TROUVAILLE ... l.danes (REWRITE)

chapter forty-eight; the present

SHE YEARNS FOR IT

two-thousand-and-three

LUKE SHOVES his hand in the bowl of candy Taylor is desperately trying to get him to step away from, and Shelley hides behind her hands.

Fifteen minutes ago, Luke had taken one look at the window separating his diner from Taylor's new sweet shop and froze. He hadn't noticed it before then. And now, Shelley doesn't exactly need superhuman hearing to know that her boyfriend is ranting about killing Taylor. He may even be explaining, in gruesome detail, exactly how he is going to do it.

She peeks through her fingers to see Luke shove the candy in his mouth.

"Oh. God." She groans and, in the kitchen, listens to Caesar laugh at her discomfort. "Am I in love with an idiot?"

The chef pokes his head out of the little window separating him from the rest of the restaurant. "Yeah. I'd say so." And then he goes back to cooking. Autumn giggles, carrying empty plates through to get washed when they have the time. She shoots an agreement over her shoulder that makes Shelley's cheeks burn. She's really having a baby with a man who loses his mind over a candy store.

Her eyes flicker down to her non-existent baby bump she can almost imagine. She cannot wait for it to grow bigger, to hold it between her hands so that everyone can see. And everyone will know it is Luke's. The man who shoves his hand into a bowl of candy to be petty.

Her forehead hits the cool counter and she groans, once more, louder just as he walks through the door.

"What's wrong?"

Luke's hand is warm on her back, right between her shoulder blades. He worries about her more since he found out about the pregnancy. Every yelp. Every groan. Every wince. It could all be a problem with the baby. It could all mean a problem with her. He treats her so delicately, carrying things to her, making sure she spends every night with her feet propped up and a blanket on – even if it is warm – massaging the tension curled into her shoulders. He is kind and stifling all at once.

"You." His eyes widen. "Taylor's gonna have wanted posters up all over town by the evening. You shouldn't have done that!"

"Urgh." Luke pulls off a cap and runs his fingers through his hair. He returns to his usual spot behind the counter. His comfort spot. The one place that cannot annoy him. "He deserved it. Who does he think he is putting a window in my diner?"

Shelley rolls her eyes but decides not to argue with him any further. He's right, but his cheeks are starting to go a splotchy red from how annoyed he is. Autumn points it out as she, too, takes her place behind her counter and the redness deepens.

They are still teasing him about it when the bell above the door rings gently and in walks, for the first time in a few months, Lorelai Gilmore. The dark-haired woman drops her rucksack on the floor with a shake of her body that seems to roll out every tightened muscle.

"Bonjour!"

Shelley jumps up from her seat at the counter. "Lorelai!" She rushes across the diner to throw herself into Lorelai's awaiting arms, inhaling the soft scent of her favorite perfume. "I've missed you so much. So, so much." She pulls back to see Lorelai without her usual partner-in-crime on her arm. Her eyebrows furrow. "Where's your mini-me?"