"Say. Why don't we fix some snacks for everyone?" suggested Lila Carpenter, while grabbing her boyfriend's arm.
"But we had that big pot of my dad's homemade rabbit stew and mom's biscuits for dinner," pointed out Lance Knight.
"Rabbit stew?" asked Rick Carpenter, Lila's brother, while turning to look at the older werepanther couple.
"Yes. The secret's in how you prepare the rabbits and the broth before you bring everything together," said Anton Knight, sitting on the living room sofa with an arm around his mate. "And my wife's biscuits are little slices of heaven itself," he added, which brought a smile to Esmeralda's muzzle.
"Tell me more," said Rick, while sitting down in a nearby chair.
"Come on dear," said Lila, dragging Lance into the kitchen.
Once they were alone, the weretigress turned to look at her werepanther and asked, "What's this stupidity about you almost losing KPXX in a poker game?"
Seeing that she was clearly upset about something, he began his tale. "I was young and foolish, about a month out of college, and at the Were Club as a matter of fact," said Lance, as he started recalling the incident. "I had gone there to relax. Despite the fact my parents hadn't retired to the tropics yet, dad had already turned that part of his holdings over to me and Benton was already trying to make inroads against me, so I needed a break. What I didn't know was that the were who owned the club at the time was less than honest and was having the bartender make my drinks a lot stronger than they should of been. He saw what he thought was an easy mark and thought he could fleece me. The rest was just pure dumb luck."
"Go on," encouraged Lila, still staring at him.
"The game started out typically enough. I won a few hands and lost a few. Then he suggested playing for bigger stakes. I was soon down by a good $10,000 when he suggested the Were Club versus KPXX. Like an idiot I took the bet, but luck was on my side and I won. You should have seen the shock on that were's muzzle when he read the cards!" said Lance.
"So did he miss deal or what?" wondered Lila.
"Don't know, don't care. The guy was going to welch on the deal, but one of his own bouncers made him keep his word, and I got the heck out of there with the deed and clear title to The Were Club in my paws," said Lance. "Heard he left town the next morning and hasn't been back in Moon Lake since. In any event, I haven't had a serious drink or gambled since."
"Well, I know the place is still open for business," observed Lila, thinking about some of her own trysts there before meeting Lance. "How do you like owning it?"
"For a place that's only open one night a week, it does surprisingly well," admitted Lance. "I have cleaned it up a bit since taking over. No gambling, for one thing, and a certain bar tender no longer works there while I eventually promoted that bouncer to head of security. In time I managed to acquire the place a house band whose members are all weres, established a dance floor, and now weres have someplace to go on Saturday nights where they can do more than just rut."
"Well, there's something to be said for rutting," replied Lila with a smile, while snuggling up next to him. "But you had me worried there for a bit. My last boyfriend, the one Rick..." then Lila paused, knowing there was no need to remind Lance how that turned out. "He liked to drink and..."
"Oh honey," said Lance, while putting his furry arms around her. "I didn't know. But like I said, I've been a totally different were since that night. You don't have to worry about me."
"Silly boy," she said, looking at him. "It's part of my job to worry about you as your girlfriend, fiance, and future wife."
Then Lila laid her head down on his furry shoulder and began to cry.
"There, there," said Lance, comforting her. "I worry about you too darling. Soon as you're up to it, we better get those snacks ready for our future in-laws Mrs. Knight."
Lila raised her head to look at him, drying her eyes with the back of one paw, and asked, "Do you know how much I love you?"
"At least as much as I love you," answered Lance, before kissing her.
MEANWHILE...