Early the next morning, Rory was in the air flying to Las Vegas with Lane, Mrs. Kim, the kids, and the band.  Their bus was already waiting for them in Vegas.  Traveling city to city on the bus was fine, but no one wanted to take the bus across country. 

Rory was staring out at the clouds somewhere over Kansas or Nebraska lost in thought.  She was still picturing the scene she saw on the television the night before.  All she could see was Logan kissing, smiling, and flirting with Claudia.  Rory knew, or at least thought, it wasn't real, but it still hurt.  She was beginning to doubt her plan of surprising him in Phoenix.  What if she had read all the signs wrong?  What if he wouldn't be pleased to see her? Did he even still want her to stay with him at all?

"You've been staring out the window for an hour now,"  Lane said gently as she sat in the seat next to Rory.  The private plane had plenty of room, so everyone was spread out in the cabin.  Mrs. Kim was reading to Steve and Kwan who looked like they were ready for a nap.  Sara was already napping while the men were playing cards on a small table set up in the front of the plane. Gil's family wasn't able to make Vegas, but they would be out to visit later in the tour.

"Yeah, just zoning out watching the clouds,"  Rory said glumly.

"Rory, nothing changed,"  Lane said.  "He specifically told you about that event and warned you.  He knew you would watch.  And he sent you that sweet note and beautiful rose."  Lane looked to Rory's right and smiled.  "And you brought it with you."

"Well, it was a gift.  I couldn't just let it die. It's keeping me company," she said feeling silly  as she glanced at the single rose in a bud vase in the cup holder next to her.

"I dried every flower Zack gave me while we were dating,"  Lane said understanding.  "Of course, there weren't really that many to dry... but, I saved them.  I get it."

"Ok, so, tell me about Vegas.  I know you guys have played there, but I've never been,"  Rory said making an effort to shake off her foul mood.

"It's just amazing, like nowhere else.  You are going to love it.  I made sure Mama booked us at The Mansion at MGM.  It's my favorite.  You have your own suite this time," Lane said causing Rory to raise an eyebrow.  "You have a date tonight, Rory.  You deserve a little privacy."

"Yeah, who knows how this will go now?"  Rory said.

"It will go great.  You'll see,"  Lane said confidently.  "What happened to 'we will be back together after this tour'?"

"It got asked if it was engaged on national television,"  Rory pouted.

"Ror, you have to pull yourself together.  You agreed to all this.  Logan is holding up his end of things, telling you what is going on.  You have to keep with the plan of trying to win him back.  Just forget last night.  Until you have reason to doubt him, you have to trust him,"  Lane said wisely.  "Now, I put in all your snack requests for this flight.  They are going to go to waste if we don't start munching.  I'll have the flight attendant put on 'Weekend at Bernies' for us.  You cannot be in a bad mood watching that."

"Holy crap!  No wonder this is your favorite!"  Rory exclaimed leaning over the front seat as the bus pulled up to The Mansion.  The bus had been waiting when the plane landed.  Rory was pleasantly surprised to see George sitting in the driver's seat.  The transfer of people and luggage had taken a while, but they had made it to The Mansion by mid afternoon.

"Yes, ma'am, it sure it something, isn't it?  Miss Lane even gets me a room here.  It's fabulous.  You are going to love it,"  George told her.

"We're livin' good, Georgie,"  Rory said as she exited the bus.

With military organization and direction, Mrs. Kim commanded the hotel staff to take their luggage.  Then she handed out room assignments.  She had booked nearly an entire floor for the band and the band's associates.  As they walked to their floor, Rory noticed security stationed at the elevators and throughout the floor. Mrs. Kim took no chances with her daughter or grandsons.

Rory had a very nice suite next to Zack and Lane.  There was no adjoining door, but it was easy enough to walk into the hallway to reach each other.  Rory entered her room and looked around.  She was very pleased to see her room overlooked the beautiful courtyard.  She stepped out on to the balcony at the same time Lane stepped out on to hers with the boys.

"Hi Aunt Rory!"  Steve yelled and waved happily. 

"Howdy neighbor," she answered back. 

"I'm going to get these guys settled in.  Then we have to run over to the concert hall and check the set up.  Do you know your plans yet?"  Lane asked.

"Not yet.  I was about to call him.  I'll let you know,"  Rory said knowing what Lane was really asking.

"Last night is forgotten!  We move forward with the plan,"  Lane said as Rory walked back into her room.

Rory decided to unpack and get freshened up before she called Logan.  She knew she was purposely procrastinating, but needed the time to settle her nerves.  She hung some of her clothes in the very large closet and made use of some of the drawers in the solid cherry dresser.  Then she entered the bathroom to wash her face.  She was amazed at the size of the bathroom.  It was nearly the size of the kitchen and her room in Stars Hollow combined. 

Just as she finished applying her makeup, there was a knock on the door.  She figured it was Lane coming to give her another pep talk.  But when she opened the door, she saw a uniformed bellhop holding a single red rose and white envelope.

"Miss Rory Gilmore?"  he asked.

"Yes, that's me,"  she said surprised.

"For you, miss,"  he said as he handed her the rose and envelope.  "The gentleman requested I wait for a reply, miss."

Rory took the rose and envelope.  She quickly buried her nose in the flower before sticking it in the vase she had brought containing the other rose.  Then she opened the envelope.  "Up for some debauchery in Sin City, Ace?  At your sign of agreement, my assisting friend will instruct you of the next step. --L."

"My sign of agreement?"  Rory asked to herself, but looked at the bellhop.

"Would you care to continue, Miss?"  he asked.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so,"  Rory answered hesitantly. 

The bellhop stepped back into the hall, disappearing briefly behind the door frame.  When he reappeared, he had a large white box with a big red bow in his hands.  He walked into the room and placed it on the coffee table.  "If you will kindly put on the proper attire, I will take you to the event.  I will be waiting in the hall until you are ready,"  he said as he quietly stepped back into the hall and closed the door with a soft click.

Rory sat on the leather sofa and pulled the box toward her.  She slowly lifted the lid of the box and moved aside tissue paper.  On top was another note, "Rusty, Your presence is requested at an exclusive gathering.  Please adorn the enclosed garments as not to interfere with the integrity of the event. --Lucky."

Rory's heart started beating faster.  Rusty?  Lucky?  She wondered what the boys were up to this time.  She couldn't stop the grin from spreading from ear to ear.  Rory excitedly dug into the box.  She found a shiny, stretchy black pants that reminded her of Bad Sandy in "Grease".  There was a canary yellow long sleeved, high neck shirt.   She also found a red wig already styled in a classic 60s style.  It was on a mannequin head so the style didn't get messed up in the packing.  Vintage black pumps were at the bottom of the box.

Rory grinned at the contents of the box.  Suddenly she understood.  This event had something to do with the classic Elvis Presley and Ann-Margaret film "Viva Las Vegas".  She vaguely remembered that in the movie, Elvis starred as Lucky, a race car driver.  Ann-Margaret was a swimming teacher named Rusty.  If she remembered correctly, Lucky's race car had broken down.  In order to fix it and race, he needed to win a talent contest.

Rory started laughing as she quickly changed into the provided clothes.  Before she told the bellhop she was ready, she texted Lane.  Luckily, Lane was still in her suite.  Rory asked her to step out on to her balcony.  Rory was already waiting on hers for Lane to emerge.

"Woah!  What is going on here?  Are you in one of the shows here tonight?"  Lane asked laughing leaning as far as she could towards Rory's balcony.

"I think the Life and Death Brigade is here.  I was asked to change before I am led to the event,"  Rory said.

"Flashback of college for you, huh? What is the event?  What are you going to be doing?"  Lane asked intrigued. 

"Not sure.  I think it has something to do with "Viva Las Vegas" though,"  Rory answered.

"Like Elvis?  That's cool!  You make a cute Ann-Margaret.  Have fun!  Text me when you get back, let me know you're safe!"  Lane instructed.

"Yes, Mom,"  Rory said laughing.

"Hey!  I AM a mom!  I can't just turn it off anymore!"  Lane said.

Rory took one more look in the mirror before she went to inform the bellhop she was ready for whatever was next.

The bellhop led her to the elevator. He was silent on the way down despite her efforts to get information out of him.  He simply smiled at her. 

When they reached the ground floor, he led her through the lobby to the main entrance of the hotel.  Waiting at the curb was a black sedan with deeply tinted windows.  The driver opened the back door for her.  She slowly got into the car, surprised to find it empty.  After the driver had returned to his seat, Rory began peppering him with questions.

He smiled at her in the rear view mirror and simply said, "The gentleman asked that I give you this."  He handed her another white envelope.

Rory tore it open as the car moved away from the curb.  Again, there was a simple note.  It read, "Sit back and enjoy the ride.  You'll soon arrive at your destination.  Hope you brought your luck for your Lucky."

Rory tried to figure out what the note meant and where she was going as the driver took her into the desert.  She sat back and did enjoy the drive.  The desert was beautiful.  She loved Connecticut, but it did not have scenery like she was seeing in Nevada.  She was distracted by all the cacti and rock formations and did not notice the car was slowing. 

She looked ahead and her eyes widened at the sight of a race track set up in the middle of the desert.  She could see Logan outside the car dressed like Lucky in a tan 60s suit.  From a distance, she thought he had dyed and slicked his gorgeous hair jet black.  But then she realized it was a wig.  She also saw Finn, Colin, and Robert all dressed as various Elvis Presley attire from different movies.  Finn wore a white jumpsuit with sequins.  Robert wore a jailhouse outfit.  Colin wore a Hawaiian shirt and shirts.  All of them sported the same jet black wig as Logan. 

Off to the other side, she saw Steph, Rosemary, and Juliet.  Rosemary wore a bold sapphire blue jumpsuit with bell bottom legs. Juliet matched Robert in a jail house uniform.  Steph wore a vintage bikini top with high waisted floral print shorts.  All the women had their hair styled similar to Rory's wig, but in their natural shades.

Rory hopped out of the door Logan opened for her.  He swept her into his arms and kissed her while everyone cheered.  Then, without giving her a chance to say hello to anyone, he pulled her by the hand to an old 1960s roadster convertible.  He opened the passengers side door and motioned for her to get in.  Once inside, he put on an old fashioned pair of driving goggles and handed her a pair.  After he put on his goggles, he pulled on brown leather driving gloves.

Looking around, Rory put on the goggles.  To her right, she noticed Finn and Rosemary were in a similar car.  To their left, Steph and Colin were in a car. Robert and Juliet were positioned furthest to their left. 

The driver of the car that brought Rory stood in front of all the cars.  He had a checkered flag in his hand.  In his other hand, he had a bullhorn through which he said, "Ladies, please buckle in securely.  Gentlemen, please start your engines."

The old cars sputtered to life and began roaring.  Rory kept looking around excitedly not believing they were about to race in the desert.

More instructions came through the bullhorn, "At my signal, you will race to the second flat top rock formation.  You will circle it and head back.  The bets have been placed, gentleman.  Winner takes all.  Best of luck to you."  Then he stood back and pulled out a small pistol.  He held it over his head and shot, beginning the race. 

The four cars took off creating a cloud of dust.  Almost immediately, Logan took the lead with Rory cheering him on.  He kept the lead as he rounded the rock formation.  Coming down the final stretch to the finish line, Finn crept close.  Logan pushed the pedal as far down as he could and crossed the finish line seconds before Finn.