Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Halloween
Rory sank onto the couch in exhaustion. Somehow, she had managed to block out just how tiring the third trimester could be. Not to mention the fact that she spent a considerable amount of her day chasing Lila around didn’t help matters any. Usually by the end of the day, she was so tired she could barely make it up the stairs to climb into bed. It was barely eight, but she was already getting to about that point. And unfortunately, she still had work to do. With a sigh, she pulled out the manuscript she was supposed to be reading, but she’d barely found where she’d left off last time when her phone rang. It was Faith. “Hey. This is a surprise. How have you been?”
Fait let out a sigh. “I’ve been okay. The doctor says I’m healing up well, and we finally got to bring the babies home.”
Rory let out an anxious breath that she hadn’t known she’d been holding. It had been a little over a month since Faith had been rushed to the hospital for an emergency c-section, and things with the babies had been more than a little up in the air. “Oh my god! All three of them? That’s great. I’m so happy for you.”
Faith let out a small laugh. “Yeah. It’s great. I would’ve called you earlier, but we’ve been trying to get them settled in.”
Rory dismissed the comment with a wave even though Faith couldn’t see her. “There’s no need to apologize. I remember what it’s like. Take as long as you need.”
Faith let out another laugh. “Your situation was a little different. You were bringing home a newborn. Mine are already a month old. They should be perfectly able to be out and about in the world by now.”
Rory made the effort to resist rolling her eyes. She could think of only one person who would say something like that. “Look,” she replied, “you’re the mom, and if you think it’s too soon, then it’s too soon. No one else’s opinion matters.”
“Would you be willing to convince my mother of that?”
Rory couldn’t help but laugh. She couldn’t convince Prudence Archibald of anything, not even if her life depended on it. “I regret to inform you that you’re on your own with that one. I can barely manage my grandmother; I don’t have to willpower to manage your mother too.”
Faith made a disgruntled noise. “She tried to hire me a nanny, and when I told her that I wanted to raise my children myself, she looked at me like I’d told her I’d decided to join the circus.”
“Well, raising your own children is what us poor people do,” Rory pointed out.
She got the sense that Faith was rolling her eyes. “And of course she’s still hounding me about the Christmas cards. She has taken the fact that the babies just came home from the hospital as a personal affront. Do you want to know what she said? ‘I just don’t understand why the doctor couldn’t let them leave the hospital for a few hours so you could get the pictures done’. Can you believe that? Who says something like that? They were born eight weeks early. You would think that she’d just be appreciative that they’re doing well and are able to come home at all. What does it really matter that we won’t be a part of the big Archibald family Christmas card for one solidary year? She needs to get her priorities straight.”
Rory made an effort not the laugh. It was not, after all, a laughing matter. It was clear that Faith was distressed by her mother’s behavior, and honestly, Rory could hardly blame her after the scene the woman had made at the hospital, showing up and making everything about her. It had seemed painfully familiar. She pushed the thought from her mind as quickly as it had come. “If we were talking about my grandmother, I would try to argue that she’s just trying to cover up her concern by focusing on something she can control, but I think that might require your mother to be capable of basic human emotion,” she said.
Faith laughed loudly. “And that’s why Joel calls her the Borg Queen behind her back. Now, on a related note, have you and Jess gotten your pictures done.”
Rory shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Years of mocking Christmas cards with her mother came back to her, the memories hitting her like a ton of bricks. She could easily imagine being added to the stack of photos to mock and criticize just like they had done every year. It was a thought too terrible to contemplate. “Um… I’m not sure we’re going to take one. I’m sure we’ll take pictures at Christmas, but we’re not really Christmas card people.”
Faith found that funny for some reason. “And what exactly are Christmas card people?”
“Oh, you know,” Rory replied with a shrug the other woman couldn’t see. “Those people who get all dressed up and take pictures to put on a card to send out to people. That’s not really our thing. Not that you shouldn’t do it, if that’s something that you want to do. I just don’t think that’s really our style. I’ll probably just pick up a box of premade cards to send out.”
Faith hummed softly. “You’re a mocker, aren’t you?” she asked after a moment.
Rory couldn’t help but roll her eyes that time. “There may have been some mocking in the past, but that isn’t why I don’t want to do it.” She gave a frustrated groan. “Okay, that is why I don’t want to do it. First off, it’s lame. Who does something like that? And second, I can already hear my mother’s commentary now. I just can’t. The last thing that woman needs is more ammunition.”
The line went silent for a very long time. Finally, Faith said, “It’s only lame if you make it lame. You don’t have to do the fancy costumes if you don’t want to. A couple of years ago, Joy insisted on doing a nativity scene. It was awful. I still mock it. But yours doesn’t have to be like that. It could just be a nice picture of your family that you’ll have forever. This is Lila’s first Christmas. Don’t you want to document it?”
Rory couldn’t deny that she did. “Point two still stands. My mom is an unapologetic mocker. There is no scenario in which she would ever consent to participating in the making of a Christmas card, and she has absolutely verbally destroyed every Christmas card she has ever received. I cannot join their ranks.”
“Then don’t send her one. She can’t mock something she doesn’t receive.”
Over the course of the last few months, Rory had said multiple times that she was done, that she wasn’t going to keep trying if Lorelai wouldn’t even try to meet her in the middle, but the thought of deliberately excluding her didn’t feel right. “She’s my mom,” she stated.
Faith sighed. “That’s true. But that doesn’t mean she has the right to keep you from building a life for yourself. This is your daughter’s first Christmas. Do you want to look back years from now and wish you’d documented it? Knowing all the while you didn’t because of an external party that’s chosen not to be in your life. If it’s something you really don’t want to do, then don’t do it. But if it is, don’t refuse to do it because of her. You’ve already put off having a proper wedding. What else are you going to miss out on because she doesn’t want to be here?”
“You have a point,” Rory finally acknowledged. “I’m still not sure that it’s something I want to do, but you’re right that I shouldn’t let her opinions dictate what I do or do not do. It’s just hard. All my life she’s been my touchstone, my barometer for what is and is not okay. I’ve spent so long trying to be the person she wants me to be that I can’t figure out who I am as a person without her sometimes. A part of me still thinks I should pack up and go home. After all, she knows me better than anyone, and if she thinks I’m making a mistake, I must be. I know that that’s stupid. It's just hard sometimes.”
“I know,” Faith replied. “Believe me, when it comes to difficult mothers, I’m an expert.”
***
Lorelai had gone down the rabbit hole. She knew this about herself. The logical thing would have been to call. She knew that as well. Instead, she was stalking her daughter on the internet.
She typed the name into the search engine: Labyrinth Books, and watched the page load. New videos had appeared since the last time she’d checked. Apparently, they were now up to episode five, and the view counts appeared to be rising. Deep down, she wanted to be happy, to be proud, but she couldn’t help being a little disappointed that things seemed to be going well. She was well aware that made her a terrible person. But it wasn’t like she wanted Rory to fail per se. It was just hard to see her succeed from afar and be forced to contemplate what that meant. When Rory had dropped out of Yale, it had been different. From the offset, it had been blatantly obvious that she was unhappy, and on top of that, the rest of her life had fallen apart. If she was successful with this venture, how long would it take for her to realize that she’d made a mistake? Too long, probably.
Lorelai abandoned the computer in disgust. She knew that this was all ultimately her fault. If she hadn’t pushed Rory away, she would’ve been there to counteract whatever nonsense Jess had fed her daughter. “Podcast,” she said the word with all the disgust she could muster. Rory wanted to be a journalist, not whatever that was.
Where had she gone wrong? The was the part she couldn’t wrap her head around. She’d tried to be supportive, to let Rory make her own choices, but at some point, she had to say something. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine her daughter would choose that boy over her. But she had. And somewhere along the way, after she’d cut Lorelai out, she’d let him convince her to throw it all away. The second pregnancy was bad enough, but he wasn’t content to sidle her with a kid she didn’t want. No, he had to convince her to give up her dreams to fuel his vanity project. It was more than Lorelai could handle.
Her eyes fell on the computer, still sitting open on the table where she’d left it. Not for the first time, she contemplated watching an episode. At least that way she’d get to see Rory, if only through the screen, but undoubtedly, that would also require her to see him as well. And that wasn’t something she was sure she could handle. Then again, watching it would let her know just how far Rory had fallen. Christopher kept claiming it wasn’t what she thought it was, but it was hard to take his word for it. She glared at the back of the computer for a moment longer, then stalked back to the table and sat down. Reluctantly, she clicked on the first video: Episode 1 Meet the Team part 1, only to immediately pause it, so she could take in as many details as she could.
Rory sat unmistakably on that ridiculous couch Jess had insisted on buying. At first glance, she looked well, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. She could be putting on a happy face for the camera. No, she needed more information before determining if Rory was truly happy.
Lorelai pulled her eyes away from her daughter and took in the rest of the scene. The room around her looked fairly open with what looked like a small kitchen in the background. From the description Christopher had given her, this appeared to be Rory’s living room. Not much could be made out around her due to poor lighting and the location of the camera, but just being able to see the little bit she could felt like a vice around her heart. This was a room in her daughter’s house, a place she’d never seen and until recently didn’t even know existed. This was evidence of the fact that Rory had created a life without her. As further evidence of that, a man that was a complete stranger to Lorelai sat beside Rory on the couch. Maybe one of the business partners Christopher had mentioned? That might make a degree of sense. But where was her daughter’s feckless husband? Not that Lorelai wanted to see him, but all of this was undoubtedly his idea. She thought the least he could do was help Rory, but apparently, that was too much to ask of him. Disgusted, she hit play again.
Rory smiled broadly at the camera. “Welcome to No Shelf Control episode one. I am your host Rory Gilmore-Mariano-“ Lorelai groaned as his name came out of her daughter’s mouth.
“And this is day one of me hating the name of this podcast,” Rory declared earnestly.
The man beside her laughed loudly “Don’t be fooled; she only said that for my benefit.”
Rory gave a long-suffering sigh. “You’re not supposed to speak before I introduce you.”
The man held up his hands. Lorelai watched unsure if this exchange was meant to be funny or if her daughter was truly annoyed by this man. She kind of hoped it was the latter. “In all seriousness,” Rory continued. “This is The Heart of the Maze, the podcast formerly known as No Shelf Control, before wiser heads prevailed. The one and only podcast for Labyrinth Books. Labyrinth is a new independent publishing company started right here In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I, for one, am happy to have you all on board. We plan to talk about books, both ours and the books of other, so I hope you’ll stick around for what, I’m sure, is going to be a lot of fun. But down to business. My name is Rory Gilmore-Mariano, and some of you may know me from my column in the Philadelphia Inquirer.”
“And your book,” the man cut in. “Don’t forget your book.”
Rory gave another little sigh. “We also recently published our first book as a company, which was written by me. It’s called ‘Where Do I Go From Here’, and it may or may not be available at a bookstore near you. If you are interested in checking out my book, there is a complete list of bookstores we are affiliated with on our website, labyrinthbooks.com. And for those of you unable to find it in a store near you, you can also purchase it directly from the website. There will be more about the book later.”
Lorelai made a mental note of the website, determined to check it out when she had a chance. Meanwhile, the video continued. “I am the editor-in-chief, and I will be the host of this humble podcast. In the future, I will be conducting interviews with a number of writers and artists that I’ve had the chance to meet over the course of the last year, but for this first episode, I will be joined by my partners in crime, the other culprits behind Labyrinth. First off, we have the man sitting beside me, the mastermind behind this podcast, our head of marketing, Jedidiah ‘Dutch’ Schultz.”
“Don’t call me Jedidiah!” the man snapped, making Rory laugh.
“Fun fact, it was Dutch who wanted to name this podcast No Shelf Control. Dutch, tell me, can you now admit that The Heart of the Maze is better given the name of our company?”
Dutch gave an aggrieved sigh. “Yes,” he admitted begrudgingly.
“I thought that since it was your idea for this little podcast that we should start with you. Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from? Where did you go to school? What made you decide to get into book publishing?”
“Far be it from me to tell a journalist how to do her job, but aren’t you supposed to ask one question at a time?”
Rory chuckled. “Let the record reflect that Mr. Schultz is avoiding my questions.”
Dutch rolled his eyes. “I’m from right in Philadelphia, and more or less, I have lived here my whole life. For undergrad, I went to Yale. Something I have in common with you. And for grad school, I went to Darthmouth.”
“I considered going to grad school,” Rory added. “Never made it.”
Dutch nodded sagely. “I believe you mentioned as much in your book.”
“I did. I did.”
Lorelai listened intently, taking in every detail she could. At first, she had been intrigued. According to this Dutch, he’d come up with the idea for the podcast as a vehicle for Rory to keep up her journalist chops. That spoke well of him at the very least, and she had been pleased to know Rory had made at least one friend who actually understood what she really wanted. But then she’d discovered how this man had come into her daughter’s life. The second she realized he was friends with Jess, she knew she’d hate him forever. Clearly, for all his talk of helping Rory out, he was only assisting Jess in distracting her just enough to make sure she didn’t realize her mistake until it was too late. Once she realized that, she couldn’t listen to any more and clicked on the next video.
Rory was in much the same place as she’d been in the previous one, but the man beside her on the couch had changed. From the start, it was clear the atmosphere in the living room was much freer than it had been with Dutch. The new guy was half sprawled on the couch, looking more like he was hanging out with a friend than taking part in an interview. Lorelai wanted to be offended on Rory’s behalf, but if she was honest, her daughter looked a little more relaxed as well. She thought back to everything Christopher had told her about the company and the people involved, and it all started to make a bit more sense. One of them, he’d said, came from a family with a long history in the publishing industry, and it was this one who had signed on to be the financial backer behind Jess’s harebrained scheme to start his own company. Though she hadn’t made it that far into the first video, it was clear that the investor must be Dutch. Which would make this the other one. What had Christopher called him? She racked her brain for a second, and it came to her at last: Rabbi. The one Christopher didn’t like, the one he said was weird. She pressed play on the video and waited to see what he’d been talking about.
“I am now joined on the couch by Judah Cohen, who heads up our art department. Which is another way to say he is the art department.” They both laughed at that. “Fun fact, a few months ago, he graciously agreed to design the cover of my book, so if you pick it up from a bookstore near you, or our website, you’ll get a chance to sample of both of our work. Now, we plan to do a more in-depth episode later on where we show off a bit of your work, but in the limited time we have today, I thought we could just get to know you a little bit. First up, why were you kicked out of rabbinical school? Inquiring minds would like to know.”
The man barked out a laugh. “Now Caddy, I don’t remember that being one of the approved questions.”
“That is not an answer,” Rory pointed out. “I have it on good authority that this event broke your mother’s heart. Can you tell me more about that?”
“No. There’s nothing to tell. I wanted to go to art school; my mother wanted me to be a rabbi just like her father. It’s not an interesting story. She’ll guilt me about it for the rest of time, but that’s just life with a Jewish mother.”
Rory shook her head. “Having a mother that disagrees with your choices; I would know nothing about that.”
“That’s true,” he said. “Mine still speaks to me.”
Lorelai quickly pushed pause again. The bitterness in her daughter’s voice rang in her ears. She knew that bitterness. Countless fights with her mother came back to her now. All those times she’d tried to explain herself only for her words to be twisted and used against her. And every time all she’d wanted was for her mom to actually listen to her just once. Was that how Rory felt, that her mother wasn’t listening? The thought of that haunted her. But it wasn’t the same. Was it? All those times, she’d been trying to let her mother see who she really was and what she wanted, but her relationship with Rory had always been different. She knew who Rory was. It wasn’t that she wasn’t listening; it was that Rory wasn’t sounding like herself. Foregoing her dreams to write books and start a publishing company? Rory didn’t want that. All she had done was try to remind her daughter of that. Except that if she was honest, she hadn’t been listening. The second she’d reached a point of the first video she didn’t like, she’d given up, hadn’t even finished it. And the copy of Rory’s book still sat unopened upstairs. If she truly wanted to be different than her own mother, she had to at least hear Rory out. With a sigh, she returned to the first video and picked up where she left off.
An hour later, she reached the end of part two. The process had been painful, and she’d been forced to stop multiple times, but in the end, she had learned quite a bit. First off, the absurdity of starting their own company had begun long before she’d realized. From the sound of it, they were talking about it before Rory had even moved out, and they’d apparently signed the papers shortly before Lila was born. That knowledge stung. Rory had been planning all of this back when they were still talking, yet she hadn’t thought to mention it. Because she knew what Lorelai would say. That part seemed obvious. When faced with choices she thought her mother would object to, Rory had chosen to hide them rather than try to explain. It had the faint ring of what Lorelai had done with her own parents. She had planned her escape all those years ago with her parents none the wiser. Never in her wildest dreams would she have predicted her own daughter would do the same. But Rory had been planning to leave all along; she could see that now.
Lorelai was forced to take a moment before she could even contemplate watching part three. It would require seeing him at last, and worse seeing him and Rory together, something she wasn’t sure she was ready to do. If she saw them together, and Rory was happy… She couldn’t even complete that thought. It would be more than she could take. On the other hand, she’d decided to see this thing through. She should at least try to watch it.
It took another five minutes for her to actually click on the video, but when she did, she was confronted by the sight of the two of them sitting on the couch, half facing each other. The camera angle was slightly different, and Rory was wearing different clothes than in parts one and two. “My next guest is novelist Jess Mariano,” she said. “Jess, it’s nice to have you here tonight. I know it was quite a commute for you.”
Jess nodded gravely. “I know. I had to come all the way downstairs.”
“Speaking of downstairs. What is the ETA on the studio you promised to build me?”
He had the good grace to shift uncomfortably under her gaze. “I know I was supposed to do it before we recorded the first episode and ran out of time, but I promise to get it done soon.”
“By the next episode?” Rory prodded.
Jess looked uncomfortable again. “I don’t want to make any promises, but I will do it as soon as I have the time.”
Somehow, Lorelai doubted that. The more she’d watched, the more obvious it had become that this really was Rory’s thing. If that was the case, she found it unlikely Jess would lift a finger to get the space completed any time soon. And when she finally made it to episode two, she was proven correct. The same with episodes three and four. She was just starting to feel smug about it when episode five began and Rory was in a completely different room.
“Good morning, afternoon, or evening to all of you listening at home. This is The Heart of the Maze, and I am your host Rory Gilmore-Mariano.”
Even after hours of making her way through the podcast, Lorelai still wanted to throw something every time Rory uttered that stupid name. She wanted to yell at her, ‘your name is Rory Gilmore. Just Rory Gilmore!’ But of course, that would’ve been futile, so she kept listening.
“First off, I want to say a massive thank you to all of our loyal listeners on iTunes and our viewers over on YouTube. To those of you who are new, welcome. To those of you returning, welcome back. It’s great to have you on board. Those of you only listening cannot see this, but at last, my husband has finished the studio. I am so excited! It feels like we’re finally a proper outfit now. And with that in mind, I have a very special guest for you guys today, Sarah Bishop, here to talk about her series of children’s books as well as her work for animal shelters in the Philadelphia area, so stay tuned for that here in a few minutes. But before I bring her on, I have a few company announcements to get to. Starting with an official date for Jess’s new book, ‘Bury Me Beneath the Boardwalk’. It will be available for purchase at various independent bookstores across the United States on November 18th. As always, for a complete list of the bookstores we’re afflicted with, you can check out our website labyrinthbooks.com. The book will also be available for order from the website itself for those of you who don’t have a bookstore close by. And we can now officially ship internationally as well. Now, I’ll be having Jess back to talk about the book more once it gets closer to the release date, so I hope you’ll tune in for that. But of now, let us move on.”
Lorelai let the words wash over her, making note of everything that gave her even the slightest insight into Rory’s life. The more she watched, the more Rory seemed happy. And she did not like it at all.
***
Against his better judgment, Jess gave into the baby’s demands. Freed from the stroller, Lila tootled over to the pumpkins and slapped one gleefully. “Do you like that one?” Jess asked her. “Should we get it?”
But she had already moved on. He followed behind her as she explored. As he watched, she squealed loudly and raced to a particularly large one. “Dada! Dada!” she pointed excitedly.
“I know. That’s a good one,” he told her, despite the fact that he knew she had no idea what they were doing there. She was just excited to get to explore somewhere new. “Let’s get this one, and then we can try and find a few more.”
She made no objections when he picked it up and put it in the back part of the stroller, having already grown bored and toddled off to another clump of pumpkins. He kept an eye on her as she discovered some little ones that were small enough for her to pick up. Immediately, she tried to put one in her mouth. “No. No. You don’t want to eat that,” he admonished, taking it away from her. Little teeth marks dotted the side. “Looks like we’re getting this one too.”
He wasn’t sure if she had the ability to look smug yet, but she looked close to it as she hauled up another of the baby ones and held it out to him. Dutifully, he placed it in the stroller with the other two. “Why don’t you find us another big one?” He held up the first one they’d picked out as an example.
Lila paid him little mind, attention already diverted to more exploring. The only thing he could do was try to keep up with her, which was harder than it seemed. For someone, who a month ago, could barely stand up, she was practically Usain Bolt, so it was important to never let her out of his sight. Even the shoes, which she was still adjusting to, did little to hamper her movement. As he watched, she toppled but seemed unfazed by the time he arrived at her side. “Up,” she requested.
Jess chuckled as he righted her. “Are you ready to go home, or do you want to keep looking for pumpkins?”
As answer, she continued on. He chuckled to himself and pushed the stroller in her wake. He’d barely gotten a few steps before someone called his name from off in the distance. “Jess?” the voice asked.
Instinctually, he turned to see who was calling. “Matthew,” he said with a brief nod in the other man’s direction.
Matthew’s smile looked strained as he got closer. “Hey. This is a surprise. I mean, I’d heard you moved back, but I didn’t expect to run into you here. Not that there’s any reason you shouldn’t be here. You just never seemed much into decorating for the holidays. Not that that can’t change. How have you been? I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the… Well, you know, the thing… I… No, we… We had no idea Felix had said anything and…” He trailed off pitifully, mouth opening and closing desperately like he was a fish out of water gasping for air.
Jess took a kind of perverse pleasure from the scene. Somehow, he’d forgotten just how easy Matthew was to fluster, and in the moment, he had to admit he was quite enjoying the sight. “Well, I should go,” he said, inclining his head toward the parking lot. “It was… interesting running into you. Please tell Felix, from me, that I sincerely hope he’ll fuck off and die.”
He didn’t wait to see what the other man had to say before turning away. And then immediately panicked. Lila had somehow disappeared. How? Where was she? He’d only taken his eyes off of her for a few seconds. He searched frantically, trying to locate her blue and yellow puffy coat among the sea of orange. With a sigh of relief, he finally located her squatted down a short distance away, distracted by something. He crossed over to her and realized with a sinking feeling that she had stumbled across a kitten that seemed to have consented to let her try and pet him. “Lila,” Jess said in his best stern voice. “What are you doing?”
“Dada!” she declared, pointing at her prize.
He sighed, having known all along that it was a mistake to let her out of the stroller. “I understand your confusion. It’s orange, but that’s not a pumpkin.”
She attempted to pick the thing up as if she thought that would help him see better. “You seem to be losing sight of the objective kid. You’re supposed to be looking for pumpkins. That’s a cat.”
“No!” she argued, trying once more to pick it up. Though it couldn’t be much more than eight weeks old, she was only barely able to keep hold of it while it was squirming around.
“No,” he told her. “He’s not yours. We told Mama we would bring home pumpkins, not a cat. You need to put him down.”
He tried to take it from her. “No!”
“Lila, I’m being serious. You can’t keep the cat.” He finally managed to get the creature away from her, and she immediately started crying. “Okay. Now, that’s cheating. You’re already getting a baby sister. Do you have to have a cat too?”
She held her arms up, tears staining her face as she strained to get to the kitten. With a sigh, he handed it back. She squeezed the cat to her chest, and he knew that he had lost. “I am the world’s worst father,” he muttered as he picked her up. Hopefully, he could figure out who the cat belonged to before it was time to leave.
Matthew was still standing by the stroller when Jess returned with Lila and the cats in tow. He glanced between Jess and the baby in his arms. “I see you acquired a cat,” he commented.
“I also acquired a baby since you saw me last,” Jess countered.
“Oh?” Matthew replied. “Is that what that is? I was uncertain.”
Unsure how he was supposed to respond to that, Jess busied himself with trying to strap Lila back into the stroller. He instantly ran into problems. With the kitten in the way, it was impossible to get her arms through the straps. “Can I borrow him for a second?” Jess asked. Lila held the cat tighter. “I promise to give him right back.”
It took some doing, but he eventually got her to relinquish control of the kitten for long enough to strap her into the stroller. Jess handed the cat back to her and stood up to find Matthew still standing there watching him confused. “Was there something you wanted?”
Matthew looked up from the stroller and shifted uncomfortably. “I just wanted to… When did you have a kid?”
“Ten months ago. What do you want?”
Matthew looked wrongfooted. “I wanted to apologize for the article. I had nothing to do with it. If I had known…”
“You never would’ve let him run his mouth to a journalist,” Jess finished for him. Matthew was obviously taken aback by his brusqueness, but Jess couldn’t find it within himself to care. Even two months later, the piece still stung. “I spent a long time wondering what I did wrong there at the end.” He scoffed. “That’s all I thought about when I first got to Stars Hollow. That and how I was going to explain to my uncle that I’d screwed it all up again. For the first time in my life, he was finally proud of me. I’d finally made something of myself. Or at least I thought I had. Only for it to turn out that I was wrong. My whole life, I’ve been a screw up, going nowhere, no hopes for the future. But then I meet you, and you convinced me that I could be something. I’d been writing for years, but it never even occurred to me that someone might want to read it. You have no idea how much it meant to me that you believed in me. You probably saved my life. I know that sounds melodramatic, but it’s true. I have no idea where I’d be if I hadn’t met you. I wanted so desperately to belong, to prove to you that I was worth it. So, you can imagine how I felt when I was standing there on the stairs listening to you effortlessly accepting that my book was awful just because Felix said it was so. I know that I should act like it didn’t mean anything to me, but that hurt me. I thought you were my friend, or at least someone who saw me as a colleague or even just a valued employee. It never once occurred to me that you’d discard me like trash the second I no longer pleased you. I thought you were better than that. Now, you want to stand there and assure me that you had nothing to do with Felix running his mouth all over town? Well, I can save you some time; I already knew that. You may be duplicitous, but unlike Felix, you’re too smart. I know damn well that it wasn’t sanctioned by you. The thing is, that’s not what I’m upset about. I could care less what Felix has to say. The person I have beef with is you. And maybe that’s unfair. You’ve known Felix and Henry a lot longer than you’ve known me. Maybe it makes sense you’d choose them over me, but regardless, don’t apologize to me for Felix’s lies when your disloyalty is the problem.”
Matthew spluttered for a moment. “Lies? Really? I agree he shouldn’t have defamed you, but let’s be honest, what he said were hardly lies.”
“According to Davis, after his book had been reviewed by Hollis Blackthorn, a popular member of the video sharing platform YouTube, they approached Mariano about attempting to contact her to establish an ongoing relationship that would benefit all of the writers employed by Truncheon Books, only for Mariano to refuse,” Jess quoted from memory. “That is one of the lies I was referring to. After Hollis reviewed my book, it was my suggestion that we try and see if she’d been willing to review some of the others, and if I recall correctly, it was Henry that shot it down. I believe you were there. You sat in the meeting, heard me make suggestion, heard Henry shoot it down, and said nothing. You know, at the time I felt so bad about it. I thought how much better it would’ve been if I hadn’t mentioned it to the others.” He watched Matthew’s face fall. “I went and got their hopes up, and then you guys wouldn’t let me get in contact with her. But I guess, if Felix wants to rewrite history, that fact might work out in my favor,” he finished with a smile.
Matthew stood there looking sour. “Fine,” he muttered. “Some of what he said were lies.”
“What about the bit about my book? Was that a lie?”
Matthew’s face twisted further. “How do I even know that’s the book you turned in? For all I know, you were planning to leave all along and held back the real book until you did.”
Jess sighed. “I guess you don’t. But I would’ve thought you knew me better than that. Is that really what you’ve been thinking all this time? That I got a little bit of buzz and decided to jump ship? Because I wasn’t planning on going anywhere. For the record, that was the book I gave Felix. At the time, I thought that it must’ve been really bad or maybe just not his thing, but now I wonder if he even read it. Something tells me that he didn’t. He just decided that rejecting the book would be a good way to get rid of me. I suppose I’ve got to give him props for being right about that at least.”
Matthew shook his head. “I never want… I… I didn’t mean… For the record, I am sorry. I… That’s not how I wanted things to end. And I certainly never wanted it to be public knowledge how it ended. I meant what I said when we first met, and I meant it when I asked you to come back.”
“Because your business was failing,” Jess interrupted.
Matthew scoffed. “I don’t know who told you that, but Truncheon is doing just fine without you. From where I’m standing, the person struggling is you.”
Jess looked around him as if it was possible Matthew saw something he didn’t see. “How exactly am I struggling?” he asked, turning back around. “Really, I must know. How did you acquire such knowledge when you haven’t seen me in over a year? The only thing you know about me is that I woke up this morning and decided to bring my daughter to a pumpkin patch.”
Mattew scoffed again. “Why did you come back here?” he demanded.
“I got into Penn,” Jess replied with a shrug. He took pleasure in the shock on the other man’s face. “I also had some business opportunities here. I’m actually kind of surprised you haven’t heard about them by now. You’re usually pretty good about keeping your ear to the ground.”
“If you’re referring to that fact that you’re working at Black Cat, I already know about that.”
“Oh,” Jess said, “I was referring to Labryinth. I can see by your face you’re a little confused. That’s fine. I’m sure it will all make sense here very soon.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Matthew demanded.
Jess simply shrugged. “That’s something you’ll have to figure out all on your own. But while I have you here, I feel like I should set the record straight. Just so we’re clear, I’m not sorry. Maybe a year ago, I might’ve been. But not now. Now, I feel like this is exactly what you deserve.”
“Okay?” Matthew replied, obviously unsure how he’d come to be on such uncertain ground. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”
“That it would be wise for you to remember that I worked at Truncheon for two and a half years, therefore; I know precisely which writers you can’t afford to lose. It occurs to me I just saw them recently. A couple of months ago, in fact. But of course, you already know all about that. Anyway,” he said, abruptly changing the tone of the conversation, “I should get going. Apparently, I need to stop by the pet store. Please send Chris my regards. But my message for Felix, you can extend to Henry as well.”
Jess spun the stroller around and left Matthew standing there unsure what his threats had meant.
***
Matthew stormed into the house, taking no notice of the fact that the others were waiting for him. “There you are,” Chris called after him.
Bu Matthew kept on going, heading up the stairs. “Hey! I thought you were getting pumpkins?” Henry added.
Matthew paid no attention to that either. Felix rolled his eyes as Chris turned to Joel. “You’ll have to forgive him. He’s been running around trying to get things ready for the Halloween party. I’m sure he’ll be back down here in a second.”
Joel smiled good naturedly. “Of course. We all get distracted from time to time.”
Henry scowled. “Still, it’s not very professional or respectful of your time.”
Chris watched as Joel shifted uncomfortably, and when the man responded, he did not address himself to Henry. “As you say, I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”
As if on cue, Matthew bolted back down the stairs, his laptop clutched in his hand. He pulled up short when he saw Joel. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I was running errands this morning and lost track of time,” he said, covering well.
“Doesn’t explain why you bolted up to your room the second you got here,” Felix muttered.
Matthew’s smile was strained. “I had something in my head that I needed to jot down before I forgot it.”
“Or where the pumpkins are,” Henry added.
“In my trunk,” Matthew snapped before turning back to Joel and changing his tone. “I apologize. I do hope we didn’t waste too much of your time.”
Joel dismissed the apology with a wave. “No harm done. I only arrived shortly before you did, and Chris was quick to explain you’re busy putting together a party for next Friday.”
Chris made note of the comment considering that he hadn’t be the only one speaking. Something to discuss with Matthew later, once Joel and the others had dispersed. “Hopefully now that Matthew is here, we can begin,” he offered in an effort to make that requirement come true sooner rather than later.
“Yes,” Matthew replied with a nod as he sank onto the chair next to Chris. “What did you wish to see us about?”
Joel grimaced. It was faint and quickly gone, but Chris was absolutely sure that the man had grimaced. “We have been speaking for some time about my investing in your company. I am aware that the deal was all but finalized before, so I appreciate your understanding when I asked to review your books one more time. As you know, it was my brother who originally brought the investment opportunity to my attention, and when he changed his mind, I was curious as to why. I now understand his concerns.”
Chris had a sinking feeling that he knew where this was headed. “You have changed your mind about investing?” he guessed.
“Not yet,” Joel acknowledged. It was clear that word yet was carrying the majority of the burden in that response. “In fact, I would be comfortable signing the paperwork as soon as next week provided I can receive some assurances from you.”
“What kind of assurances?” Henry demanded.
Joel grimaced again. “For starters, I need to know whether there are any plans for either Mr. Hildebrant or Mr. Miller to leave the company.”
Chris started at the very notion. “No. Of course not,” he replied. “Why would you even ask that?”
“The eventuality was brought to my brother’s attention a few months ago.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Chris saw Henry shift guiltily. “Well,” he said, “I’m not sure who Jed’s source was, but they were mistaken.”
Joel nodded. “Hum. I was sure that must be the case.”
And with that, Chris knew for absolute certain that Henry had been the source, and that Joel very much knew it too. Something else to discuss with Matthew later. “No doubt it was just a rumor that got mangled in the retelling. You know how those things go. It was good of him to inform you of it regardless. Should we take that to mean he’s once again changed his mind about investing himself?”
To Chris’s surprise, it was Matthew who answered. “No. I believe he’s found other investment opportunities.” His eyes were locked on Joel as he spoke.
Joel inclined his head in a clear acknowledgement of the truth of the accusation. “He does have his own interests, but he still felt I should know since, in his view, the company is worthless without the two of you. And upon reviewing things once more, I have to say that I agree.”
There was no mistaking the fact that neither Felix nor Henry appreciated the sentiment. “The four of us have always been a team,” Felix corrected.
Joel inclined his head again. “I am sure you all have your own roles to play, but if I can be frank, from what I have seen, you and Mr. Lancaster are replaceable. I could even sit here and list out the names of the most likely candidates to do so, if necessary. Your business partners on the other hand, are not nearly as replaceable. It’s they who keep this business afloat; it’s they I have come to do business with.”
“We’re replaceable?” Henry demanded with a humorless laugh.
Joel looked at him at last, not a trace of warmth in his expression. “Yes. At this point, the two of you aren’t even the best writers this company has, let alone vital to running the business.”
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Felix countered.
Joel inclined his head once more. “True. But nonetheless, it’s an opinion shared by many.”
Both Felix and Henry looked like they wanted to argue the point further. Chris was careful to cut them off before either of them had a chance. “You said you had other concerns. Like what?”
Joel sighed. “The stability of your business is also a concern. As of yet, you’ve never had to go up against competition.”
“And now that we’ll have to, you worry we can’t keep up?” Matthew asked.
Chris had no idea where he was getting this. He shot Matthew a questioning look, but the man only had eyes for Joel, who seemed to be contemplating the question. “I would be lying,” Joel said at last, “if I said I wasn’t concerned about the fact that he has an intimate knowledge of the innerworkings of your company. There have long been rumors of discontent among your writing staff. I fear that is something he could take advantage of. And something he might want to, given recent events.” His eyes flicked momentarily to Felix.
Chris felt even more in the dark than he had a second ago. It was like Joel and Matthew were having a conversation in an entirely different language. “Can someone please tell me what is going on?” he asked.
Both men ignored the question, “What is it you need from us?” Matthew asked. “I’m assuming you want more than an assurance that Chris and I won’t leave and a promise to topple Labryinth at the first chance we get.”
“Very astute,” Joel acknowledged. “I am no longer simply interested in investing in your company. Now, I’m looking to buy it.”
The words hung heavy in the air. Chris was certain he’d misunderstood. “You can’t be serious.”
Joel’s smile did not reach his eyes, “In fact, I am very serious. By my calculations, this is what the company is currently worth.” He pulled a piece of paper out of the portfolio in front of him and slid it over to Chris. “The number below it is what I am willing to pay to acquire your company. I would like to retain both you and Mr. Miller to continue to run the company as you see fit. Mr. Davis and Mr. Lancaster can stay on as well, in whatever capacity you would like, but that is not required for the deal I am proposing.”
Chris stared at the bottommost number; it was considerably larger than he would’ve expected. “We’re not interested in selling,” he replied, even as he mentally divided the number in four.
“If you are concerned about me meddling, I see no need to do so,” Joel assured him. “Provided the two of you do well, you can continue to operate the business as you see fit. I will give you three years to turn your company around. If, in that time, you are able to do so, I will sign your company back to you free of charge. But if you don’t, your company will be forfeit. I will take control and do with the business whatever I wish. I understand that this is something that you may need time to discuss. I will give you until the end of the year to make your decision.” He pulled out what was clearly a contract and slid it over to Matthew. “This is a model of the contract I had drawn up. Take the time to look it over and get back to me.”
Joel rose from the table and prepared to leave. “I hope you gentlemen have a pleasant day. Good luck on the Halloween party.”
Chris felt helpless as he watched the man go. The door had barely clicked shut before he rounded on Matthew. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
Matthew slid him his laptop. “Read,” he commanded.
Annoyed, Chris opened the laptop and glared at the webpage on the screen. “Labyrinth Books?” he asked, the name seeming familiar. “The company you mentioned to Joel? This is our competition?”
“Keep reading,” Matthew commanded.
It took a moment for Chris to see what he meant. When he found it, he looked up in shock. “Well, that’s a problem.”
“Yeah,” Matthew muttered, attention focused on the contract. “It’s a major problem.”
Henry scoffed. “You two can’t be seriously considering this! I mean, you heard him. He clearly doesn’t know the first thing about this company. The two of you would be nothing without us.”
Both Chris and Matthew ignored him. “How long have you known about this?” Chris asked.
“I just found out,” Matthew said with a scowl. “I ran into him, and he mentioned it. He also made it a point to mention that he knows precisely which writers we can’t afford to lose.”
Internally, Chris groaned. “Do you think there’s any way to fix it? Maybe convince him that…” he trailed off, the look on Matthew’s face was answer enough. “Do you think we should consider selling?”
Matthew sighed. “I don’t know.”
Henry scoffed again. “You can’t be serious!” he repeated.
“Hush now,” Matthew shot back. “The adults are talking.”
***
Joel made his way into the living room in the hopes of finding his wife. He was unsurprised to find that she wasn’t alone. Everyone looked up when he entered. “And?” his little brother asked.
“Matthew Miller is spooked, so I think I can get them sell,” Joel replied.
“Good,” Rory added. “That will make things easier.”
Jed nodded, looking suddenly thoughtful. “Let’s not count our chickens just yet. Once they’ve signed the contract, then we can plan.”
Everyone in the circle nodded their agreement.
***
Under Lila’s inexpert supervision, Jess sat at the kitchen table carving one of the pumpkins. “I get the impression you’re not invested in this,” he told her.
And as predicted, she proved much more interested in the cheerios he’d given her than his attempts to scoop out the pumpkin’s guts. “No matter. We’re creating traditions here. In a few years, you will appreciate this.” He glanced around them to make sure they were still alone. When he looked back, he lowered his voice. “But next year, we’re only getting pumpkins. That is if your mother lets us survive to next year.”
Almost as a peace offering, Lila held out one of her cheerios to him. He gave a melodramatic sigh. “I suppose I will forgive you this time, but I’m watching you.”
She giggled freely. In the distance, the front door opened. “I’m home,” Rory called.
“In the kitchen,” Jess called back.
Unfortunately, he was not the only one who greeted her. He heard the distinct sound of a meow followed by a soft jangling. “Play it cool,” he whispered to Lila.
Rory appeared around the corner at last. “Jess, what is this?”
He glanced nonchalantly at the kitten in her hands. “Pumpkin,” he answered simply.
She hummed softly, “Yes. That is what the tags say. They also claim it lives here.”
He shrugged. “I did tell you that Lila and I were going to get pumpkins.”
She nodded sagely. “Yes, but you see, this one is rather an odd shape for a pumpkin.” The kitten took that as a good moment to meow again. “And it makes some weird noises for a pumpkin as well.”
He grinned, hoping she found it disarming. “But you have to admit that it’s the right color for a pumpkin.”
Rory sighed. “But you agree that it’s not a pumpkin?”
He glanced back down at the cat and made a show of thinking about. “The tag says it’s a pumpkin. Who am I to argue with an engraved piece of metal?” She shot him a look that made it clear she was not in the mood for teasing. “Look, someone abandoned him in the pumpkin patch. Apparently, it happens a lot. People will just take cats and drop them off. I know I should’ve talked to you about it first, but I couldn’t just leave him there. What if no one took him? No animal deserves to be left out in the cold. I’m sorry. Look, we don’t have to keep the cat. Maybe I can convince Rabbi to take him. He loves cats.”
She looked down at the little bundle in her arms and then eventually shook her head. Depositing the kitten back on the floor, she said, “No, we can keep him. But as recompense for this, I demand meatloaf.”
He nodded vigorously. “Absolutely. Meatloaf it is,” he hollered after her as she headed for the stairs.
The second she was gone he turned to Lila. “And you said she wouldn’t let us keep the cat,” he told her, shaking his head.
She responded by handing him another cheerio.
***
Rory looked up from reading the manuscript when she felt a soft thump from somewhere near her feet as the kitten finally made it onto the bed. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the thing sleeping up there with them, but the cat didn’t seem to think permission to do so was required. It kneaded the bed a few times then curled up in a ball near her feet.
Over dinner, Jess had related how the kitten had come to live with them. Apparently, sensing weakness, it had ingratiated itself with Lila. They had become fast friends, and by the time Jess located them both, she had already become attached. The rest was history. Rory shook her head. What in the world were they going to do with a cat?
Jess came into the room while she was contemplating it. “I see you two have gotten acquainted,” he said with a laugh.
She didn’t feel much in the mood for jokes. “The cat doesn’t have to sleep on the bed, does it?” she asked, glaring at the little bundle.
“Not if you don’t want him to,” he replied.
“I don’t,” she replied simply, returning to reviewing the manuscript.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him pluck the protesting kitten off the bed and carry it across the room to the little bed he’d gotten for it. She couldn’t help but smile as the second Jess turned his back, the kitten got off the bed again. “I don’t think it wants to sleep down there,” she told him.
“He’s probably just lonely,” Jess said. “This time yesterday, he was still with his littermates, and now he’s in a big house with strange people. He’ll adjust.”
She glanced from the cat to her husband. “How are you certain it’s a boy?”
He shrugged. “Most orange cats are male. They’re also notoriously dumb.”
An involuntary laugh escaped her at that. “I can’t believe I married a cat person,” she muttered.
He huffed indignantly. “I am not a cat person,” he argued as he climbed onto the bed beside her. “Lila was the one who wanted to keep him.”
She laughed even harder at that. “Sure, blame the baby.”
He shrugged. “It’s a new low,” he acknowledged. “But as I’m already down here…”
All she could do was shake her head. “What do you think about the book?” he asked, suddenly changing the subject.
She still had a few more chapters to read, but she had more or less made up her mind. “I like it so far, but I’m not sure about the title. Do you think he’s married to it?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jess shrug. “That’s a question you’ll have to ask him, but Zander’s usually pretty good when it comes to feedback. At the very least he’ll listen to your suggestions, and if he disagrees, he can usually explain why in a way that makes sense.” The silence stretched between them for a long time. “How do you feel about publishing it?” he asked at last.
She looked up from the page. On the surface, the question had an easy answer, but underneath, she couldn’t help but have her doubts. What they were considering undertaking… She let out a sigh. “I think the better question is how do you feel about publishing it? When we started this, you said that you didn’t want to interfere with Truncheon. Now, you’re talking about poaching one of their writers. Are you sure that’s something you want to do?”
He looked conflicted as he replied. “Things were different before. I thought that we could split amicably, and that I’d be able to strike out on my own without any interference. That was naïve. I should’ve known it wasn’t possible for them to let me leave with my dignity intact. If they want to play dirty, then I can too. Plus, Zander’s been unhappy for years. I didn’t ask him if he wanted to jump ship; he was the one who asked me if it was possible. I just didn’t say no.”
“True,” she acknowledged. “But something tells me that they won’t see it that way. You heard what Dutch said. If Zander leaves, some of the others might try to leave. Eventually, Truncheon is going to start feeling it, and if all of them are leaving to come to Labyrinth, they’ll know who to blame. I just want to make sure that you’re certain about doing this.”
He sighed. “I’m sure. I wish it didn’t have to come to this, but I can’t just roll over and take it if Felix is going to go around making me out to be the bad guy. If I thought that playing nice would help us, I would, but I don’t think that it’d work.”
She considered it for a long moment. “How many can they afford to lose before it becomes a problem?”
His brow furled. “Depends which ones leave first. I would say they could lose as much as five before they start to feel it. We could maybe push it a little further if we’re smart about it, pick off some of the lowest selling writers first, then move onto the others. Unless things have drastically changed, with me gone, Zeke Monroe is their best-selling author. We should probably wait to poach him. Especially if we decide to move forward with signing Zander. They can’t afford to lose both of them at once, and at this point, Zander leaving would be less suspicious. Plus, he’s more of a leader among the others than Zeke is. People will follow Zander if he decides to leave; Dutch is right about that.”
He had clearly given the idea a considerable amount of thought. She trusted that he knew the best way to siphon off Truncheon’s writers, but if he was planning to go after the lowest selling authors first, that might be a problem for Labyrinth. They needed writers that could sell more than a few dozen copies here and there. “Where exactly does Zander fall in the sales hierarchy at Truncheon?” she asked.
“Depends on the book. Some of his more political works don’t sell as well, but he’s usually close to the top. Losing him will hurt.”
She tried to find another way to approach the subject. “I’m just worried that going after the lower selling writers might not be the best idea. Dutch’s money isn’t infinite. We have to actually start selling books. Especially if we’re signing five new writers. Wouldn’t it be better to sign some of Truncheon’s better writers first, then go after the others?”
He shook his head. “You don’t understand. I’m talking solely about Truncheon’s better writers. Or at least the most popular ones. Right now, Truncheon has seventeen writers keeping the business afloat. I have no interest in either Felix or Henry, so that leaves the fifteen that came with us to Stars Hollow. Those are the ones I want to recruit. When I say we should go after the lower selling authors, I mean in comparison to each other, but they all sell significantly better than what remains of Truncheon’s writing staff. I just think that picking off some of the less popular of the fifteen will help obscure what we’re doing for a little while longer than if we go after the top ranked writers first.”
She considered what he was saying. It did make sense. “I still worry that you’re only acting out of anger. We can stop after Zander.”
He shook his head. “No. I think this is the way forward. We’ll need writers anyway. The company won’t survive on just the two of us.”
She could certainly see the wisdom in that. “It will also make us look like a proper company,” she added.
“So, it’s decided? We’ll sign Zander?”
“We’ll sign Zander,” she confirmed.
***
Rory collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion. There was a small bear curled up on the bed beside her. She knew that she should get up and try to remove the costume, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. Her daughter looked too cute at the moment to disturb. “Did you have fun tonight?” she asked.
Lila nodded, eyes drooping as she fought the sleep stealing over her. Rory smiled as her daughter slowly lost the battle. She knew that she wasn’t too far behind. Her own eyes began to droop. Who would’ve thought that staying in and handing out candy could be so tiring? She could only imagine how much worse it would’ve been if they had tried tackling trick or treating. Despite the fear that she might one day come to regret not taking her daughter out on her first Halloween, it had seemed a bit pointless since Lila couldn’t eat candy. They would go next year. Lila might more understand what was going on by then anyway.
With a sigh, she forced herself to rise from the bed and carry Lila into her room. The baby proved displeased at being disturbed, but fortunately, it was short lived. Almost as soon as Rory set her in her crib, Lila fell back asleep. Relived, Rory head back to her own room and prepared for bed. It was early yet, but she was too tired to stay up until Jess got home. Her head had barely hit the pillow before she was fast asleep.