Sookie was practically floating on air as she spotted Lorelai.
"You're really here!" she squealed, jumped up and hugged the life out of her.
Lorelai chuckled. "Yes, I am! Did you doubt I would keep my promise?"
"Oh, less that and more that I dreamt about you. I told Jackson about you and he said you sound too good to be true, so I've been thinking about you being a manifestation of my wish to open an inn on my own. Or a fairy godmother, whatever seems more plausible."
"I'm neither a manifestation nor a fairy godmother," said Lorelai as she sat down.
"I can see that," Sookie giggled, but once Lane reached their table to pour them coffee and take their orders, she went serious. "So – Luke is really gone, huh?"
"Should be only a week," Lane replied before grinning at Lorelai. "He couldn't stay away from you long."
Heat rose in her face. "Does he – uh – talk about me a lot?"
"Not at all, that's not him. But he's in a really good mood lately. He usually never gives out stuff on the house, but he does it constantly now." Lane smiled and vanished to the back.
"He sooo likes me," Lorelai joked softly, her cheeks still flushed.
"He does, doesn't he?" Sookie giggled. "Ah, I'm so happy for him. For the both of you, of course, but you know – you're still married, so …"
"Actually, my husband and I have been in an open marriage," Lorelai said, fed up with everyone secretly judging her. She felt like finally sharing, at least with Sookie, who seemed like a person someone could share things with.
"Oh, have you?" Sookie's mouth fell open. "I did not know that."
"Only Luke did. So it's fine. We've been in an open marriage for ten years and it works. We're friends, nothing more."
"You and your husband? Wow, that's … wow."
"I know what you think. I'm still going to divorce him, so I can be with Luke. But for now, I am not cheating on anyone."
"Sorry, it just amazes me that Luke is okay with it. He must really like you."
The heat inside her face increased even more. Quickly, Lorelai took a sip of her coffee. "So," she started, eager to change the subject, "Sookie. Do you have a business plan?"
"Business plan? No, I haven't a clue about business!" Sookie stared at her, eyes wide.
"Okay, don't panic." Lorelai smiled to calm her down. "It's more an overall idea than an actual plan. I just wanted to know what you want to do with that inn, like what you want to offer, how many rooms there will be and so on."
"Oh. Okay, that's easy, there'll be ten rooms and I want to offer culinary specialities from all over the world. I want to hire the best chefs only and offer all there is to eat to people. Even to vegetarians."
"Well, that's a start," laughed Lorelai. "Vegetarians are in fact people, too. Is there more?"
"More what?"
"More you want to offer?"
"Oh, uh – desserts! I want to offer cake and pastries. And oh, breakfast! And cocktails at night. Oh, and –!"
"Sookie," Lorelai quickly interrupted, "what about activities?"
"What do you mean?"
"What you're describing to me now is a restaurant. In an hotel or an inn you should offer activities or special festivities of sorts. In the Royal, we host weddings, tea parties, live music, balls, conferences, seminars, and we have a sky bar. We also offer activities, like tennis, swimming, horseback riding, golfing, as well as yoga, Pilates, aerobics and dart competitions every now and then. We have a Jazz Friday, karaoke once a month, stand-up comedy once a month and quiz nights every second month." She sighed quietly. "Sookie, you have to offer things to tourists, they want more than just a bed and food. Well, some don't, but then they just go to a bed and breakfast."
As Lorelai finished, Sookie was staring at her with a wide mouth. "Well … you can do that, because your hotel is established and has a lot of money."
"That's why you need a business plan, Sookie. Once you have that, you'll get investors and then you can do these things, too. But it has to be a good plan, think of what the inn and Stars Hollow has to offer."
"Well – certainly not a golf course."
"Oh, we don't have a golf course behind the hotel either. But people booking a room get a little folder that tells them what we offer, and if they book a session at the club, they get 25% off. Same goes for the bowling bar, by the way. Rory had that idea to make our hotel attractive to younger people, but I guess the rooms are just a tad too expensive to attract young people."
Sookie frowned. "I don't even want to know how much they are."
"How much a night did you think for your inn?"
"I really haven't thought about that yet." Sookie's shoulders sank.
"Hey, don't worry, you got me now. What about horses?"
"Horses?"
"The Royal has a stable in the outskirts, and people love it. Riding through New England – think about it, it's lovely. You wouldn't need a lot of horses, maybe two, three tops. Think newly-weds."
Sookie nodded, "I'm thinking newly-weds."
"If I were to be married again, I would love to take a ride around nature with my new husband."
"Luke isn't a huge fan of horses," Sookie pointed out, and Lorelai did her best to ignore her.
"And what about winter sports? Ice skating, cross-country-skiing? That's something you can offer."
"Or a sports ground for like basketball or volleyball," Sookie added slowly, and Lorelai's face lit up.
"Now you hear me! Great idea, Sook."
Sookie started to grin. "Yes, I hear you, I definitely hear you. Do you think I should write this down?"
"I think you should." Lorelai opened her purse. "Lucky for you, I never leave the house without a pen and paper. I have had many spur of the moment ideas on the road and I used to sing them until I could get a hold of paper. Or I would enter a shabby road-diner and write stuff down on a napkin. But these things have taught me. Here you go."
"Sports ground," Sookie said while writing it down. "Winter sports, get skis. Horses. Uh – weddings. Tea parties. Live music, I liked that one."
"A library."
Sookie inhaled. "Good idea!" She scribbled it down excitedly. "This is working, Lorelai. This is working really well."
Lorelai thought so, too.
A while later, she was in front of the Dragonfly. Neither Luke nor Sookie had exaggerated, it was a shabby, old ruin. Beautiful, simply beautiful – but it looked like it would break in by setting one foot only on the porch.
"So," Sookie asked with a shaking voice, "what do you think?"
"It's definitely fixable," answered Lorelai. "A lot of potential. Who does it belong to?"
"The town. It used to belong to Fran Weston, the woman who ran the bakery, but she sadly passed away a few months back. Now it belongs to the town, and Michel and I have been meaning to approach Taylor for quite some time."
"Do you think Michel could be your business partner?"
"Ha, no. I asked him and he immediately declined. He doesn't want to own an inn, thinking that could make him vulnerable. Like, if the inn goes bankrupt, he wants to be able to just quit and get a new job. As an owner, you can't really do that."
"That's actually fair. He seems like a smart man."
"Pff, don't tell him that." Sookie grinned. "He's very self-aware."
"I'll tell you what, I will help you with the business plan. Well, you should write it and then send it to me. Then we can talk about investing from my side, and as soon as that's done, you should look into the business course. Approach Taylor before you start those lessons, though. Because in case he says no, you'll have enrolled in the college for nothing."
"But I shouldn't buy it yet?"
"It all depends, Sookie. On Taylor, and if he's okay with it. On the price, on investors, on how much renovating would cost."
"So … you'll invest?" Sookie looked at her hopefully.
"I can't tell you yet, sadly. I first have to get a look at what you're planning and whether this Taylor character is okay with it. If I know an amount for the inn, that would help me, too. There's a bit of a difference between investing ten thousand and fifty thousand."
"Fifty thousand? Jeez, do you think it'll be that much?"
Lorelai shrugged. "That's why I can't tell you anything yet, Sook."
Sookie nodded. "Got it. I'll sit down and start writing that plan right away." She took a deep breath. "But – do you like it?"
"The inn?" Lorelai looked at the Dragonfly. A strange feeling washed over her, something that she could only describe as wishful thinking. "It's lovely," she replied quietly, "perfect even. I think it's going to be a lot of work, but it's going to be worth it."
Sookie squealed happily, and before Lorelai could react, Sookie was hugging her again. And Lorelai hugged her back, because she took a strange liking to this woman.
On her way back to Hartford, her phone suddenly rang.
Lorelai came to a halt at the side of the road, picking up the strange number.
"Hayden?"
"Is that Lorelai Hayden?"
"Yes, this is she. With whom am I speaking?"
"Taylor Doose," the voice replied, and Lorelai's mouth fell open. Had Sookie already spoken to him about the Dragonfly?
But the reason he was calling was a different one.
"I hear you would like to buy the empty house on Maple Street."
Lorelai exhaled. "Yes! Oh, yes, I would love to."
"A lot of renovation would have to go into this."
"I'm aware."
"It won't be easy. Neither the purchase nor renovating nor the costs of maintenance."
"I know, Mr Doose, but I really wanna live in Stars Hollow. And that house would be perfect for me, I can picture myself so well in it."
"Well," the man with the slightly annoying voice said, "next time you're in Stars Hollow, come by Doose's. We should talk about insurance and interest payment."
"I agree," said Lorelai. "Are you in now? I was just in Stars Hollow and could turn around. It would only take me ten minutes."
"You really want to live here, huh?" The man chuckled. "I do understand, of course, it's the best town on this planet. Oh, alright, come by. I'll be waiting."
As they hung up, Lorelai had to lean back. She was breathing fast, unable to realise what was happening right now.
She was about to move to Stars Hollow – she was really doing it.
A/N
I wanted to post a quick note that the joke about vegetarians is not meant offensive in any way. That coming from a vegan author (myself). You've all seen how Lorelai and Sookie speak about vegetarians in the show. (And Luke, and Lane, and Rory and basically everyone except for that weird, vegan swim coach that Luke went out with once)
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, shit is slowly getting real for Lorelai.
