Looking For The Words

Living with Lucas was... pretty much the happiest I've ever been. I was a little worried to take that step so soon after getting back together with him, but the only fight we've had recently is over whether the original Star Wars trilogy was better than the more recent movies. And I still think there's no decent argument against that fact.

But other than Lucas' horrible taste in movies, we just... clicked. Everything we did tended to work around each other. When I woke up, I set the coffee pot, then took a shower. By the time I was out of the shower, Lucas was awake and downstairs, drinking the fresh coffee and cooking breakfast. Some days, we'd switch it up, but I was much more of a morning person than Lucas ever was.

During the day, I'd go over to the inn and help my parents with whatever they needed. They were giving me more and more management tasks, so I spent a lot more time balancing the books or contacting different ski mountains regarding the possibility of "mutually beneficial discounts". It was a completely different experience, but it freed up a lot of my mom and dad's time, so I was happy to do it.

Lucas was doing really well managing the new branch of his father's company, and I was so proud. I always knew he was good at what he did, but he's never really had the freedom to take the lead like he does now. His dad didn't disown him like we thought he would, but instead gave him a promotion, and we'd sent him a letter a few weeks ago to say thank you for everything, and to let him know that if he wanted to visit, and Lucas' mother promised to be nice, then our doors were open any time. He responded by saying that what Mrs. Carlyn didn't know couldn't hurt her.

Basically, I had everything I could ever ask for, and I was happier than I'd ever been, and I had Lucas to thank for that.

"Hey, hun?" Lucas called from downstairs, shutting the door behind him. "You home yet?"

"Yeah, I'm up here!" I said, calling out from the office where I was working on balancing the books for the inn.

"Hey, babe." he said, walking in, loosening his tie as he walked in, and kissed me softly. "Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, not much different from the rest." I said. "Oh, but Mom and Dad are coming for dinner, so don't get any ideas."

"Me? Get ideas? Whatever could you mean?"

"I dunno. Maybe the whole, hey why don't we try and fit a round in before Mallory gets here thing?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "And we all know how that one ended."

Lucas frowned. "She might have known what we were doing, but that doesn't mean she had to wait downstairs while playing I Just Had Sex at full volume. Why did we give her a key again?"

I laughed at his disgruntled tone. "Because you love her, really. And hey, at least she had the decency to stay downstairs until we were decent."

He scoffed lightly and tilted his head to rest on top of mine and look at the screen. "So you're basically the accountant now?"

"Something like that. More like I'm doing what my parents normally do, and they're picking up more of what I used to do."

"Hey, you never know, maybe they're getting you ready to take over when they're ready to retire."

"Maybe." I said, finishing one final calculation and shutting down the computer. Lucas looked down at me and I smiled, tugging on his tie to bring him down to straddle my lap. "Hey there, gorgeous."

He smirked and wrapped his arms around my neck. "Hey, I thought you said don't get any ideas."

"About that... they're not coming until 7. And it's only 4. What can you do for me with 3 hours?"

"Plenty."

|~|

2 hours and 50 minutes later, I was putting the final touches on dinner, only barely making it out of Lucas' grasp in time to get dinner started. Lucas and I ended up in the shower with an hour and a half left to go and then made our way down to the kitchen to cook dinner. My mother always said that the best way to gauge how happy a relationship was is to look at how they worked together in the kitchen. If that held any weight, Lucas and I were very happy indeed. Dinner was ready and on the table, and smelling rather delicious if I do say so myself, by the time my mother's finger hit the doorbell.

We ate together, talking animatedly about the inn and Lucas' encounter with a moose the other day and by the end of dinner, we had sunk into a sort of comfortable quiet.

"Dessert?" I asked, getting up to clear the dishes.

"Hold on a second, there, son." Dad said, touching my wrist to tell me to sit back down. "We have something to talk to the both of you about."

"Nothing bad, I hope." Lucas said, reaching for my hand under the table. I hadn't even noticed how nervous I had gotten, but his hand in mine immediately calmed me down.

"No, nothing bad." Mom said, smiling over at us both. "Your father and I were talking and we decided that it's getting to be about time we retired. And when we do, we want to know the inn is in good hands."

"Mom, do you mean-?"

"We do." she said, still smiling.

"So, Everest, Lucas... how would you like to take over total ownership of the Lanser Inn?"