Page 52 of Pity Play

“And?”

In a burst, I tell him, “I can’t expect you to come home and pack your room without much notice. I’ve decided to do it for you.”

“How much?” he wants to know.

"You don’t have to pay me,” I say magnanimously.

“Why?”Why is he questioning my motives?

Lying through my teeth, I tell him, “It’s as unfair to you as it is to me that Mom and Dad are selling our family home out from under us. I’m here, so it wouldn’t take me more than a day to pack your stuff for you.”

“Lorelai, what are you up to?”

Scoffing a little too loudly, I answer, “Nothing. I mean, what could I be up to other than getting our house ready to sell?” Whichisthe truth, although somewhat of a convoluted version of it.

Noah inhales deeply before exhaling loudly in my ear. “Fine. Thank you. I mean it. You’re doing me a big favor and I won’t forget it.”

He’s doing me a big favor too, but of course I don’t tell him that. “Maybe you’ll let me visit you in Chicago. Luke has invited me to come to his restaurant sometime.”

“You’d come all the way to Chicago to eat at Capon, but you don’t want to date Luke? Something isn’t adding up here, Lor.”

Oh, I’m interested in Luke, but not if he’s going to live somewhere other than Elk Lake. So I tell him, “It was nice of you to think about setting us up, Noah, but Luke really loves living in the city and he has no intention of leaving.”

“Why can’t you move to Chicago?”

I pull a throw off the back of my couch and snuggle under it. “I’ve never wanted to live there.”

“Yet you moved to Madison because Michael got a job there.”

“Yeah, and look how that turned out."

“But you’ve loved Luke your whole life,” he reminds me.

I suddenly experience my second epiphany of the day. At this rate I’m going to have the issue of world peace locked down by tomorrow. “I’m done making choices based on other people’s dreams,” I tell my brother. “I’m going to make choices based on making my own dreams come true.”

“Not to be rude, butwhatdreams?”

How could he have meant that any other way than rudely? “Ihavedreams,” I assure him. “And the biggest one is to keep living in Elk Lake. I love it here.”

“Even if it means nothing can ever happen between you and Luke?”

“Even then.” Somewhere between this morning and now, I’ve become the champion of my own life. I know what I want and I’m not going to put any man’s desires above my own. Not ever again. I know a lot of women who have met their husbands right here in Elk Lake, so it’s possible. I might not fall in love with a movie star like Faith did, but who knows, maybe Teddy will have a friend visit, and I might!

“Well, good for you, little sister. I’m proud of you.”

I’m proud of myself, too. “Thanks, Noah," I tell him. “I’ve got to go. I’m meeting a friend for dinner.”

“Okay, sis. And thanks, again. Just put all my stuff in the garage and I’ll come and get it before you put the house on the market.”

After we hang up, I run upstairs and get ready for my dinner with Luke. I know I just said I wasn’t going to date the guy but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to look good for him. And if I’m being honest, I don’t have to date him to want to kiss him. One kiss as payment for years of devotion doesn’t seem too much to ask, does it?

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

LUKE

I meet my parents in the driveway so I can help my dad get out of the car. His first words upon seeing me are, “You’restillin Elk Lake?”

“I’m still here, Dad,” I assure him.

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