of the woman and the man, not quite coming off as an average couple. It was kind of commendable, and surprisingly enough they weren't even bickering. Maybe some marriages indeed worked out?

The kids were just kids – even if the fact that they'd been used to getting what they want was more than evident. The two youngest kids, a girl who must've been 7 or 8 was arguing with the boy that looked slightly younger than her, while the two teenage boys had mostly eyes for their phones or passing young women. Some things never changed. The girl, who looked a little younger than Corinne, was leaning back, having taken herself out from the conversation, and was blowing bubbles into her milk shake. All in all, they were kind of cute, and Rory could only imagine what the family dynamic must've been like in a family like that, never having experienced anyting bigger than what she had.

Rory recognized the woman's shoes. Not that she was a frequent visitor at Saks but this pair of Bottega Veneta's she'd seen on at least two women at her school's graduation ceremony. The green leather mules were a little hard to miss. She wondered whether a woman like that worked for living. Probably not 'for living' – she thought. Possibly she did what her grandmother had once spent her days doing – volunteering and keeping up appearances.

The man was handsome though - a lean body with a good head of hair and that stubble certainly was working for him. But Rory knew better than to just trust appearance. Instead, until she waited for her meal, she played the game in her head, trying to think what the dark secret of this guy was. A mistress or two? Was he kinky in bed? History of tax fraud? A drowned yacht with his boarding school buddies?

People watching was fun for her. It was her inspiration.

After their meal, during which Corinne had thankfully opened up a little more, they made their way to the local supermarket, aiming to stock up on this and that. Rory was grateful for small moments, when Corinne seemed to forget about her age for a second and let her excitement about fresh berries and a promise of fireplace s'mores, show. This way it was like she was her little girl again.

Once they got out of town, the scenery changed into a more natural one. Rory had never really been an outdoorsy person, but it was the privacy that she searched. And even though her grandmother's inheritance had included her house in Nantucket, she'd never really been a big fan of ferries or small planes. So, this had made more sense. Besides, not during all the past years, it had been just the two of them here. There were hiking trails here that they passed by that Corinne's dad had taken the girl on, horses that had always welcomed someone feeding them carrots and plenty of boating opportunities. The memories were bittersweet, but in recent years Rory had begun to replace the bitter ones with her own.

This was her sanctuary. A place where it was just her and her words, that had waited a whole year to be put onto paper. Well – screen, but 'paper' sounded better. She hoped to build her new routines which included several hours of uninterrupted writing time on most days. This was generally easily achieved, living at a part of the peninsula that had just a couple of neighbors. One of the neighboring houses belonged to an elderly woman who lived there full time, worked in Freeport, and mostly kept to herself. To her right was a house that had stood vacant for as long as she'd remembered. Sure, the grass was being mowed, the hedges were timely trimmed and everything was well looked after. She had, however, never actually seen the owners and it had left her believing that the owners must've used this place simply at different times compared to her. Maybe the owners of this vast house were the kind that had three other holiday homes around the world and only chose this location to spend their every other Christmas in?

This was just the kind of peace she needed after a lengthy school year. Time with her daughter. Time with her thoughts. Rory couldn't wait to get there and take in a deep lungful of fresh air, and hear only the waves and trees.

"Looks like the neighbors are here," Corinne commented as Rory's car pulled into the driveway, shattering her illusion of peace.

"They are?" Rory reflected, glancing out through the side window. Through the bushes she could indeed vaguely see a car. She didn't recognize it at first, but the color of the car did leave her pondering whether it could really be the same Land Rover they'd seen at the bistro. Her suspicions were confirmed by the sounds of the two teenagers, yelling over the yard about grabbing something for him.

What were the odds?

"Maybe this holiday won't be so bad after all," Corinne commented excitedly, being oblivious to her mother's disappointment.

AN2: If you are like me and love real estate (window shopping at least), then the house that I've used as inspiration is located on 373 Lower Flying Point Road in Freeport, Maine. The location of this place works well with the general concept of this story as well. Rory's house has architecturally been inspired by the house on 20 Monument Way, Belfast, Maine.

Let me know what you think!