MONDAY AFTERNOON:
"Hello? Luke?" Lorelai answered her cellphone as she quickly made her way out to the front of the inn. Inside was…noisy. Chaotic might be a better word. She'd been prepared for pesky last-minute issues to come up, but she was already tired and a little on edge about the opening and today was…trying her last nerve.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"Why would you think something's wrong?"
"Because you sound like something's wrong, what happened?"
Lorelai sighed, "Nothing, it's just been a frustrating day…"
"That makes two of us."
"Why, what happened with you?"
"You first, what's goin' on over there?" Luke asked thwarting her redirect. He'd called her to rant about his day, but he'd heard the weariness in her voice immediately and that took precedence.
"Remember I told you about the plumbing damage that happening during Kirk's night terror?"
"Yeah"
"Well the replacement parts got delivered today—"
"Ok…"
"Which Kirk somehow found out about…"
"Uh oh."
''Exactly. He insisted on doing the repairs himself—"
"Oh no," Luke interjected, starting to see where her story was leading.
"I tried everything I could think of short of calling his mother, but I couldn't get him to leave! I did manage to negotiate him down to just watching Tom do the installations, so…that's what he's doing now—"
"Jeeze."
"Then Michel insisted on watching Kirk because he was certain something else would get damaged if he didn't have supervision. So of course, then I had to stop what I was doing and watch Michel watch Kirk watch Tom to make sure that Michel didn't make Kirk cry…again."
"Uh wow. That's—"
"Frustrating. Very frustrating."
"Yeah I think you win. Your day sounds worse than mine."
"What happened with you? All's not well on the faire-grounds?"
Luke's voice conveyed his exhaustion at the situation. "I was away from the booth for like 20 minutes to get lunch for Liz and TJ and some bratty kids came by and messed everything up!"
"What do you mean they messed everything up?"
"They threw the jewellery cases everywhere, tore up those display cloth things, the-they knocked the cash box over and the money was scattered all over the ground—"
"What did they just start ransacking the place? Where were their parents?"
"Apparently just down a couple of booths doing nothing about it…at least that's what TJ said."
"And they only messed with your booth?"
"Liz's booth and yeah, I guess they saw two people who wouldn't be able to chase after them and took the opportunity to play a stupid prank. And the worst part is they got away with it! I would've gone after them but they were long gone by the time I got back."
"What about the people running the other booths? No one saw what was happening and stepped in?"
"Apparently the kids were too fast. The people from the candle booth came by afterwards to help though so I guess that's something."
"I'm sorry Luke, that's sounds awful."
"It wasn't great. I spent over an hour on my hands and knees just feeling around the grass to make sure we didn't lose any inventory or money. I hate pranks. They're never funny and usually just end up pissing someone off, or hurting them."
"I'm with ya there buddy, I could never do the punk'd thing."
"Anyway, that's my day so far."
"I guess Garfield was right huh? Some Monday's really do suck."
"I guess."
Lorelai turned when she heard the front door opening and knew her conversation with Luke had reached its end. "Hey, listen, I'm sorry to do this but, Michel's on his way over to me right now and he's got that cartoon steam coming out of his ears."
"Oh yeah, yeah, it's no problem. Thanks for listening to me rant."
"Back atcha."
"Happy to."
Lorelai's smile showed her weariness. "I hope your day gets better."
"Yours too."
TUESDAY NIGHT:
Lorelai walked into her living room, her purse and a bag of Al's take-out in her hands. She unceremoniously dumped the purse on the coffee table, set the food down then flopped onto the couch. She lay there for a few moments, her mind briefly void of any thought. It was a very brief moment but a welcome one nonetheless. Her mind had been going at what felt like top speed all day— actually, between her dysfunctional family, all things Dragonfly, her fight with Rory and the regular constant stream of jibber-jabber going on in her head, it felt like she hadn't had a quiet moment in months.
And there was Luke…he'd been on her mind a lot too. But of course he had. Ever since his sister's wedding she couldn't really get him out of there. But those were welcome thoughts. She'd always figured that if something happened between them she'd be completely freaked out. The whole transition from friends to something more was a big deal after all. But thinking about Luke more-so as a boyfriend was proving to be easy. So was kissing him. That was really easy. She thought about that Friends episode where Ross and Rachel started dating and they were making out and Rachel couldn't stop laughing. She hadn't felt like that at all. Though that level of intimacy was new for she and Luke, it felt, right, somehow. Now that's not to say she was devoid of all freak-outed-ness, but she wasn't anywhere near where she thought she'd be. No, this thing between she and Luke was good. It was a source of happy—one that she intended to draw upon regularly. Right now, in fact, would be a good time. A quick glance at the VCR told her it wasn't too late to call. She sifted through the magazines on her coffee table, found the envelope with his number on it and dialled.
"Hello?"
"Hey."
"Oh hey," he smiled, sitting up in his cot, "I was just about to call you."
"Huh. Beat ya to it."
"You did. How are you?"
"Good, good, you?"
"Also good."
"No looting today?"
"No, thankfully. Actually it was a pretty quiet day. Not a lot of customers so, not much to do."
"Then did you finally get a chance to check out the rest of the faire?"
"No, but I hung out with Liz for a while."
"Oh cool."
"It was alright…we just stayed in the back of the booth, she's been listening to these tapes, raving about this guy all week, so we listened to some of that."
"Who's the guy?"
"Ekhart Tolle."
"Ekhart Tolle? As in "The Power of Now" Ekhart Tolle?"
"You've heard of him?"
"Uh, yeah," Lorelai laughed, "It's a pretty famous book." She couldn't help it, Luke and Liz sitting in the grass listening to motivation tapes together was a hilarious image.
"What?"
"Nothing, it's just—how very zen of you."
Luke chuckled too, "I know, it's not really my kind of thing. But Liz likes that stuff."
"That sounds right." She didn't know Liz very well, but she'd heard a lot about her and based on the few times they met, she could see her being a motivational tape devotee.
"I figured Ekhart Tolle was better than listening to TJ complain for the thousandth time. But, anyway," he sighed, "What about you? Tomorrow's the big day."
"It is," Lorelai smiled.
"Are you excited? Nervous?"
"Uh a little snervous and excited, I guess."
"Snervous?"
"Yeah, scared/nervous and excited."
"Oh," Luke replied, immediately accepting her made-up word.
"I figure being scared and being nervous are similar feelings so they kind of go together."
"Which one are you leaning more towards?"
She took a second to think about it, "Nervous. But I think mostly I'm just ready for it to get going, you know? We've been talking about doing this for so long. It's been years really—if you count all the training and wishing and saving and planning…and it all comes down to tomorrow. That's the nervous part, but the excited part is that it's tomorrow, finally! And tomorrow I'll get to see everything in action and it won't just be this idea in my head anymore. And now I'm thinking I should go to sleep early so tomorrow comes sooner."
Luke smiled at that, "You never have been good at waiting."
"Exactly," Lorelai smiled too, "You get it." She picked up the remote, turned her tv onto a low volume and started flicking through the channels.
"Well hopefully excited will win out. All of that planning and training and stuff means that you're ready. The place is already amazing," he shrugged, "and tomorrow will be too."
"You have to say that, you invested in the place." She'd quickly settled on a "Will & Grace" repeat and began unpacking the bag from Al's.
"Exactly, I invested, which means I can give my honest opinion and you'd have to really take it into consideration."
"Well, thanks Luke. I appreciate the vote of confidence."
Somewhere in the back of his mind Luke remembered her saying something about having a lack of confidence in herself. He still didn't quite understand why…she was one of the most capable people he knew, but either way, he sought to reassure her. "You've already done this job for years."
"This is true."
"Experience counts for something."
"Dirty, but," Lorelai answered with her mouth full. She finished chewing, swallowed, then answered. "Who know, maybe a guest will ask me for directions into town and I'll throw up and pass out like you did."
"You remember that…"
"I do."
"Not my best moment—"
"A great moment. I love that story."
"You do?" Luke asked unbelievingly.
"You were nervous as hell, but you got up, cleaned yourself off—I hope—and got to work. And look at how great the diner turned out."
"I guess that's one way to look at it."
"You took a chance, not knowing if it would pay off, and it did."
"Gotta take the chance sometimes."
"Indeed you do," Lorelai replied thoughtfully. "I'm taking mine tomorrow."
"You are. I'm sorry I'm gonna miss it."
"It's ok Luke. It's not like you'd be at the inn with me all day if you were in town."
"I know, I just feel like I'm missing this big moment for you."
"You're not. I'll call you tomorrow and tell you all about it."
"You better." There was a moment of quiet as Luke stifled a yawn. "Ok, get back to your dinner; I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Lorelai smiled quizzically, "How'd you know I was eating?"
"I can hear you chewing."
"Oh," she chuckled, "Al's had a special on kung pao chicken so I couldn't walk away from that."
"Oh no you'd be crazy to."
Lorelai laughed at his sarcasm. "I'll talk to you tomorrow then?"
"Yeah, tomorrow. And, not that you need it, but good luck."
"Thanks Luke. Goodnight."
"Night."
WEDNESDAY MORNING:
The day dawned peaceful and bright. Lorelai was awakened by rays of sunlight on her face and for once, she wasn't annoyed by them. She allowed herself an extra 5 minutes in bed to appreciate the warmth those rays provided and thought about the day ahead.
It was going to be a big day. No matter what happened—if she got up and everything went according to plan, or if it all fell apart in the first hour—it was going to be a big day. The official opening of the Dragonfly, she smiled at the thought. The long-awaited day was finally here. With a deep breath and another smile, she threw off her comforter and started her morning routine.
Lorelai got to the Dragonfly 45 minutes before she was supposed to. Ideally she'd have stopped by the diner to get a proper meal on her first day, but with Luke gone she didn't see the point. Her second option was to eat at home—after all she had just stocked up on Eggos and pop tarts…but the idea of eating alone today wasn't all that appealing either. She was debating whether or not to just skip breakfast altogether when Sookie called—already at the inn—and told her to hurry over so they could eat together, just the two of them, before the rest of the staff arrived. Together the pair sat at the kitchen island of their brand-new inn, toasting their big day with coffee and blintzes.
As the rest of the staff slowly started to trickle in, Lorelai and Sookie parted ways, off to their respective areas of work.
/
Luke stepped out of his truck and closed the door behind him. After checking in on Liz and TJ at their motel that morning, they had asked him to run an errand. Prior to their accident, Liz had arranged for a shipment of beads, wiring and clasps to be delivered to an art supply store about an hour away from the faire grounds, expecting TJ to pick up the delivery. But of course, that plan had to be changed and the task fell to Luke. Liz thanked him profusely before he left, and let him know that she was sorry for asking for yet another favour from him, but truthfully Luke didn't mind. It felt good to be by himself, away from the faire. He had the radio on, had stopped at a coffee shop along the way and got himself a cup of tea…it was probably the most relaxed morning he'd had since arriving in Maine. The whole errand took about two and a half hours roundtrip and he was just about to unload the boxes from the truck bed when his cellphone rang.
He smiled at the name that popped up on the screen, and instead of continuing his task, he merely leaned against the truck's closed tailgate and answered the phone. He'd been hoping she would call.
"Hello?"
"Hey," she smiled.
"Hey," Luke responded. There was a brief pause before he spoke again, "So how's the first day going?"
"Oh no no no," Lorelai reprimanded playfully, "You know why I'm calling."
"I do?"
"Luke that was very sweet."
Luke felt his cheeks tinge pink. "It was not."
"It was. And very thoughtful. And I thank you." Ten minutes ago, she was at the front desk with Michel welcoming in their first guests to the inn, when Lane had shown up with a to-go cup of Luke's coffee and a take-out bag with enough brownies to last her the day. Initially she'd been surprised, but as she made her way into her office to call him, she realized she shouldn't be. It was just like Luke to set up a special treat for her. He'd been doing things like that for she and Rory for years. But even so, it was an unexpected and lovely gesture.
"It's no big deal. I'm sure you had an inaugural seven cups at the inn this morning…I figured it was about time for your next hit of caffeine."
"And the brownies?"
"Well it's you…sending brownies couldn't hurt."
"It never does. They were delicious by the way."
"Oh yeah?"
"Caesar even made them the extra chocolate-y way that you do."
"Good, he didn't forget."
Lorelai smiled at his small admission. Luke had always said he made the extra chocolate-y brownies by mistake—by "accidentally" putting in too much cocoa powder. She'd never really believed him and now had proof that it was no accident at all, he just knew what she liked and adjusted his recipe to suit her. Thoughtful, that was Luke alright.
"Anyway, we're expecting more guests to be arriving in a few minutes…I just wanted to thank you for such a well-timed surprise."
"Anytime."
"Ok, talk to you later."
"Happy first day."
Lorelai smiled, "Thanks Luke."
Luke smiled too as they hung up. He was glad she liked her surprise. He really felt bad about missing the opening day of the Dragonfly and figured it was the least he could do. After all, he was her coffee supplier.
Without any good reason to delay going into the faire grounds and opening Liz's booth for the day, Luke pocketed his phone and went about unloading those boxes.
/
It was 3 hours later when Luke's phone rang again. "Hello?"
"What did you do?"
"Lorelai?"
"Yes me, what did you do?"
"What did I do?"
"You sent me something?"
"Oh good, it arrived," he said simply.
"It arrived? What is 'it'?"
"You haven't opened it yet?"
"No, I was just sitting here going through some filing, minding my own business—pun intended—and a delivery guy shows up with a package that has your name on it and a few stamps from Maine."
"Mhm," Luke hummed amusedly, recognizing the early-signs of a Lorelai ramble.
"So I signed and the delivery guy left and after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I brought the package into my office and called you—the package, which is definitely too large and too heavy to be more coffee and brownies by the way. What did you do? Send me a miniature of a lighthouse?"
"Nope."
"Andrea Martin memorabilia?"
"No."
"Box full of lobster?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"No!" he rolled his eyes, "Will you just open it?"
"Okay, okay," Lorelai replied. She held her cellphone to her ear with her shoulder and proceeded to open the box. Beneath the few layers of bubble wrap was not one item, but many. "Luke, what did you…" she trailed off as she began to look through the contents. There were 2 tri-tone purple pillar candles, bath salts, a small bottle of grog, aprons, a deck of Shakespeare themed playing cards and a small ornate metal jewellery box. Shocked didn't even begin to cover what she felt in that moment. "You…you sent me gifts?"
"More like a care package," Luke replied quietly. He'd waiting patiently as she went through the box, feeling more nervous than he'd care to admit…hoping she liked at least one of the things he'd sent.
"A renaissance care package," Lorelai tried to quip.
"Yeah, well, I had to work with what was available to me." He'd always intended to send her the mid-morning coffee, but that didn't feel like enough. After the test run he figured he had enough time to figure something else out, but since he was stuck in Maine…
Lorelai picked up the jewellery box to admire the detailing on the cover. It was beautiful, definitely a souvenir she herself would have chosen. She opened it up, and on the soft velvet cushioning was a sealed envelope with her name on it. Inside was a small blank card depicting some period specific artwork and on the inside Luke had written:
Lorelai,
You should be very proud of all you've accomplished. I know I am. To your continued success.
Luke
"Oh, Luke—this is…" she swallowed hard at the emotions overtaking her, "so, so nice of you." She took a breath as her eyes scanned over the card again. "And you," she let out a disbelieving breath, "you sent this from Maine? H-how did you…send this from Maine?"
"What do you mean? I mailed it."
Lorelai laughed lightly. "I mean when did you have time to do this? You've been at the faire every day, haven't you?"
"Oh, yeah I uh, had some time last Friday."
"Friday? And it actually made it here on time?"
"Thankfully. I wasn't sure it would, but the lady at the post-office said there was a better chance if I express shipped it. I'm glad she was right."
"Me too. Luke this is…really, very nice. And don't hate me for saying it but, very very sweet."
He couldn't help the small smile on his face. "I'm glad you think so. Listen, we'll—talk more later, I don't want to keep you on the phone all day, I'm sure you're busy over there."
"Ok," she quietly agreed. He was right, she was the boss; no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't spend the entirety of opening day on the phone.
"Enjoy the rest of your day."
"You too."
"Oh and the uh, the aprons are for Sookie."
"Right, I'll make sure she gets them. And Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
THURSDAY NIGHT:
"Hey Lorelai," Luke answered his phone with a smile. He was once again sitting on his cot. He was just about to set his alarm for the morning when his cellphone rang.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Wild guess."
"I called last night but it was pretty late by the time I got home…went straight to your voicemail so I figured you were already asleep."
"Oh, what time did you call around?"
"Must have been about 11?"
"Oh, no I was awake, my phone was just dead."
"Late night?"
"Kind of…after I got Liz and TJ settled in for the night I just drove around for a while. It was nice out…didn't feel like getting back to the tent right away."
"I can understand that, I love late-night drives. They're oddly calming…"
"Yeah, exactly. I'm sorry I missed your call though."
"That's ok." She'd been a slightly disappointed in the moment, but wasn't when she realized how late it was. Luke's day generally started hours before her own so she couldn't expect him to wait up for her. She'd just been hoping to end the day with a friendly voice. She'd been secretly waiting all day for Rory to call. But she hadn't. One of the biggest days of her life and her daughter couldn't even wish her a half-hearted good luck. She'd toyed with the idea that the time difference might have thrown Rory off, but knew that was unlikely. The kid who insisted on having a day-planner in the third grade did not miss important dates…which meant she remembered and had made the decision not to call—to let this newfound hatred of her mother win over a lifetime of love and friendship between the two.
Overall, the opening of the Dragonfly had gone beautifully, Lorelai had just spent a chunk of the day pretending she wasn't keeping a close watch on the call I.D….
"So tell me about yesterday, how did everything go?"
"It was incredible," Lorelai beamed, choosing to focus on the happy parts of her day.
"Yeah?"
"I mean, even I couldn't have predicted how smoothly it would all go."
"Really?" Luke was beaming now too. He could hear her excitement through the phone and it was infectious.
"Oh yeah! Sookie and I got to the inn early to have breakfast just the two of us, the staff showed up prepared and on time, the food was phenomenal—even Michel was on his best behaviour!"
"That is phenomenal."
"Then after the night manager came in for his shift, Sookie, Michel and I stayed back to have a little celebratory drink."
"Sounds like a pretty amazing day."
"It was. …You know, it's weird, I think somewhere in the back of my mind I thought I would forget how to run the place."
"What?" Luke asked amusedly, "You managed an inn for well over a decade."
"I know, but it's been over a year—"
"So?"
"So I thought I'd be out of practice."
"That's bull."
"It turned out to be, yes, because it was like freaking Cinderella slipping into those shatter resistant pumps."
"A perfect fit huh?"
"Mhm. But," Lorelai said slowly, her voice softening in her shyness. "That being said…I think my favourite part of the day, had to be those extra special, totally unexpected deliveries…" She felt a little exposed at broaching the topic so openly with Luke. She knew she shouldn't feel that way, it was fully within the bounds of their friendship that Luke would go out of his way to do something special for her…about a thousand instances came to mind, but—there was also a part of her that acknowledged the romance behind his gestures. It wasn't that long ago he was bringing her flowers…and then yelling at her for not completely knowing what the flowers meant… She blushed as she remembered what had come after the yelling…
She figured it was her turn, right? So far, he'd been the one to take all of the putting-yourself-out-there kind of risks in this thing they were starting, and that wasn't fair. If he could do it then so could she. "Really, Luke, you didn't have to do that."
"Of course I did," he replied firmly, "It's a big deal to start your own business…and I know it wasn't as easy as you made it look."
Lorelai couldn't stop herself from scoffing. She'd never once thought she made things look easy. "How quickly you forget my meltdown in the park."
"Ah," Luke threw a dismissive hand, though she couldn't see it, "bump in the road."
"A pretty big bump."
"That you got over."
"Thanks to you."
"I didn't really do anything."
"You did plenty," Lorelai said firmly leaving no room for argument. "And you did even more today. Like I said…you didn't have to, but…I am very glad that you did!"
Luke laughed when she did. "Yeah?"
"Mhm, I'm currently enjoying one of my gifts as we speak."
"Which one?"
"Got the candles going on my dresser."
Luke frowned as he thought of what her dresser looked like. It was cluttered…almost always cluttered. "Make sure you put them out properly ok?"
"I know I know."
"The uh, the girl at the stand said lavender is supposed to help relieve stress."
"Ah, there's the 'care' part of the care package."
"Hm?"
"You sent things to help me relax."
Luke smiled at the fact that he didn't have to explain it to her, she just understood. "I figured—either way, it would work. If the day went well you'd probably be tired from all the excitement and could use some help unwinding, and, if things didn't go like you wanted them to then you'd really need help relaxing. That's where the grog comes in."
Lorelai laughed breathily, he knew her well. "Well, it worked. I used the bath salts earlier too."
Luke swallowed hard as an idle image of Lorelai in a bathtub popped into his brain.
"And I am feeling…very relaxed. Didn't know they had bath salts in the renaissance…" she thought aloud.
"I dunno," Luke replied, thankful that she couldn't tell where his thoughts had strayed to. "Got 'em from the same place as the candles so maybe?"
"Hm. Hey if it wasn't a bad day am I still allowed to have the grog?"
"It can be celebratory grog."
"The beauty of alcohol; it changes moods when you do."
"And sometimes it changes your mood for you."
"And the cards and the jewellery box…how do those play into your theme?"
"They don't, I just thought you'd like those."
"You were right, I do." The jewellery box was beside her on the nightstand. In it, the card from Luke and the earrings he'd given her at the last Firelight Festival…or, rather, the earrings Liz had given her.
"I was going to throw an apple doll in there too just so you could see one but I didn't think giving you nightmares was a great stress reliever."
"They're that scary?"
"Creepy. They make Victorian Dolls look downright adorable."
"And this is considered the prime spot at the faire? Next to the nightmare inducing dolls?"
"I know," Luke rolled his eyes, "I didn't get it either until I saw how much business they do. For whatever reason people love those things. Most of 'em buy a doll and then automatically stop by to check out the jewellery…I understand why Liz was anxious to keep the spot."
"Huh. Who would've thought there was still a market for creepy dolls?"
"Not me, that's for sure."
"Sookie loved the aprons by the way." They were designed with era specific textiles and on the upper left side of each was a hand-stitched dragonfly and Sookie's name. Sookie had taken one look at all of the gifts and made a not-so-subtle comment on how much Luke must care for Lorelai to go through all of the trouble of sending her such a generous present from three states away. The comment was accompanied by a wide beaming grin that Lorelai couldn't help but reflect back to her. She'd blushed profusely but was glad that Sookie hadn't made a bigger deal about it—inadvertently alerting the rest of the staff to what was going on. Sookie had never been one to beat around the bush when it came to her thoughts on Luke and Lorelai getting together, and since finding out about their kiss? Well, she wasn't even trying to be discreet anymore.
"Oh good."
"Love the embroidery."
"Yeah that place sells clothing and cloth bags…that kind of thing, and they offer custom embroidery. I figured I couldn't go wrong with her name."
"And a dragonfly."
"That too."
"Nice touch."
"Thanks."
"So anyway, that was the highlight of my day…everything after that simply paled in comparison," Lorelai said with flourish, hiding the truth of her words in an embellished tone.
Luke chuckled at her dramatics and answered jokingly. "Glad to brighten your day."
"You did."
It was said seriously, and Luke's realization of her seriousness caused a slight blush to come to his cheeks and accounted for a brief pause in their conversation. Lorelai picked it back up in the next moment.
"So you lied to me then?"
"What?" Luke shook his head at the sharp left turn she took.
"About getting around the see the faire."
"Oh," he sighed quietly in relief, "A white lie—"
"Is still a lie."
"I didn't want to ruin the surprise."
"Fine," she smiled, "I'll give you a pass on that one. It was for a good cause."
"Thank you." Luke smiled too.
"So tell me, what's the faire like?"
"Probably exactly what you'd imagine it's like…lots of people in costumes, lots of annoying old-English… I didn't venture out too much."
"Well you must've talked to some of the people there, what are they like?"
Luke shrugged. "Didn't really talk to 'em much, just bought the stuff and got out of there."
"Didn't they know you were Liz's brother?"
"Probably."
"And no one threw you a, 'hey Liz's brother, heard you were in town. Nice to meet you.'"
"Nope."
"Did they at least like your flannel?"
"No…" Luke dragged, his voice questioning the absurdity of her question.
"Jeeze, tough crowd."
"Why would they comment on my flannel?"
"It's an easy compliment. Like, 'hey Liz's brother, nice to meet you, love the shirt man!'"
Luke laughed. "Is that supposed to be a New York accent?"
"Brooklyn, specifically."
"Ah. No they uh, they all stayed in character, so I wasn't exactly eager to stick around and figure out what the hell they were talking about."
"So you're pretty much just as uninformed about the faire as you were before."
"Pretty much." His words got swallowed up in a yawn he tried to hide.
"I guess it is getting pretty late huh?"
"No, it's ok, we can keep talking."
"I should let you get some sleep, I'm sure you have another busy day tomorrow."
"Maybe not busy as much as aggravating."
"Either way, a little shut eye can't hurt."
"Alright," he acquiesced with another yawn.
Lorelai chuckled. "Goodnight Luke."
"Night. I'm glad everything went well yesterday."
"Me too."
They hung up and Lorelai put the phone on her nightstand before opening the jewellery box and taking out Luke's card. She read it for what must've been the twentieth time that day. His words were simple but heartfelt, and they made her feel warm in an unexpected way. She read it again then put it back into the jewellery box for safekeeping. Sinking down further into her bed, Lorelai lay there with a small smile, thinking of how excited she was for Luke to come home.
FRIDAY NIGHT:
Luke gargled one last time, then turned off the taps, and put his toothbrush back into its travel case. Walking out of the bathroom, he fished his phone out of his duffle-bag and called Lorelai.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Luke."
Lorelai smiled at his instinct to identify himself. "Luke…Luke Danes?"
"You know any other Lukes?"
"Well I did have a brief affair with Luke Perry but you know, too much drama."
"Right."
"So Luke Danes, to what do I owe the honour?" Walking into her kitchen Lorelai made a beeline to the freezer.
"Just checking in, see how you're doing?"
Grabbing a plastic spoon out of the drawer Lorelai took a seat at the table. "I am just about to dig into a pint of rocky road so I'm pretty good…" She trailed off as her eyes inadvertently went to the Rory's bedroom door. A pang of sadness momentarily distracted her, but she pushed it away and refocused on her conversation with Luke. "What about you?"
"I'm good too, just finished getting ready for bed."
There was a brief pause in which Lorelai heard what sounded like creaky bedsprings… "Hey you sound different."
"What do you mean?"
"It doesn't sound all nature-y behind you."
"Nature-y?"
"Usually when we talk I can hear the wind or, the tent moving in the wind or, I don't know, some kind of rustling in the background, the odd cricket chirp."
"I haven't heard any crickets…"
"You know what I mean," Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Suddenly everything's quiet…are you inside somewhere?"
"I'm at the motel."
"With Liz and TJ?"
"Same motel, different room."
"Ooh are you finally getting a chance to sleep in a real bed?"
"Yeah, but it's just for the night. This is apparently a travelling faire."
"Oh?"
"So they stay about a week or two in each town and then pack up and move onto another…"
"I'm assuming you didn't know about this before you drove up there?"
"Of course not. But whatever…" he shrugged, "Tomorrow they're closing up early so everyone has a chance to pack up and head over to the next town."
"The faire's still open tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"Then how can you be at the motel? I thought someone had to stay with the booth at night?"
"The apple doll people said they'd watch over Liz's stuff tonight."
"That's very nice of them."
"Very nice. I think they took pity on me."
"Regardless, I'm sure it's nice to be indoors for once."
"It is, actually."
"Is the motel nice?" Lorelai asked taking another bite of the ice cream.
Luke took a cursory look around the room as he took his watch off. "Better than I thought it would be… It's clean, nothing fancy but I don't really need anything fancy."
"Is there a TV?"
"Yup."
"Ironing board?"
"Yeah, actually."
"Mini fridge?"
"Yup."
"Anything in it?"
"It's empty."
"Darn. So close!"
"To what?"
"The trifecta."
"Ok…" Luke dragged questioningly.
"It's just a couple things I look out for in any motel room."
"Ok…" Luke dragged again, "Why?"
"Because, a TV, ironing board and a stocked mini fridge seem like pretty basic room requirements, but they're really not required at all. They're amenities—comforts…and they tell you a lot about the kind of place you're staying at."
"They do?"
"People don't expect much from motels so they can get away with offering the bare minimum. A lot of places don't even have a mini fridge, so if they do and it's even stocked with some waters or snacks or something, well, then you know that the management is thinking about the guest experience…which means they're probably on top of housekeeping as well."
Luke frowned thoughtfully. "Huh. Never thought of it that way."
"Hazzard of working in the hospitality industry, I always look for things like that. When I first got promoted to manager at the Independence, Mia sent me and Rory on a few weekend trips to other inns, hotels, motels, a few bed and breakfasts—too many bed and breakfasts actually…but just so that I could learn about how other people run their places…you know, look at things from a client's perspective and see what worked and what didn't."
"That's smart."
"Yeah, I really learned a lot and it stuck with me so…I'm always curious to know what other places are doing."
"So then what does that mean that my room has a fridge but there's nothing inside of it?"
Lorelai chuckled, "I think you're probably ok."
"Ok…I mean it seems like a pretty good place. Guy at the front's not the friendliest but the room's decent."
"Good. I'm, glad you'll have a proper roof over your head tonight."
"Me too."
"Camping starting to get to ya?"
"Kind of. It's the longest I've ever camped… I do like it; it's just different knowing that I have to do it. Takes all the fun out of it."
Lorelai let out an amused breath. "I can't imagine camping could ever be fun."
"Never been?"
"Nope. The closest I came was summer camp. But even then, we had cabins and running water."
"Yeah I can't really see you camping either." His brow furrowed as he realized what she'd said. "And I do have access to running water here by the way…"
"You do?"
What did she just think he hadn't been showering or brushing his teeth for two weeks? "We have access to the camp ground's bathrooms and showers facilities…there's a small laundromat too."
"Huh, I guess they must host a lot of festivals on the grounds to have facilities like that."
"Guess so," he shrugged.
There was a brief pause as Lorelai ate another spoonful and considered that new information. "Enh, I still don't feel like I'm missing out."
Luke chuckled softly in response. Lorelai definitely wasn't the commune-with-nature type. He'd seen her plant something in a garden maybe…once? And he was pretty sure she'd done so under duress. "How was the inn today?"
"Well this morning was a little dicey…"
"How come?"
"Sookie was freaking out about a late shipment of cookware. It was supposed to be here 2 days ago and she spent half the day worrying about her weekend meal plans. Thankfully the shipment showed up in the afternoon and she calmed down. I swear she's planning on using every single piece of equipment we have this weekend," Lorelai said with an eyeroll.
"What got delivered?"
"A knife sharpener, a grill pan, a few casserole dishes, and those spoons with the holes in them."
"So, nothing essential."
"Exactly."
"Wouldn't your knives already be sharp? They're practically brand-new…"
"They are. But Sookie's always been very specific on knife maintenance. I can't tell you how many times she's told me about the dull-knife-brisket fiasco of '89."
"Thanks for the head's up. I'll be sure to stay away from brisket related topics around her."
"It's for the best."
There was a moment of comfortable quiet, broken by Luke's soft sigh. "So I hate to cut this short, but I think I'm gonna turn in…"
"Oh yeah, sure," Lorelai replied affably.
"Gotta be up earlier tomorrow…"
"Of course, we'll talk again soon, goodnight Luke."
"Night," Luke responded. They hung up and after plugging in his phone to charge, Luke lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, his mind—as usual—on Lorelai. Two more days. Only two more days with Liz and TJ and then he was hitting the road. He'd take them to their doctor's appointment on Sunday, get them settled in the new town Sunday night and then pack so he could leave first thing in the morning. If the drive went as well as it did on the way up to Maine, he could probably see Lorelai on Monday night, he mused. Maybe he'd bring her another bouquet of flowers…she'd seemed to like them the last time… Luke took a deep breath and settled further into the bed. It had been almost 2 weeks since he'd seen her. He couldn't help the soft smile that came to his face as he thought about picking up where they left off…
SUNDAY AFTERNOON:
"I'll be right back, just need to make a call." Luke shut the passenger door of the truck with a heavy sigh. He fished his phone out of his jacket pocket and scrolled through the few numbers in his phonebook to find the one he wanted. He pushed the call button and walked a few paces away from the truck as it rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey."
"Oh Luke, hey," Lorelai responded distractedly. She was in her office filling out some paperwork for the Dragonfly's business account at the bank. She'd thought the 7 forms she filled out when she'd originally opened the account had been the extent of it but apparently not…How much more information could they possibly need? "I'm sorry I missed your call last night. I fell asleep as soon as I got home, I guess the excitement of opening week wore me out."
"Oh, that's ok," Luke said congenially, "I'm glad you got some rest."
"So what's up? You're hitting the road tonight right? Are you all packed yet?"
Luke walked further away from the truck hoping it would give him some more privacy. "Uh, not packed no…"
"Well you better hurry up mister, you're burning daylight!"
Luke sighed heavily, his eyes shut tightly against the words he knew he had to say. He really wished he was calling with better news. "I'm uh, I'm gonna be here for two more weeks."
Lorelai froze mid-form, all her attention suddenly on Luke. "What?"
"I know," Luke replied quietly.
She could hear the sadness in his voice but was too surprised and disappointed by the news to acknowledge it. "Two more weeks?"
"Yeah," he sighed.
"Two more weeks…Luke, that adds up to a month!"
"I know."
"I…I-I don't remember the last time I've gone a month without seeing you…if ever."
Luke rolled his eyes at her exaggeration. "The last time you didn't see me for a month was last summer when you were in Europe with Rory."
"Oh. Right. Well…" Lorelai's brows furrowed, "that doesn't count. That was, planned…I knew how long we'd be gone for so I could prepare—"
"We know how long I'll be gone for, two more weeks."
"It still doesn't count. Last summer you were also on vacation…it wasn't like you were sitting around the Hollow just waiting."
Last summer. God what a huge mess that all was, Luke thought. This summer was already infinitely better…even if he was stuck in Maine running a jewellery booth at some ridiculous faire. "I'm really sorry. Believe me I don't want to be here for that long either. One more day and I might break TJ's other arm as it is."
"Well, it does make me feel better to know you're not having a great time."
"Gee, thanks."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah."
Lorelai sighed. "It's boring here without you," she said petulantly, "I have no one to bug."
"Go bug Caesar."
"Half the time he doesn't even know when I'm joking."
"Neither do I."
"Ah it's not the same."
"Sookie?"
"Nah."
"Taylor?"
"Hmm…different, but it might do." She pondered the option for a moment before shaking her head in dismissal, "Mm…no. I'll just have to write down anything I think of and tell you when you get back."
"Or you could tell me over the phone…"
"Then how would I know if I've gotten you to that beet red, vein twitching phase of annoyance?"
"I could just tell you?"
"No, it's ok, I'll wait."
"Ok."
"But don't take too long ok?"
Luke sighed, his soft tone matching hers, "I won't."
"Ok."
"I should go, I've got Liz and TJ waiting for me in the truck."
"Right…I, guess I'll talk to you later then."
"Yeah, I'll talk to you."
Luke hung up and slowly walked back to the truck. He'd definitely been hoping for better news today. The doctor had warned them that the healing process would be long but Luke hadn't thought it would take this long. He'd been focused on getting back to Lorelai and now it would be another two weeks before he could. He was frustrated about it all, but Lorelai seemed to be as well. As a general rule, he didn't like seeing her upset, but he couldn't help but feel a flicker of happiness this time. He wanted to see her…it was just nice to know that she wanted to see him too.