Disclaimer: Still not mine. Still just playing.
Author's Note: Loads of praise and gratitude to my amazing betas, JeSouhaite and CineFille. This story wouldn't be the same without them.
The Road Less Traveled
Luke returned to the bedroom from the bathroom, his hair still damp from the shower, and slipped into his boxers and jeans. It hadn't taken him long to adjust to the time difference, and now he was back to being the early riser. He turned to glance at Lorelai who, in the short time he'd been in the shower, had grabbed his pillow and held it as she lay curled on her side. In sleep, she was surprisingly relaxed, the tension gone from her muscles and a small smile on her slightly parted lips. It seemed as though these moments were the only times since he'd arrived that he'd seen her totally relax. Though her eyes had brightened as they put distance between themselves and Stirling, the remnants of uncertainty still hung in the air around her. He thought perhaps it was the distance away from their fight that was helping, but he couldn't be sure.
In any case, it was a relief to see the tension gone now, even if it was only a temporary respite while she slept. He sighed one more time before turning to dig through his bag for a t-shirt and flannel.
Her voice, hoarse with sleep, startled him. "Hey, hot stuff. Whatcha doing way over there and why are you covering up that beautiful body?"
He looked at her wryly. "Wasn't it you who wanted to get an early start today, since it's our only full day on Skye?"
Lorelai's brow wrinkled as she brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Did I say that?"
"Yep."
"And you believed me?"
"Yep."
"Well that was your first mistake."
"And my second?" he teased.
She leaned up on her elbow and gave him a sexy pout. "Leaving me in bed without a good morning kiss."
"Let me see if I can fix that," he said, walking over and leaning down to plant a kiss on her lips.
Eventually, through the strategic use of coffee, Luke urged Lorelai into the shower, and before long they headed downstairs for breakfast. Five other people sat in the dining room, engaged in polite conversation. Lorelai introduced herself and Luke to the other guests as they took seats at the table.
Upon hearing them, Mairi bustled in to take their orders, chuckling when they both made a point of turning down the black pudding. "Would you like another sausage or piece of bacon instead?"
Lorelai pondered, "For me yes, but Luke probably won't…" She glanced at him and he gave her a knowing smile. "You know, on second thought, just give me his sausage and bacon and give him my tomatoes and mushrooms."
Mairi looked to Luke for his approval, and when he nodded she turned and headed back to the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with their food.
Though the menu varied little from the breakfasts of the previous few days, Luke enjoyed the food, finding it lighter and fresher than expected. The bread tasted homemade and Mairi brought out fruit salad that was a welcome addition to the meal. Lorelai shared sightseeing stories with the other guests, an elderly couple and a group of three twenty-somethings, occasionally managing to pull Luke into the conversation.
He and Lorelai lingered a bit after the others left, talking about their plans for the day while she finished her coffee. When Mairi came out to clear some of their dishes, Lorelai spoke up. "Luke told me you recommended the restaurant we went to last night. It was wonderful. Thank you."
"You're very welcome. Did you enjoy your drive around Trotternish yesterday?"
"It was great, very scenic. We spent a long time at the museum. The history of the island is fascinating, especially the stories about the farmers, or…crofters, right?" Mairi gave a small nod and Lorelai asked, "Have you lived here long?"
"I've lived here all my life," Mairi answered proudly. "My family's been on Skye since before the Highland Clearances, when the clans were broken up and landowners brought in sheep and evicted most of the crofters."
"Wow," said Lorelai, clearly impressed. "So your family was around during the uprisings. Were they crofters too?"
"My grandfather came from a long line of crofters. When I was younger, he would tell my brother and I stories about the rebellions that led to the Small Landholders Act. So many of his friends had given up and left for the cities or America, but he refused to leave. We don't do any farming anymore, but this B&B is the croft house his family grew up in." A glint of fierceness shone in her eyes as she spoke and gave Luke a hint of her strength and independence.
Though Luke couldn't trace his family history as far back as Mairi, he felt the same connection to place that he could sense from her. The love that she clearly had for Skye echoed his for Stars Hollow.
Before he or Lorelai could ask her more, however, she brushed them off, saying, "But you didn't come here to listen to my memories. Have you decided what you're going to do today?"
Lorelai answered by listing some of the sights they'd seen in the guidebook. "We were thinking of going out to the western edge of the island to the sea cliffs and maybe to the castle, if that's worth a visit. Anything else we shouldn't miss while we're there?"
"The sea cliffs are certainly worth seeing. Make sure you go to Neist Head and see the lighthouse. Dunvegan Castle is a pretty location with nice gardens, but it's a bit more of a museum for those fascinated by seeing a lock of the Bonnie Prince's hair or the fairy flag. Pure silliness, some of it," she scoffed.
"Hmm," Lorelai mused, "sounds a bit like the Stars Hollow History Museum." She winked at Luke.
Seeing Mairi's raised eyebrow, he felt the need to explain, "The town where we live had a museum with a lot of questionable 'artifacts.' The museum wasn't open very long."
An amused smile played across Lorelai's lips, but thankfully she didn't provide any more detail about what had happened to the museum.
After a glance between the two of them, Mairi went on, "If you're at all interested in whiskey, there's a distillery out that way that gives tours."
"Oh, whiskey. That would give me something to talk to my father about," Lorelai said quickly, then frowned and continued, "On second thought, let's not go to the distillery."
Lorelai seemed to have taken herself by surprise with the mention of her father, so Luke jumped in, "It sounds like we have plenty to do. There's so much to see here."
Lorelai looked up at the sound of his voice, "Yeah, this whole island is so beautiful. It's too bad we have to leave tomorrow. I feel like there's so much we haven't seen."
Mairi looked at them, seemingly touched by Lorelai's awe of the island. "Well," she started, "I do have another suggestion, if you're interested. It's in the other direction, but you could easily drive down there after dinner." At Lorelai's nod of interest, she continued, "You mentioned you drove around the western coast of the Sleat peninsula yesterday. If you enjoyed that, there's another beautiful drive with views of the Cuillin Hills."
"Sounds romantic," Lorelai said, glancing at Luke before turning back to Mairi to get directions and another recommendation for dinner.
As Luke watched the two women interact, he found himself both surprised and yet not surprised at the way Lorelai had slipped into such an easy rapport with Mairi, even though they had only spoken a few times on the phone and had a couple of conversations the previous day. He had always been impressed by the apparent ease with which she dealt with people and knew that most people assumed that she was naturally outgoing. That had, in fact, been his impression for a long time after first meeting her. In getting to know her, he began to realize that her talent with people was not a natural tendency, but a set of learned skills, though whether they were learned out of the necessity of raising a child alone or perfected in the social events of her youth, he didn't know. It was only through becoming Lorelai's friend that he started to understand how much her outward persona hid her inner insecurities. There were very few people, Rory, Sookie and himself, with whom she truly let down her guard, so this kind of comfort with a new acquaintance was unusual. Watching them, though, it looked as though Lorelai had found a kindred spirit. In Mairi, he could see glimmers of Lorelai's future self, a strong and independent woman, who through the wisdom of age had grown more grounded.
They set out soon after, making the castle their first stop. Lorelai had reasoned that it was on the way to the sea cliffs and that it might be amusing. They chuckled over various bits of memorabilia from the famous prince and examined the many portraits that made up parts of the family tree of Clan MacLeod. After wandering the gardens and snapping some pictures of the castle, they continued west.
Predictably, the roads beyond Dunvegan narrowed and Luke again found himself negotiating single-track roads with passing places, though with experience they felt less an annoying challenge and more like a game. And once he saw the cliffs at Waterstein Head, towering almost 1000 feet above the bay below, he agreed that it had been worth the drive. Luke knew the scenery had awed Lorelai when she agreed not only to walk to the summit of the sea cliffs, but also down to the lighthouse at Neist Point. From the western-most point on the island, the views of the Outer Hebrides islands and the cliffs across the bay were spectacular, and Lorelai watched, mesmerized. That she could be struck speechless by something as simple as waves crashing against a sheer rock face both amused and amazed him. He loved seeing this side of her, however briefly, and was reminded yet again how much more of her he got to see, how much she allowed him to see.
After a leisurely drive back across the island, they found the restaurant that Mairi had recommended in Broadford. She had warned that it was more casual than the previous recommendation and Lorelai had assured her that the chance of getting Luke to dress up two nights in a row was slim. He started to protest until she suggested that he prove her wrong and he admitted that casual did sound good.
The restaurant turned out to be a no-frills seafood place with fresh food that was as delicious as it was simple. As they chatted idly about the day, Lorelai gave him lazy smiles, exuding an air of calm that was as contagious as it was unusual. Watching her slightly drooping shoulders and weary eyes, however, Luke realized that her quiet acceptance was not due to contentment but rather because she welcomed a reprieve. Whether it was a reprieve from her worries about the inn or from the tension of their fight, he couldn't be sure, but it was like the tired relief that follows a storm - as if she was grateful to have survived an earthquake but wary of the aftershocks.
They finished eating quickly and set out following the directions from Mairi. At first the road wound through endless pastures, but soon they drew closer to the reddish rounded hills. As they followed the shore around a finger of water and approached a set of dark jagged peaks, Luke understood for the first time the distinction between the Red Cuillin hills and the Black Cuillin Hills. Lorelai called for a few photo stops before they moved away from the water again to cross to the other side of a small peninsula. The road wound down a steep hill, passing a few scattered houses and ending in a stretch of rocky beach which circled a small bay. Several silent fishing boats bobbed slowly in their moorings. As obvious as it was that the tiny port was abandoned for the night it was also just as obvious that it was an active port. Traps for shellfish of some sort lay waiting on the pier, and an undeniably fishy odor filled the air.
Across the bay, through a light fog, the Black Cuillin Hills jutted up sharply. It took Luke a few minutes to adjust to the stillness of the place. It was hard to know if you could even call it a town, as there were so few houses and no obvious businesses and at this time of day, no one else around at all. Even Lorelai seemed to be affected by the mood of the place, saying nothing at all for several minutes. When she did speak, she did so in a whisper, as if worried she would disturb someone.
She pulled him along the beach, gingerly stepping across the rocks and over pools and rivulets of water. They reached the far end of the beach and stepped up onto a huge stone ledge marked by deep striations caused by years of erosion. This end of the beach provided a slightly closer view of the hills across the bay and Lorelai continued around the curve of the beach, looking for the perfect place to take a picture.
"Oh my god, Luke. Look at that!"
"What?"
It's an old house. The ruins of an old house." Tucked into a corner of the shoreline lay a rectangular stone wall, with an obvious opening for a door and a few divisions within. Though the wall only stood a few feet tall, it was clear that it had once been a small house.
"Hey. What a surprise: there are sheep," he said wryly, pointing at the two plump animals on the far side of the house.
Lorelai looked around their surroundings wistfully. "Wow, can you imagine living here? This has got to be one of the remotest corners of this island, and then stuck back here where you can hardly find it, there's a house. It's hard to imagine, although…" she sighed softly, "there's something appealing about being away from life and stress, holed up in a tiny corner of the world with the one you love." The melancholy sound of her voice caused Luke to look at her with a touch of concern.
"Is it that bad?" he asked softly.
"No," she started, attempting to brush it off, but then looked down and toyed with the ring on her finger. "I just don't think I'm really good at this."
"At what?"
"This consulting thing. Sure I can run an inn in Stars Hollow, but what do I know about Scotland? I mean, I thought I would try it and if it worked out, fine, otherwise if it wasn't my thing, then no big deal. So even though it's been discouraging sometimes, I've been telling myself it's okay because it's just a trial thing." She paused, looking up at him for a moment, her face revealing nothing about where her train of thought was headed. Luke gave a small nod, and she continued, "But, see, the thing is that I can't just let it go. There's a part of me that-"
"Likes it," he finished for her, the words falling heavily as a sinking sensation took hold in his gut.
She shrugged, "Maybe that's it. I just… I really don't want to suck at this. They brought me here, trusted me. I don't want to let them down. No one's ever given me an opportunity like this, given me a chance to show…" her voice trailed off as she bit her lip, a flash of pain appearing in her eyes as she chose her words, "everyone…what I can do. And then us…we got this great trip out of it. And so, as much as part of me wants to go home and not let myself get down about it, part of me wants to be able to do this."
"You can," he muttered under his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"No, you were about to say something."
"Well…" he hesitated.
"You're worried I'm going to bite your head off again." She lifted her eyes to his, her head tilted downward and her expression sheepish. "It's okay. Just say it."
"You can do this, Lorelai. I've seen you do this. The first thing that I saw when I got here was you dealing with an impossible situation."
"But…"
"But what? Talk to me."
"I just…we're doing everything right. They're doing everything right. Anne is an amazing chef, the meals are incredible, they've got all the appropriate little touches. It seems like everything is perfect, but there's something missing. I can feel it, but I can't put my finger on it. I'm supposed to make recommendations before I leave, and I'm at a loss, because I have no idea what they can do to increase occupancy."
Luke could hear her frustration, but held back his supportive words, reaching instead for Lorelai's hands and running his thumbs across the backs of her fingers.
She let out a quiet chuckle, "I guess you're still a little afraid to talk, huh?" she said, a small smile on her lips for a moment before she sighed and continued, "I just wish I could figure it out. The B&B we're staying at? Bayview. I feel it there. Whatever it is we're missing in Stirling, it's there. I don't know. It feels like home, even if you've never been there, and Mairi makes you love this whole island. And she knows us – how did she know to send us here? It's beautiful, and we would have never come here. And the restaurants, everything. She just knows everything and knew exactly what we would want to do. It makes you want to come back and I don't feel that at all in Stirling." She looked over to see Luke grinning at her. "What?"
"That's you. At the Dragonfly. In Stars Hollow. That's you."
"What do you mean?"
"You know which guests want to go antiquing and which ones want to go for a nature walk. And when they ask for a restaurant recommendation, you know where to send them. You love Stars Hollow, and you make everyone else love it too." Luke's words seemed to take Lorelai by surprise and she looked flustered hearing the praise.
"There's more to it than that," she protested.
"Of course there is, and the good food and the beautiful setting make people come to the Dragonfly, but the personality that it has, the personality you've given it, is what makes people come back." He gave her hands a squeeze, in an unsuccessful attempt to get her to look at him.
She kept looking down, taking a few deep breaths before speaking, the joking tone not fully covering the shakiness in her voice. From her reaction, it was suddenly painfully obvious how little genuine praise Lorelai got for her work. "So, what the inn needs is a personality? Huh. So maybe I should hire Conan O'Brian to run it. Is that it?"
"Yeah, something like that," he said, going along with her attempt to lighten the mood.
"Now the only thing I don't get is, if you've figured that out why aren't you the one running the inn?"
"I didn't figure it out, you did. You just needed help putting it into words."
"Don't be so quick to give the credit away. We make a good team."
"Well I won't argue with that," Luke said, as he brought her hands together and held them with one hand, reaching to pull her toward him with the other. After a long, slow, sweet kiss, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, her head resting against his shoulder and her arms tight around his waist.
After a long moment, Lorelai pulled back a bit so that she could look at him. "We should stay and watch the sunset."
"You do know that the sun doesn't set here for another two hours?"
"You think we can't keep each other company for two hours?"
"Of course we can. I'm just not sure that this is the most comfortable place to spend that two hours."
In spite of his protests, she pulled him down next to her and they sat, leaning against a rock, watching the waves spill around the rocks lining the beach. Lorelai curled herself against his body, quiet except for the sound of her breathing. When she let out a long, exhausted sigh, Luke decided he couldn't let it go. "This is about more than just the inn. Is it me? Is it about Rory? Are you…angry?"
She flinched and lifted her head to look at him, a bit of annoyance in her expression. Worried he had crossed a line, he backpedaled, "I'm sorry. Forget it." She didn't respond, just tucked herself once again into the curve of his arm as they both watched the tranquil bay.
Minutes later, she spoke softly, her words breaking the stillness. "I'm not mad at you, Luke. About Rory." She took a breath and let it out slowly. "I think that I might be jealous, but I'm not mad."
"Jealous?" he asked, wondering if he'd heard right.
"She came to you instead of me," she said sadly.
"And that bothers you."
She reached over and started playing with the button on the cuff of his shirt. "It shouldn't."
"But it does."
He could feel the small shakes of her head against his chest, and when she spoke her words were determined. "I want to be the one, but if she can't talk to me…she should be able to talk to you." Her fingers brushed his wrist and slid down to entwine with his. "She trusts you. You care about her. I want her to have that. I want you to have that." He could hear the firmness in her words and he couldn't tell which of them she was trying to convince. "Hell Luke, we're going to be a family."
"Yeah, we are." The words felt weighty as he said them. He'd been picturing their family of the future, in the hazy images of his hopeful brain, but all along she'd had a family and was bringing him into it.
"I mean, we're getting married." Lorelai said dreamily, oblivious to the momentousness of his thoughts.
"I heard a rumor about that," he teased, and felt her chuckle against his neck.
"Luke, did you ever think we'd be here?" she asked wistfully.
"Did I ever think we'd be across the ocean, sitting on a rock, miles from the nearest coffee?"
She pulled her hand from his to give him gentle slap on the shoulder. "That's not what I–"
"I know what you meant." He spoke quietly, and then let out a sigh. "I've thought about it," he admitted slowly, "since we've been back together." She nodded into his shoulder, and he took a breath before asking, "What about you? I mean…I guess you must have, since you asked and all, but…" He cringed at the way he was stammering.
"The shelf."
"What?"
"Since you put up that shelf for me. That's when I saw it." Her voice was soft, slightly pained with the memory of old hurt.
"Lorelai…" he questioned gently, concern barely concealing the awe in his voice.
"Its okay," she reassured, tapping his chest with her fingers. "We're here now. I just…we've done about a month's worth of this talking stuff, can we just leave it there?"
"Sure." He held her hand against his heart and long moments passed as waves lapped the shore and the boats bobbed gently.
"So Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"How long 'til sunset now?"
"About an hour and forty minutes."
She sighed, "You know, I was all down with the patiently waiting until you mentioned coffee."
The next morning dawned gray, and from what Luke understood about Scotland, they'd been lucky to have had pleasant weather as long as they had. Lack of a bright sunrise had kept them in bed longer than usual, but knowing there was a long drive back to Stirling ahead, Luke had reluctantly persuaded them both out of bed. After they showered and dressed, Lorelai busied herself gathering their belongings while Luke looked over the map. As she packed, Lorelai spoke wistfully about leaving Skye. He wasn't sure which one of them was more surprised at how much she'd enjoyed this island that lay off the coast of a country she'd never considered visiting.
After they'd finished their breakfast and sat planning their route back to Stirling, Mairi came out to take their plates, saying, "You're going back to Stirling today? I hope you've enjoyed your visit. It's been such a pleasure meeting you."
Lorelai gave her a genuine smile, "We've had such a wonderful time on Skye. It's making me wish we didn't have to get back quite so soon. I'm going to miss being here. And your B&B has been a beautiful place to stay. I'll have to thank Elizabeth for the recommendation."
Mairi's face softened at the mention of the other woman. "She's so kind to keep referring people to me. You know, for years she worked at a hotel in Edinburgh. I knew that she took a job managing a place in Stirling recently. The Stirling Inn, isn't it? Have you been staying there?"
"Actually, I'm consulting for the inn. I've been there about a month now. I'm just taking a few days off while Luke is visiting." As she said his name, she glanced over and gave him a small smile.
"Consulting? So you're in the hotel business?"
"Not hotels, really. I own an inn in the States. In Connecticut, where we live. The consulting job is temporary, just for two months. I've enjoyed working with everyone there. Have you known Elizabeth long?"
"Oh yes. We grew up together here on Skye." She smiled at the memory, her expression growing serious as she added, "And her brother and I…well, I quite fancied him. We were going to be married, but I broke it off. She's never completely forgiven me, though we're still friendly."
Lorelai's face fell. "I'm so sorry. What happened?" she asked before catching herself, "Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be asking about your personal life."
"Don't worry yourself about that." Mairi waved off Lorelai's concern before her face turned thoughtful again. "Thomas just wanted bigger and better things than this place. He had an opportunity he couldn't turn down in Edinburgh, but I couldn't bring myself to leave Skye."
"That's so sad. I'm sorry you couldn't work it out." The distressed look on Lorelai's face seemed to be about more than sympathy for a recent acquaintance.
"Aah well, that's in the past," she said airily, gesturing away the thought. "It's just as well. I couldn't ever put up with having to organize myself around other people anyway."
Lorelai didn't seem quite as able to brush off the emotions of the story and her eyes were still sad when Mairi went on.
"But what am I doing going on about me. I hope that you enjoy the rest of your trip. Have you figured out how to get back to Stirling?"
Lorelai recovered and replied. "We were planning to go back over the Skye bridge and to stop at Eilan Donan Castle on the way. We haven't come up with anything more specific than that. If you have any suggestions, we'd take them. Everything else you've suggested has been wonderful."
"You seem to enjoy some of the more unique and out of the way places."
Lorelai looked surprised at this revelation. "I hadn't thought about that. I guess that's true," she said thoughtfully.
Relieved to have left the topic of Mairi's love life, Luke spoke up. "Judging by the number of single-track roads we've been on, then yes, she's exactly right," he said with a small grin.
Lorelai smiled back at him, "And you're getting so good at them." Turning back to Mairi, she asked, "But you had a suggestion?"
"There's a small ferry. Before they built the Skye bridge, it was the main way to get across from that part of the island." Mairi gave them a friendly wink. "It's a bit more authentic."
"That sounds perfect. Thank you for the suggestion. Well, I guess we should get our things and get on the road so we don't have to rush."
"Of course. You just leave the keys when you go and have a pleasant drive."
A few minutes later, with the bags in the car, Lorelai gazed at the mist topped mountains and out into the bay before taking her seat in the car. Their route took them along the bay for a while before they headed east and split off toward the ferry. Luke was unsurprised to find himself on yet another single-track road and just smiled when Lorelai joked about how much he was going to miss them.
They finally reached the eastern edge of Skye and followed the sign for the ferry. Luke looked around when they drove down to the water, puzzled when he didn't see anyone, or even anything that looked like a place to buy ferry tickets. "Uh, Lorelai. Are you sure that this is where we're supposed to be?"
"I followed the directions, and you saw the signs too. This is where they sent us."
"Then what if the ferry isn't operating today? It'd be a long drive back to the turnoff for the bridge. I thought that thing about not having a schedule sounded kind of strange."
"Mairi said they operated every day in the summer. Come on. Let's just get out and look around." She opened the door and stood, gazing over the water at the mainland. "Hey Luke! There it is. It's right across the water there. See, they're loading some cars up now."
"That? That's the ferry? They carry cars on that?" The boat didn't look to be any bigger than a small sightseeing boat. It didn't look like it should hold one car, much less multiple vehicles. The cars loaded, the ferry headed toward them and he could see that it held several cars, which pulled off and headed up the road when the ferry stopped near them and one of the men tied it up and flipped down a metal ramp. He then gestured to Luke, and with a reluctant sigh, Luke drove up onto the boat and paid the man.
Lorelai's teasing started as soon as he sat back down in the driver's seat. "Aww, you seem nervous. Come on, it's a cute little ferry and it's only supposed to be about a five minute crossing."
"I am not nervous," Luke grumbled. "This just seems like the kind of operation that would happen if Kirk and TJ ever got together. No schedule, no tickets, just two guys and a boat."
As short as the ride was, Luke still felt relieved when they drove off the small flat boat onto the mainland. Lorelai smiled at him and rested her hand on his knee. "See, not so bad. And I'm glad Mairi recommended it. That was much more quaint than a bridge."
"Quaint," he snorted. "Not the word I would choose."
"Well, Mairi was right. I liked it," Lorelai said with a grin. Her expression turned thoughtful and she asked, "Hey Luke, isn't it sad?"
"What?" As well as he knew her talent for segues, she still managed to trip him up now and then.
"What Mairi said. About the guy she was going to marry. It seems like such a shame that they couldn't figure out a way to be together. She looked like she really loved him."
Luke couldn't deny the sadness he'd seen in Mairi's eyes as she told the story, but having also seen how connected she was to her home, he couldn't imagine her leaving Skye. "Sometimes people just don't want the same things," he said slowly.
"But if you love someone, you don't just give up like that. You work it out. You compromise. You figure out a way to make it work," she insisted, her voice quiet but agitated.
"We don't know all the details. Maybe they tried and they couldn't find a solution."
She looked at him uncertainly then, her brow wrinkled and a slight frown on her face. After a long moment, she shrugged and said unconvincingly, "Maybe."
The conversation had made Lorelai pensive and she sat quietly, gazing out the window. After a few minutes, she picked up the travel guide and flipped pages slowly, eventually stopping to read. It had been long enough since she spoke that her voice surprised him. "Hey."
"What?"
"This castle that we're going to. They filmed some of Highlander there."
"Now that one I've seen," he said, smiling and lowering his voice, "There can be only one."
"Luke Danes, did you just quote a movie?"
"Looks like."
"So you've seen Highlander. Maybe you are a guy after all." She grins. "Well, there's another one we can add it to our movie marathon. And weren't there a bunch of Highlander movies? And a series?"
"Oh please, not the series. The series violated the whole premise of the movie. He was the only one. He got the prize, and then someone decided they wanted to make it a TV series and then suddenly, there were more. It was just wrong. And don't even get me started on Highlander II…"
He looked over to see her smiling at him with that half-mocking, half-content smile that she wore whenever she thought that he was being particularly Luke-like. He continued his rant, enjoying not only the opportunity to vent but also the return of Lorelai's smile. As they neared their destination, her mood improved even further.
Situated on a tiny island in the still waters of a loch and surrounded by mountain peaks, the castle and the bridge connecting it to land were as beautiful from the outside as promised. The tour of the interior, though, hardly seemed worth the admission price and Luke thought that he could go for a long time without seeing another recreated kitchen scene.
The rest of the drive back to Stirling was filled with their typical easy banter. The discussion the previous night seemed to have buoyed Lorelai's spirit and she spent much of the drive home prattling on about both serious and silly ideas for bringing personality to 'her' inn. She laughed and teased, her eyes bright as her dark curls bounced off her cheeks. It cheered Luke to see the return of the confident wonder woman who had been mysteriously absent for most of his visit. As reassuring as it was to see her almost whole again, though, he tried to imagine how the consulting could or would fit into their lives. He wondered what would be worse: Lorelai gone for months at a time pursuing her dream job, or her giving up the chance of a lifetime to stay in Stars Hollow.
To be continued