The Simpler Life

20

Chapter 20

Life really was simpler once Rory had pushed the idea of Tucker away from her mind and focused on the here and now. The town with its myriad of events to indulge in, her work - both the paper and Jess' book, her baby and herself, deciding to take Paris' advice on napping, reading books and binging her favorite movies as much as she felt like it now, valuing the control she still had over her own time. This was the time for nesting, finding new routines and embracing her family and friends she hadn't spent nearly enough time with in the last handful of years.

There was one friend, however, whom she hadn't really had much chance to connect with, since he hadn't really made himself available to anyone ever since the death of Liz and TJ. Anyone but his little sister that is. Even Rory's e-mails, which mostly focused on the book, had gone unanswered in terms of anything beyond work. Jess had refused to respond to the 'how are you'-s which actually kind of made sense considering the relationship he'd had with his mother. Oddly enough Rory actually understood and hadn't pushed him much for responses, even stating her work questions in a format that only demanded him to respond if he didn't agree with her suggestions.

That afternoon Rory had finished at the paper early. That was something one could never say at the bigger papers, and while she wasn't going to make a fortune doing what she was doing, this was showing a side to small-town living that she'd nearly forgotten about. This was about work-life balance, and she now truly agreed with one thing people had always warned her against - once she had children, or a child - in this case, of her own - work was going to have to shift its position from being her priority in life. Spare time suddenly mattered. And even now when her guilty pleasure was a short after-lunch nap on most days - she could see the benefits of having time to breathe over having excess money to spend on spontaneous shopping.

Rory made her way along the pedestrian street surrounding the town square, stopping briefly to exchange a couple of words with the high school principal whom she was going to be doing an interview the following day on some curriculum updates for the paper. In passing she would glance at the display window of the bookstore, recalling how much joy that place had always brought her, and nod to the row of familiar faces along her way. But from there on her plans were undebatable - the baby in her belly demanded one of Luke's cheeseburgers.

The brief glance down to her phone, checking what Paris was tweeting about, caused her attention to disperse, however, and before realizing it she bumped shoulders with someone just at the corner of Luke's.

"Sorry," a deep mumble resonated from the corner someone's mouth.

"I'm sorry," Rory said on instinct. Oddly it took longer for her eyes to register the person, than her nose. Ever since she got pregnant her sense of smell had been weird like that. And this person smelled oddly familiar - the scent of a well-aged leather jacket, a trace of musk, paper dust, black tea and salt - salted peanuts to be more precise. The scents pieced together the puzzle even before her eyes met his.

"Rory, you okay?" Jess said, taking a step back to pause and talk to her.

"Hey! Yeah, I'm fine... But hey - you're really here!" Rory exclaimed, not believing her eyes. Luke had talked about Jess moving back here once he got his things in order in Philly, Doula having stayed over at Luke' and Mom's for a few weeks in the meanwhile. But she'd kept busy herself, hence she hadn't really followed his every move.

"I am," Jess reflected with a weak sigh.

"How is everything? How are you doing?" Rory inquired, caringly but cautiously.

"It's okay, I guess. An adjustment for sure," Jess replied.

He looked better than on the day of the funeral for sure, even with his beard a little more outgrown its normal length. Even though he'd never been very close to her mother, mostly it had been about witnessing his half-sister go through such loss at such an early age, that had broken something in him. Rory had held off on her impulse to go and comfort him at the funeral, he'd clearly tried putting up a brave front for Doula's sake and for all the guests. It was far too much mingling for someone like Jess for one day.

"So, you're really here full time now?" Rory inquired.

"Almost. Still have to tie up a couple of loose ends at Philly," Jess explained.

"You're not quitting Truncheon, are you?" Rory asked.

"Oh, no. Just switching to working long distance. More paperwork, less in person meetings, more editing for myself... but also more travel since I am closer to Boston these days than the other guys," Jess replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, if you ever need any help - with work or with Doula... or anything really. Just let me know, okay?" Rory asked. What she also felt a little concerned about was how Jess had tied up his relationship at Philly. He and....whatever her name was - Rory cursing her foggy pregnancy brain for the lack of memory of her precise name... had been good together. Sure, long distance worked sometimes, but it couldn't have been easy to leave like this. Rory was saving the question whether this was for good or just for time being for some later occasion.

"Thanks," Jess replied. "You're a good friend," he added, sounding genuine.

Rory squeezed his shoulder assuringly, feeling like she wanted to say something more. But she couldn't quite find the right words.

"We should grab lunch sometime, talk about the book. I know I've been a bit of a silent recipient to your e-mails," Jess added.

"Of course. And it's fine - really," Rory assured.

"Alright, I better get going. I have to pick up D from practice," Jess replied, sounding suddenly even more mature than he normally did. Her mind trailed to think about how much her own life was going to change soon - soon him and her were likely going to exchange such chatter in passing all the time. Her picking up her little girl from daycare, and him sending Doula off to high school. Life worked in funny ways sometimes, wasn't it?

Rory felt it was too soon to make that observation though, knowing the bottom line here was grief.

"Of course. I'll see you around," Rory said.

"Yeah, you too," Jess replied, and nearly began to leave, but didn't and instead added another sentence - "I'm staying at mom's house."

"Oh, wow. That's...," Rory replied, picking her words carefully. Somehow Rory had always pictured Jess living over Luke's - in her mind he oddly belonged there. It was where he usually had stayed when he'd been over for holidays. And Liz and TJ's place was known as the town's quirky house, its exterior painted in a shade of rainbows, a pain to Taylor's existence, wind chimes and dream catchers hanging from the eaves, windows adorned with hand-painted mandalas. Picturing Jess living somewhere like that - that was something else.

"Yeah, I know," Jess replied, giving Rory a sense that he felt the same way.

Rory finally allowed herself to chuckle a little in his presence. "But I guess, it's good for Doula to stay somewhere familiar," Rory added, making the logical conclusion of the state of things.

"Yeah. Plus there's a ton of stuff to go through," Jess replied.

"You're packing things up?" Rory reflected.

"Yeah, just enough to fit my own stuff between my mom's salt lamps and her craft corner," Jess sighed, expecting Rory to know what he was talking about.

"And all your books," Rory added, recalling suddenly his massive bookshelf back in Philly.

"Gonna have to figure out something to hold them. Build something or I don't know... shop IKEA if I have to," Jess added, after explaining how the lease on his place in Philly was up anyways so even if he was someday going to return, he'd likely need to find something new either way.

Rory snickered briefly, not really picturing him doing either. "But like I said - I'm happy to help if I can, while I still can, that is," Rory added, glancing down at her growing belly.

"Ah..," Jess exhaled, as if wondering how to respond to her offer.

"I mean, I helped mom with filing both my great-grandmother's and grandpa's paperwork," Rory suggested, assuming lifting anything heavy wasn't really in her agenda. A small part of her didn't even know why she was so eager - it wasn't about Jess as such or about the vacant spot by her side, but more about compassion and hope for some other kind of companionship - friendship.

"Yeah? You sure? Mom wasn't exactly great at keeping things in order," Jess discussed. "I might just take you up on that. More than anything I could use some advice on how to keep D entertained beyond screen time, because apparently books aren't really doing it for the kids these days," Jess added smugly, sounding intentionally like the grownups they once used to make fun of.