Time After Time - A Gilmore Girls Fanfic #1

Chapter 28

"Why did you do that?" Rory rounded the corner in time to see Jess stomping off down the snowy path toward the front of the house.

"How long have you been standing there?" her grandmother asked, setting her teacup down with a sharp clink.

"Long enough to hear you tell Jess to step aside and let someone else take care of me," Rory said on her way to the back door. She didn't know what she'd do once she got there—she was barefoot and wore only pajamas—but she needed to at least try and call him back.

"Rory, don't you dare go out there," Emily said, her tone rooting Rory to the spot.

She turned and faced her grandmother, her face flushed with anger. "Grandma, I love you, but you have got to stop meddling. You did it with Mom and Dad and Luke for years with your scheming and your machinations. But I'm not going to let you do that to me and Jess. He may have made some mistakes in the past but he's more than made up for them. He doesn't deserve this kind of treatment from you."

Emily stood up from the counter and took her cup and saucer over to the sink as if she had all the time in the world. "Are you quite done?" she asked, turning to face Rory.

"Oh no, I have plenty more to say." Rory glanced back out the window, knowing Jess was already long gone. "Logan and I are never going to happen. He and I have both moved on. So I think it's best you give up that little fantasy of yours."

"You think I still want you with Logan? He who was quite content to use you as a side piece while he was engaged to someone else?"

Rory froze. "How did you know about that?" she asked slowly.

Emily raised an eyebrow in a perfectly sardonic expression. "Frankly, I'm surprised you managed to keep it a secret for as long as you did, carrying on in public as if nobody would see."

"Mitchum," Rory said, grinding her teeth.

"It doesn't matter who told me. The question is why would you get involved with an engaged man?"

"It was an arranged marriage."

"I don't care what it is, Logan still put a ring on another woman's finger," Emily said, her eyes flashing in anger. "Who does he think he is? Bill Clinton? You are nobody's mistress. You are a Gilmore, not a Lewins—" She stopped abruptly, the blood draining from her face as she narrowed her eyes and stared at something beyond the kitchen doorway.

Rory turned to look but saw nothing in the dark hallway. "Grandma?"

For a long, uncomfortable moment, her grandmother stared into space, her lips moving as if talking to someone under her breath. Rory was halfway convinced her grandmother was suffering from a stroke when Emily blinked and turned to face her. "I'm sorry, what were we talking about?" she asked with her eyebrows knitted.

"Are you all right?" Rory asked.

Emily's eyes snapped back toward the shadowy hallway. "I was just reminded that, one time, I too was the other woman, that I stole your grandfather away from that dreadful Pennilyn Lott," she said, casting a smile into the shadows.

Rory's shoulders sagged, her anger escaping with a sigh.

"But the difference is that Richard broke off his engagement before pursuing me," Emily said, the gloss dissipating from her eyes. "He never would have allowed me to become the other woman."

"That was my choice, not Logan's," Rory said, the fight leaving her. She slumped against the counter, weary down to the bones. "Yes, my personal life was in shambles and I made a lot of bad choices, but I've taken great strides to clean up my mess. Now, please, I need you to stay out of my personal life. Because, for the first time in a long time, I have a clear vision of where I'm headed. And Jess? I see him right there beside me."