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I own NOTHING!
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The next morning Lorelai woke up to the delicious smell of food wafting its way thru the apartment. Having no idea where it was even coming from, she slowly slid out of bed, careful to not wake her daughter, and quietly made her way out of the bedroom.
"Well Good Morning Sleepy Head!" Christopher greeted her enthusiastically.
"What am I smelling? I know for a fact that you can't cook at all, so where in the world is that delicious smell coming from?"
"It was just delivered from a restaurant in town. I know that Rory is our daughter, and therefore doesn't keep any kind of real food in her house. So I called this restaurant in the city that I used to go to that has amazing breakfast, and I had them deliver."
"Is there coffee?"
"Do I look crazy to you?"
"I'll go get Rory."
"I'll get everything set up for us." Christopher told her as Lorelai turned back toward Rory's bedroom to go wake their daughter up.
"Hey Rory?" Lorelai started as she walked back into the room, and gently shook Rory. "Honey, your dad ordered breakfast. You should come eat something."
"What time is it?" Rory asked as she opened her eyes.
"Uh . . . Wow, it looks like it's 10:00."
"Ok. You said Dad cooked breakfast? I didn't knew he knew how to cook?"
"He doesn't. He ordered from somewhere in the city, and had them deliver. He said it was a restaurant that he used to go to that has amazing breakfast."
"Well it definitely smells good."
"Do you want to go eat? How are you feeling?"
"I have a headache, and my arm hurts."
"Why don't you go out to your Dad and get situated, and I'll get your medication."
"I can do that." Rory agreed as Lorelai pulled the blankets to the side, and helped Rory out of bed. "Is there coffee?"
"I asked that too."
"And?"
"He asked if he looked crazy."
"That's really not helpful." Rory said scrunching her face up quizzically.
"I'm sure your dad got coffee. I don't think he's brave enough to withhold it."
"Sweet! I just need to use the bathroom first."
"Do you need any help?"
"I think I can handle it. I'll yell if I can't."
"Ok. I'll see you out there." Lorelai told her, then grabbed her phone off the bedside table and headed to the kitchen to get Rory's medicine ready.
"Something smells completely amazing!" Rory said when she finally joined her parents in the living room.
"Hey kiddo! I got Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped creme, a ham and vegetable omelet, steak cheese and jalapeno omelet, Mexican style omelet, cheesecake stuffed french toast, hash browns, and some regular toast with butter." Christopher explained, pointing at all the food he had just laid out on the coffee table.
"Oh holy crap! Dad, this all looks and smells so good!"
"Do you guys want to use plates, or just eat out of the containers?"
"I'm good with containers."
"Lor?"
"Containers is fine by me. Here is your medicine Rory."
"Thank you." Rory smiled taking her medication, and a bottle of water from her mom.
"Containers it is! Lor, what time is Luke coming? Do we need to save him some?"
"Mom, we should totally save him some. Or at least, the cheesecake stuffed french toast. Maybe then we can get him to make us some more."
"Rory, I'll give you the number to the restaurant I ordered from. You can have them deliver, and charge it to my card whenever you want." Christopher told her.
"Dad, you don't have to do that. I can afford to buy myself breakfast."
"You might pass out if you see the prices at this place. I already set up an account for you. You can call them up any time, and get whatever you want. They have all of your information. Just tell them your name, and where you want your food delivered."
"Are you for real?"
"As a heart attack!"
"Thank you Daddy! That means a lot to me."
"You are very welcome kiddo. You are all grown up now, and I live so far away that I don't get to see you, or do things for you very much. This is just my way of doing a little something for my little girl, and making sure that you are eating. I've heard that you've been so busy with work that you've been skipping meals and living off pop tarts and Chinese take out."
"And who told you that?" Rory asked.
"Your garbage can when I took it out last night." Chris laughed.
"I try to remember to eat. I just get so busy." Rory told him.
"Hey, no judgment here. I'm guilty of doing the same thing a lot of the time. But you need to take care of yourself. So please. Order as much as you want. I had them bring me a stack of business cards. I put one on your fridge with a menu, and dropped several in your purse."
"Thanks Dad!"
"You're welcome! Now, who wants what omelet?"
"Rory, do you want the Mexican one? You're the one with the pain killer hangover." Lorelai asked.
"Actually, I'll take the steak and cheese omelet."
"Mexican for me then!" Lorelai said excitedly as Christopher handed out the food, and they settled in to eat breakfast.
"So Mom, you didn't answer. What time is Luke coming?"
"He's on his way now. His text said he will be here around noon. He's stopping by the grocery store when he gets closer. He said he would call to get a list of what we want, unless we text it to him before then."
"You know, I really do like this whole having two Dads thing!" Rory told them. "I feel like the luckiest kid in the world!"
"Luke is a good guy." Christopher told them. "I'm glad he takes good care of you guys. I know I never liked him in the past, but it makes me happy that you both are so happy. It's great that you have someone there for you when I can't be. I'll have to thank Luke when I see him."
"Chris, that is so big of you." Lorelai said with a genuine smile.
"Hey, I'm a big enough man to admit that I was pretty jealous of him in the past. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. Especially when it comes to the two of you. But I would never deny either of you the happiness that you both deserve. Luke has been a big part of your lives since Rory was a baby. I'm really glad that you two have him. I'm glad that he was able to be a good father to you when I wasn't able to. You both deserved better than me."
"Chris, don't beat yourself up."
"Dad, you and mom were so young when I was born. You were still babies, with your own baby. I can't blame either of you for the decisions that you made. You both loved me, and you were there when it mattered most. I think I turned out pretty ok." Rory told him.
"You turned out better than just ok Rory. You are an amazing woman! And I am so proud of you! I know that there is nothing that you've ever needed that your mom hasn't taken care of for you. But is there anything that I can do for you while I'm out here? I can stay as long as you want me to. I know Luke is on his way up, I've already reserved myself a room over at the Four Seasons. I don't want to be in anyone's way."
"Dad, I'm fine."
"I know you are. But I still want to help if I can. How's your car? Are you having any problems with it?"
"I actually don't drive it very much. I mostly take the subway everywhere. It's too crowded to drive in the city."
"Well, when is the last time that you drove it? That car is what, 12 years old now?"
"13." Lorelai told him.
"And yours is over 20." Rory interjected.
"Ok, so you both need new cars then."
"I don't want a new car." Lorelai said shaking her head. "I like my car just the way it is. It just got a brand new engine and new tires. My car is perfectly fine!"
"Mom is crazy! She refuses to get a new car. When the jeep breaks down, she pays ridiculous amounts for it to get all new parts instead of .just buying a new one. There was the one day that Gypsy said that the Jeep was dead. Like door nails dead. Mom went car shopping with Luke, and hated literally everything. She ended up buying the exact same Jeep, just several years newer, and then turned around a paid Gypsy to swap the engines. Mom didn't want the newer Jeep, or any other car. She insists on keeping her 20 year old falling apart Jeep."
"Hey, that Jeep has memories!" Lorelai said defending herself.
"Did you drive the Jeep up here?" Christopher asked.
"Nope! I was at work, so I borrowed the suv from the Dragonfly. I figured while I'm in the city, I'll probably do some shopping for the Inn, so having the suv makes the trip a tax right off, and it makes transporting things a lot easier."
"What if someone needs a ride to the airport or something?"
"Then they can call a cab, or an Uber. The suv doesn't get used very much. I'm the one who drives it the most unless there is a catering order that needs to be delivered."
"So you basically have two cars."
"I guess you could say that." Lorelai agreed.
"So Rory, what do you think about maybe getting a new car?" Christopher asked. "Your birthday is coming up, and I need to get you something."
"Dad, I rarely even drive. I don't need a new car."
"You might not need it now. But why don't we go look this weekend while I'm here. Let's see if we can find you something that you like. It doesn't even have to be fancy."
"I'm not allowed to even drive right now. Logan said that New York state law forbids me from driving for 72 hours while the morphine works its way out of my body. It hasn't even been 24 hours yet."
"You don't have to drive anything. I can test drive it for you. Just come with me. Please? Let me do this for you."
"Dad, I don't know. I really don't need a new car. Even when I go down to see Mom, I take the train to Hartford. The only time I drive is when I go see Paris."
"Rory, your car is getting up there in age. I don't want it breaking down on you at the worst possible time, and you having an anxiety attack because you don't know what to do. Let me take care of this for you. For your birthday."
"Mom? What do you think?" Rory asked.
"I guess, go for it if you want. Just because I refuse to get a new car, doesn't mean that you shouldn't. You work really hard honey. You deserve something nice."
"Thank you Lor!"
"Ok. We can go look this weekend." Rory agreed. "Can I ask you a question though? On a totally separate topic?"
"You can ask me anything."
"Where's Gigi?"
"She's with my mom. I was thinking of maybe having her get on the train after school today so we can spend some time together in the city."
"I would love to see her if she'll come. I haven't seen Gigi in forever!"
"I'll ask mom to bring her up then. Do you mind maybe having lunch with Francine?"
"No, I don't mind at all."
"Logan can come too if you'd like him to. I know you guys have a lot to work out, but your mom says she has high hopes for you two."
"I actually haven't heard from him today. I texted him last night to apologize for being such a nightmare to him. Mom, he asked me to tell you that he got home ok. Sorry I didn't tell you until now. I fell asleep right after."
"Don't worry about it. I figured you had talked to him." Lorelai told her.
"He said he would check on me today, but I haven't heard from him yet. Have you?"
"Not yet. Do you want me to call him?"
"No, it's fine. I'm sure everything is fine. He's probably sleeping or something."
"He could be at work." Chis added. "That is a really good hospital, and they tend to stay busy."
"That's true." Rory agreed.
"Honey, I'm sure we'll hear from him. But I'll make you a deal. If we don't hear from him by the time Luke serves dinner, I'll go hunt him down."
"I guess that works."
"I need to run over to your office today to take in your paperwork, and get your laptop. Do you want me to stop by the hospital to see if he's there?"
"No, I don't want to act all desperate. I'm sure he'll call. Do you mind if I go with you to my office? I know I'm supposed to rest, but there are some things that I want to grab, and I would like to talk to my boss myself."
"Chris why don't you come too, just in case." Lorelai suggested. "That way I have help if I need to drag her out. And I'm sure we could use the extra arms."
"Sure! I'm happy to help with whatever." Chris agreed. "Hey Lor, can I ask you a favor?"
"What's that?"
"What if we had a family lunch or dinner with my mom and Gigi. All of us. You, me, Rory, Luke, Logan if Rory wants him there. All of us. We can even invite Emily and Richard to come up if you'd like."
"I don't know Chris. We haven't told my parents about what happened yesterday, and we weren't exactly planning to do it any time soon. Rory doesn't need that kind of drama while she's in pain."
"What about without your parents? Would you mind having dinner with Gigi and my Mom? You and Luke? She's changed Lor. I promise you, she's a completely different person now that my dad is gone."
"Can I think about it? I need to run it by Luke."
"Sure. It doesn't even have to be this weekend. I was just thinking that if Mom is bringing Gigi to the city to hang out and see Rory, maybe it would be nice if we all got together."
"I totally get it. I'll talk to Luke. Can I let you know tomorrow?"
"Of course!"
"Would you guys excuse me? I think I'm going to go get cleaned up. Thank you for breakfast Dad. It was amazing, and I am beyond stuffed!"
"Rory, do you want me to wrap your arm up so you can shower?" Lorelai asked.
"Would you?"
"Of course! Come with me." Lorelai said leading Rory into the kitchen. "I picked up supplies from Dollar General last night.
"Did your mom tell you that she bought all the girl scout cookies that were in the store?" Chris asked as he got up, and started to clean up their breakfast.
"You did?" Rory asked. "Somehow I'm not surprised, but Luke is gonna flip!"
"Oh I know! I'm fully prepared for that!"
Rory's phone began to ring as Lorelai was wrapping her arm in plastic wrap, and Rory reached into her pocket to retrieve it, seeing that Logan was calling on Facetime.
"Hey! How are you?" Rory asked after pressing the connect button and seeing Logan's face appear on the screen.
"Good Morning Ace! How did you sleep?"
"Pretty good actually. I passed out right after you texted me. What about you?"
"I didn't get much. I was called into work at 6am."
"Ouch!"
"Eh, I'm used to it. I'm sorry I haven't checked on you sooner. This is the first chance I've had to sit down."
"It's like 11!"
"I know. I'm trying to figure out what I want to eat."
"My dad got us breakfast this morning. It was amazing!"
"Luke is there already?"
"Not yet, but Mom said he should be here in the next hour."
"Christopher is here." Lorelai said moving her head next to Rory so she could see the phone. "Hey Logan!"
"Good morning!" Logan smiled. "So Christopher is there now too?"
"Yeah." Rory laughed. "Mom texted him, telling him that I got hurt, and he jumped in the car. He surprised us by showing up late last night."
"Wow! Someone gets hurt, and the entire family appears!"
"That's how this family works." Lorelai told him. "How are you doing today? You said you got called in this morning?"
"Yeah. They woke me up pretty early."
"Is that Logan?" Christopher asked walking into the kitchen with the food.
"Yeah, he's at work." Lorelai told him.
"Hey Logan!" Christopher waved in front of the phone. "Have you eaten or are you hungry? I had Mirabellos deliver, and there is TONS of food left! I can bring you some if you'd like."
"Mirabellos delivers?"
"Well, no. But they do for me. I even set up an account for Rory so she can order whenever she wants, and they'll charge everything to me."
"Nice! Maybe she'll let me abuse that privilege sometime. I haven't eaten there in years. Their food is amazing!"
"Do you want me to bring you some? We've got Belgian waffles. 3 kinds of omelets, toast, hash browns, and cheesecake stuffed French toast." Christopher said as he moved to stand behind Rory so he could see Logan, and join the conversation.
"Thanks, but you don't have to do that. I need to get out of here for a while, so I'll just go grab something."
"Logan, you can come over if you want. There is literally a ton of food, and it'll just get thrown out if someone doesn't eat it." Rory told him.
"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude on your family time. I know you don't get to see much of them."
"You need to eat Logan."
"I'll pop this stuff in the oven to keep it warm until you get here." Christopher told him, then both him and Lorelai moved away from Rory, to put the food in the oven.
"Ok. I'll be there in like 20 minutes. I need to check on my patient anyway."
"Your patient is fine." Rory told him. "Mom just wrapped my arm up so I can take a shower." Rory said moving the phone so Logan could see her arm.
"So you're feeling ok then?"
"Yeah. I'm in a little pain, but it's nothing I can't deal with."
"Good. I'm glad you're doing well."
"I slept, I ate a ton of food, took my medicine, and I've got my parents here, and Luke on the way. And dad mentioned asking his mom to bring Gigi up after school so she can hang out."
"Wow, it's like a family reunion!" Logan laughed.
"Something like that!"
"Well you go shower, and I'll let the desk know that I'm heading out for a bit now that things have slowed down. I'll see you soon, ok?"
"Ok. Drive safe."
"I will. Bye Ace." Logan smiled, then disconnected the call.
"Go shower. We've got this covered." Lorelai said pushing Rory out of the kitchen.
"Doctor Huntsberger!" Christopher said opening Rory's apartment door about 25 minutes later. "Congratulations! I hear you are doing amazing things!" he said stepping aside to let Logan in.
"Thank you!"
"So you've really turned your back on the family biz?"
"Not to the liking of the rest of the family." Logan laughed. "My sister is the only one who is actually legitimately proud of me. Everyone else just pretends for an audience. There is a bit of a grudge there."
"Society sucks sometimes!"
"That's for sure! Hey Lorelai."
"Hey Stranger! Come on in. Rory is still in the shower, but let's get you some food."
"Chris, can I ask how in the world you got Mirabello's to Deliver?"
"It's a secret." Christopher winked at him
"So a wad of green then."
"You could say that." Christopher said laughing as he led Logan to the dining room table, and sat him down to eat. "We ate on the floor in the living room, but you deserve a comfortable chair."
"Here you go." Lorelai said, setting several boxes down on the table in front of the men with a couple bottles of water.
"Wow! You went all out!"
"Is there any other way to feed a Gilmore Girl?" Christopher asked.
"Definitely not. This all looks delicious!"
"Well dig in. It tastes even better than it looks." Lorelai said sitting down across from Christopher, and pulling her phone out to check her messages.
"So Logan, how do you like being a doctor?" Christopher asked as Logan began to eat.
"I love it! Every day is a new challenge. One minute you have a heart attack coming thru the door, and the next minute it could be a new baby, or a broken bone. You never know what is going to happen when the door slides open."
"What is the craziest thing that you've seen so far?"
"Nothing too bad yet today. But it's still early."
"Really? No chain saws stuck in someone's head?"
"Not yet. I've seen a few fingers cut off though in the last few years though."
"How do you keep your appetite?"
"Not much grosses me out anymore. After that fall I had in Costa Rica while I was back at Yale, I kind of developed an iron stomach.
"Well that's good. So Rory's gory hand didn't phase you?"
"That actually wasn't at all as bad as I was expecting. The paramedics cauterized the vein that was hit by the scissors, so all I had to do was stitch and cast."
"How do you not get sick working in the ER?" Lorelai asked.
"I take A LOT of vitamin C. I actually have quite the vitamin cabinet at home. All those old wives tales and home remedies that people swear by, I do ALL of them!"
"You're serious?" Chris asked.
"My fridge is stocked with a bunch of different juices and a ton of water. I take literally every vitamin and mineral to boost my immune system. I drink Emergen-C every morning, and eat elderberry stuff all the time. I figure combining all that stuff is either going to make me a really sick, or some kind of super human. I also shower before leaving the hospital. I keep several sets of clothes in my locker, and the laundry service takes care of all my scrubs. I try to not transport any germs on me."
"You've been at work since like 6am, and you just took a break to come over here to eat, and you showered before leaving the hospital?" Lorelai asked.
"Yep!"
"How many showers do you take a day?!"
"Sometimes 5 or 6."
"Wow!" Chris said surprised. "So you're basically the cleanest guy in town"
"Pretty much!" Logan laughed.
"Hey Logan!" Rory said walking into the room, and taking a seat at the table next to Logan.
"Hey Ace you look like you're feeling better."
"I finally got all that blood off me."
"Hey Christopher, will you come help me get something from my car?" Lorelai asked getting up from the table.
"Sure Lor, lead the way." Chris said as he got up to follow her as she grabbed her keys off the counter, and headed out the door. "So what do you need help with? What are we getting?"
"Nothing. We're taking a walk. Giving them some privacy."
"Ok. Well why don't you show me this Dollar General place." Christopher told her.
Back at Rory's apartment
"So how are you really doing Ace?" Logan asked after the door closed.
"I'm fine. It hurts a little bit, but I'm trying to ignore it."
"How bad is the pain? On a scale of 1-10?"
"Like a 5."
"Did you take the medication I gave you?"
"Yeah. I took some last night, then when I woke up this morning."
"Did you take anything over night? What time did you wake up?"
"I slept straight thru til 10."
"The trick injuries like that is that you have to stay ahead of the pain, which means that you need to take the medication every 4-6 hours, around the clock, whether you think you need it or not. If you miss a dose and the pain sets in, it is hard to get back ahead."
"So what do I do? Just suffer?"
"So you took the meds this morning when you woke up?"
"Yeah, over an hour ago."
"Do you have any motrin?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Go take 4. It'll take about 15-20 minutes to kick in, but it'll be enough of a push to get you back ahead of the pain."
"Really?"
"Really. It's a little trick I learned back at Yale, then confirmed in medical school. No doctor will ever tell you to do it, because it's not good for your body to have that much stuff in your system at a time, but it won't hurt you to do it a few times. As long as you don't make it an every day thing, you'll be fine."
"Wow! I might have to keep you around. Having a doctor on hand could be pretty useful."
"You know I can't just randomly write you any prescription you want."
"And I would never ask you to. You probably can't be my doctor if we're in a relationship either."
"Nope. But that doesn't mean that I can't tell your doctor what to do."
"Good to know." Rory said getting up and heading into the kitchen to get herself some motrin and a drink while Logan finished eating. "When do you need to go back?"
"In a bit. They'll page me if they need me right away." Logan said as Rory sat back down next to him, swallowing her medication. "Let me see your arm."
"What's to see? You put a cast on it that makes it so I can't even move my fingers."
"That was done on purpose. I wanted to stabilize everything to keep you from doing too much and causing your stitches to pop. I know you, and I know if you can move your fingers, you'll go back to typing away on your laptop, and end up back in the ER bleeding all over the place because your stitches popped and your cut opened back up. Do you really want to go through all of that again?"
"No." Rory agreed.
"That's why I closed everything up, and made your hand immobile. It forces you to heal properly."
"You're pretty smart."
"And you're beautiful." Logan said letting go of Rory's arm, and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Logan . . ." Rory said softly, meeting his eyes for a moment before shyly looking away.
"What are your plans for this weekend?"
"I don't really know. My Dad wants to take me car shopping while he's here. He's insisting on buying me a car for my birthday."
"Your birthday isn't for a couple more weeks. Do you need a new car?"
"No, but my car is 13 years old, and my parents don't want something to happen, and for me to be left stranded."
"I can agree with that."
"I agreed to go look with Dad while he's here. And he's calling Francine to have her bring Gigi up after school today, and he wants to get us all together to have dinner. I haven't seen Francine in years, and it's been months since I've seen my sister. He said you can come if you want."
"I'll be there if you want me to, as long as I'm not stuck at work. I haven't seen your sister since she was little."
"Have you ever met my grandmother?"
"If I have, it was when I was a little kid, and I don't remember."
"The last time I saw her was when Strobe died. Before that, was high school, and they treated me like crap."
"So it was basically like spending time with my family."
"Pretty much! Dad says she's changed, but I'm not sure how much. He invited Mom and Luke to dinner too. He even offered to call Emily and Richard."
"Oh geez, what did your mom have to say about that?
"She was polite about it, but I could tell 'Hell no' was on the tip of her tongue."
"I can't even blame her for that one. I only see my family a couple times a year because they are too much to deal with, and I get more than enough drama at work."
"What about Honor?"
"I see her all the time. She lives not too far from here. We do lunch or dinner once a week. Usually on Wednesdays."
"I'm glad you at least have a good relationship with your sister."
"Honor is great. She will be thrilled to know that you are in the city too. She'll probably want to get together."
"I would love that. Give her my number."
"I will. How long is your Dad staying?"
"I don't know. Maybe just the weekend. Gigi is still in school."
"So when can I take you out? Would Monday work?"
"Logan, we still need to talk."
"I know. That's why I want to take you out. Get you away from everyone, so it's just us."
"It's just us right now."
"Yes, but I have to get back to work soon. This isn't something that can be discussed in under 5 minutes."
"I know. But it's a start."
"Rory, I don't want to start diving into everything until we have a large block of time with nothing else going on."
"So where does that leave us then?"
"I honestly don't know. I know where I want us to be. But it's going to take a while to get there. We can't just jump and suddenly have everything fixed for us."
"Says the man who told me 'if you jump with me right now, it's one more moment that you haven't lived.'"
"I had some pretty good lines, didn't I?!" Logan chuckled.
"You always have."
"Look Rory . . . You know that I care about you." Logan said reaching for her hand as his pager went off. "Damn it!"
"You have to go?"
"Yeah . . . This is exactly why we can't do this right now. I'm working all weekend, and on call when I'm not scheduled to be there. But can we plan for Monday?"
"Sure. It's not like I have anything planned for the next couple of weeks."
"Ok. Will you make sure to call the orthopedic surgeon today, that I gave you the info for in your release paperwork?"
"Yeah. I'll have mom call when she gets back with Dad. I know she'll want to go with me."
"Ok." Logan said standing up from the table, and heading toward the door.
"Will you call me when you get off work tonight?" Rory asked as she followed him.
"It might be really late."
"You know that doesn't bother me."
"I'll call. I promise."
"So we're at least friends now, right?"
"Rory, I would never not be your friend. Come here." Logan said pulling her into his arms. "I'll call you when I'm done tonight. But you can text me whenever, and I'll answer whenever I can."
"Ok." Rory sighed into Logan's chest.
"I've really gotta go."
"Drive safe ok?" Rory told him as she pulled away and took a small step back so she could look Logan in the eyes.
"I always do."
"Do you want me to bring you dinner or something later? Luke is cooking."
"If you want to. But I need you to promise me that you will get some rest ok? You aren't going to heal if you don't rest."
"I will. I'm going to my office with my parents so I can talk to my boss, and pick up a few things, but I promise to not over do it, and to rest when we get home."
"That's my girl." Logan said placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'll see you later."
"Bye." Rory smiled as she watched Logan leave, then headed back to the dining room to clear the table