Time After Time - A Gilmore Girls Fanfic #1

Chapter 26

"Hey," Luke said, greeting Rory with an awkward hug the moment she stepped off the ferry.

"Hey Luke," Rory said, patting his back.

Then Luke turned to Jess with a concerned expression on his face. Though he didn't say it, Rory could tell Luke was thinking of the last time he'd seen Jess unconscious in a hospital bed. "Good to see you," Luke said, smacking Jess on the shoulder.

Jess nodded. "Heard you braved the hospital for me."

Luke flashed him a proud smile. "I only threw up once."

And with that, the three headed to the car and made their way through the snowy streets of Nantucket.

"It's so charming here," Rory said, her eyes fixed on the scene outside the window. "I feel like I'm in a postcard."

"I think I'm getting a cavity," Jess said as they passed by a family of four who wore color-coordinated everything.

"So did you drive back to Stars Hollow to get your things?" Luke asked as he drove.

"No. I just bought a few things before coming here," Rory replied.

Luke pointed out the window at the storefronts. "There are plenty of clothing stores around here if you need it. I'm pretty sure your mother has dragged me to every one."

"It's okay. I have toiletries and a few items of clothing. I'm all set."

Jess glanced over at her with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. He leaned over and said under his breath, "What about underwear?"

"I don't need it," she whispered back, almost laughing out loud when Jess' eyes grew wide.

Luke glanced at them through the rearview mirror and just sighed.

A few minutes later they drove up a curving driveway to The Sandcastle, a sprawling white house set on a cliff that looked over the ocean. Stately and unassumingly beautiful, it was exactly what Rory had pictured for her grandmother.

Even before Luke set the car to Park, Lorelai was already hurrying out the front door in her pink robe and fuzzy bunny slippers. "Oh thank God, we have reinforcements," she said, gathering Rory in her arms before she was even all the way out the car. Then, to everyone's surprise, Lorelai turned to Jess and gathered him in for a warm embrace. "Good to see you, kid," she said, pulling back.

Jess chuckled. "You are definitely a shoe-in for the Nantucket Welcome Committee."

"Well, what can I say? I run on coffee and enthusiasm," Lorelai said. "So, Luke told me what happened. Are you all right?"

"I'm still breathing," he said with a shrug.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay. Now, let's go inside. My toes are going numb," she said, taking Rory by the hand.

Rory was surprised to find the house's interior to be so casual, with its wide plank floors and eggshell walls. But it was the wide windows that caught her attention, offering panoramic views of the ocean.

"Wow," she said, eyeing the grey waters beyond the cliff. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked around. "Where's Grandma?"

"She's still at the museum," Lorelai said. "Did you know she volunteers there, giving a presentation about whaling? I didn't know that. She never said a thing at the wedding. I mean, can you picture it? Emily Gilmore giving a presentation on whaling?"

"Where's Berta and her family?" Rory asked, noticing how quiet the house was. The only sound she could hear was the rushing of the waves below.

"They're gone," Lorelai said with that expression on her face that Rory knew so well, the one that said she was dying to share some juicy information.