Page 8 of Pity Play

“Go ahead,” I assure her. “You’re enjoying it more than I ever could.” But as I say this, my stomach grumbles loudly.

A delightful pink blush washes over Lorelai’s cheeks as she pushes my breakfast back in front of me. “You, eat. But if you want to, I’ll let you make me breakfast tomorrow.”

I’m not sure why that sounds like a seductive offer, but it does. “I’ll stop at the store on the way home from the hospital and get supplies.”

“Or you can tell me what to get and I’ll pick it up. It’s my day off and I’ve got some free time.”

I chew the bite I just put into my mouth before swallowing. “The least I can do is contribute groceries.” As an afterthought, I add, “I’d be happy to pay you for letting me stay here, as well.”

She waves her hand in front of her. “Nonsense. You’re like family. I mean, you and Noah are like brothers.”

“Which would make you, what, my sister?” I tease.

Her expression shifts from light and carefree to something a bit darker. “I guess so.”

“Tell me about life in Elk Lake,” I say. I know Noah said Lorelai just broke up with her boyfriend, but other than that and learning that she works at the Elk Lake Lodge, I don’t know anything else about her.

She shrugs. “It’s pretty much the same as it’s always been. Busy in the summer with the tourist trade, slower in the winter. Although, that’s changing now that the lodge has opened.” She explains, “Heath and Trina have added a lot of fun attractions. We have a great tobogganing hill, and there’s snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing …”

“It sounds like you enjoy working there.” Her blue eyes sparkle enchantingly.How did I ever think she was plain?

“I do! I love my boss, and I really like meeting all the new people who come there to stay.”

“Do you ever think of opening your own gift shop?” I ask her.

I’m not sure why but my question seems to annoy her. “I don’t need to open my own shop to be happy.”

I feel like I might’ve ruined our brief truce. “Good for you,” I tell her. “I’ve found that owning my own restaurant has been harder than I thought it would be. I’m so busy doing all the stuff to keep everything going, I’m not in the kitchen as much as I’d like.”

“You can cook for me anytime you want.” Standing up, she walks across the room and opens a drawer. Then she pulls out a ring of keys. Bringing them over, she puts them on the counter. “There’s one for the dead bolt and one for the doorknob. Feel free to come and go as you please.”

“Thank you, Lorelai. I appreciate your hospitality.”

She stares at me for a long minute before finally opening her mouth. “Welcome home, Luke. It’s nice to have you back.” She walks out of the kitchen without saying another word.

Her welcoming me home feels good; it feels right. Eventhough Elk Lake hasn’t felt like it in the last several years, itismy home. All my best memories are from here.

When I finished high school, I went to the University of Wisconsin on a football scholarship. I majored in business. While there were conversations about what I would do with my degree, my parents didn’t expect me to come back to Elk Lake.

After graduation, I worked in Chicago for a year, but I didn’t love my job. Part of me thought fulfillment might come if I stuck it out, but a bigger part of me wanted to be excited about my career right away.

During that year, I worked sixty- and seventy-hour weeks, so I ate out a lot. That was when I learned to love food that was different from what I’d grown up with. I was always a fan of the stuff my dad made, but I learned to enjoy more high-end and exotic fare, and I was hooked.

One night I was invited to dine out with the president of my company. I was one of fifteen guests, so I wasn’t responsible for holding up much of the conversation. As a result, I spent a lot of that meal looking around the restaurant. I began noticing the differences between my dad’s diner and fine dining. That was the night I started to fantasize about going to culinary school.

For the next month I ate at every nice restaurant I could find, whether I could afford to or not. I decided that I was young enough that if I didn’t like culinary school, I could always go back to finance. But if I did like it then I would be giving myself a fabulous opportunity. An opportunity to love my career.

My parents weren’t quite sure how to react to the news that I was quitting my job and going back to school. They always wanted more for me than to be chained to a restaurant like they’d been. They wanted me to have normal hours and holidays that weren’t filled with other people’s celebrations while mine were put on hold. But then my dad got it into his head that I would come home and work with him after graduation, and he was all in.

I didn’t tell him that I wanted to own my own place in the city.I figured I’d let him enjoy the fantasy of what he envisioned. I just didn’t realize that was the only outcome he was going to be okay with. As a result, we’ve lost a lot of years together. Even though I can’t get that time back, I can certainly work toward not losing any more.

CHAPTER FIVE

LORELAI

My stomach feels like a herd of butterflies has invaded it. Scratch that. Whatever is going on in my gut is nothing as innocuous as butterflies. I’m hosting a vulture convention. Great big birds of prey are pecking at my insides. How am I going to share my house with Luke Phillips and still keep my sanity? The long and short of it is that I’m probably not.

I grab my car keys and head outside where I climb into my newer/old Volvo. Unlike my high school ride, which was twenty years old when it became mine, this one was only ten. After getting in, I blast the heat and sit there for five minutes while the frost melts off the windshield. I have no idea where I’m going, I just know that I can’t be in the same house as Luke. Not without throwing myself at him and begging him to marry me and cook for me for the rest of my days. That was one crazy good omelet.

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