Alan loved spending time with Jain when no one else was around.

When they approached a fork in the road at the bottom of the hill, Jain headed towards the stone hut that had been built around the spring to protect animals and leaves from fouling their water supply. It was getting dark as the sun dipped behind the trees, but the trail was still visible in the light and they made it to the springhouse without difficulty. The heel of her leather shoes padded against the rocks and dirt, stepping over fallen branches as they went. She pulled the door open and stepped inside the cool stone building with Alan following right behind. Jain took their buckets and dipped them in the wooden trough to fill them right up to the brim with crystal clear water, using the practiced air of someone who had done this, every day for years. When she turned around with the buckets in her hand, Alan took one from her and held the door open for them both before starting back the way they’d come.

The journey back up the hill was more difficult than coming down, and they were laden down with the weight of the buckets they carried. Her breathing became more ragged from the exertion, yet her feet were sure, and she didn’t spill a drop as she glanced up at the sky. The deep blue canvas was already darkening on one horizon, littered with stars, twinkling with tiny jewels. “Do ye ever look at the vastness of the sky above and wonder how impossibly small we are?”

“Sometimes,” Alan mused. He paused to look up at the firmament above and the stars beginning to show. “The church talks about God in the heavens and celestial bodies moving around up there, but more I remember the stories Nan told us of the heroes and monsters in the stars.”

“I would have loved to hear stories like that,” Jain mused. “Whenever I see them it reminds me of how beautifully constant the heavens remain. Da once told me that sailors used them to navigate on the open sea, so they could find their way back home.”

He nodded in agreement. “Aye. It’s reassuring to think of a homeward star that always leads ye back to whence ye came from. That it would never change, and it would always be there in case ye needed it.”

When they crested another hill on the outskirts of her parents’ farm, she sighed, making her way over to a low branch from one of the trees that looked sturdy enough to sit on and slipped off both her shoes. “I wish to rest fer a moment before we go inside,” she told him.

Alan chuckled to himself and followed suit by sitting on the grass beside her underneath the canopy of leaves. Jain set her bucket of water on the grass and sat down at the base of a giant tree. She rested her head against the trunk and looked up at him with a contented smile on her face. “I could sleep out here all night.”

“If that be the case, I’ll have to bring ye another blanket,” he responded with a grin.

“I suppose ye’re right.”

Her eyes closed for a moment while they rested, and her lips curved in a soft smile.

Alan wanted to know what she was thinking and what caused those lips to turn. His eyes rested on them for a while. Suddenly, her smile faded and her brows drew together. She opened her eyes and met his gaze. “Do ye think Mam’s health will yet improve?”

Alan rubbed the back of his neck and chose his words carefully. He knew nothing about illness or healing arts, but he understood that Jain was just asking him as a friend. “That’s difficult to say, lass. I love her as if she were my own, but life will take its toll on some.”

Some of her silken hair had escaped its bindings, framing her heart-shaped face. He reached out and tucked a curl behind her ear.

“Ye needn’t worry, lass. Moira is a strong woman and it would take a lot more than an ailing hip to keep her down fer long. It might be one of those things she must learn to live with, but other than that I’m sure she’ll be alright.”

Jain nodded at his response and turned her gaze back toward the stars. “She never should have been on that ruddy horse to begin with. The animal could have crushed her when it fell. If Da hadn’t gotten Mam out from underneath it in time she could have died…but she wanted to ride. Eamon dinnae have the heart to stop her.”

“We all have desires that seem irrational to people who dinnae understand them. Yer da is a kind man, who only wanted to make her happy. Ye’re also forgetting that he was there and made sure that she was safe.”

Alan turned to look at her and noticed a far off look in her eye. “Ye’re right. I’ve done foolish things myself at times.”

“What troubles ye so?” he asked her suddenly. “Ye look as though ye still have some foolish things ye mean to see through. What is it that makes yer eyes fill with such longing?”

Her cheeks reddened as she dropped her gaze to the ground. “What do ye mean?”

Alan took the crook his thumb beneath her chin and lifted her face to look at him. “I’ve seen the way ye look, always up and outwards in the distance like yer heart is somewhere else. If ye could have the life ye choose, what would ye do with it?”

“Why does it matter? It’s not as if anything of consequence would come of it. My heart is full of foolish dreams.”

“What resides in yer heart matters to me,” he told her. “It’s been a while since we had the chance to really talk.”

Jain considered that for a moment, shifting her body towards him so they faced each other properly. “Ye already ken what I would do. I want to see other places like my Aunt Nora,” she told him, her words coming out in a rush. “I want to go to Inverness and see its great markets. I want to go to the seashore. It’s been ages since I’ve seen the sea, and the waves have such majesty. I could stare off into the horizon and get lost fer hours, imagining what lies beyond it. The salt in the air and gentle rocking of the ship, I’d give anything to see a distant land and all the life this world has to offer.”

Alan listened to her in awe, captivated by the passion in her voice. It was not just the flight of fancy; this was what her heart truly craved. And if that was the case, Alan wanted nothing more than to help make her dreams come true.

Jain noticed him staring at her and blushed. “It’s silly.”

“No, it’s not,” he assured her. “Ye’ve always talked of exploring the great beyond. I’ve always been curious about the lands beyond Elign. I’ve only been south of Alves, but one time when Bruce and I were travelling to Aberdeen we stopped at a cliff to eat. The moors stretched out forever and all I could think of was what was at the end. And how very small I felt, and how very much I had left to see. I wish ye could have seen it, Jain.”

Jain’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he told her about their trip, soaking up every word. It brought him a sense of pride knowing he was one of the few people that could open her up to speak – it was like watching a flower bloom.

“I wish I could have been there too,” she sighed. “I want to see those things, discovering places I’ve never even heard of as I set off on a grand adventure. Of all the places ye could have gone, why did ye choose Elign?”

Alan grinned. “I’m not sure exactly. It just ended up that way. Fer some reason Bruce took a liking to me when he visited our village and invited me back with him. There weren’t any prospects fer me there, so I had to take any job he gave me.”

“Do ye miss yer family?”

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “I have two sisters back at home, but I’ve found the company here is better.”

When Alan finished speaking, he looked over at her and smiled. Jain gazed back at him, her eyes reflecting in the moonlight like liquid pools of emerald green. Her lips fell open in a pout, only serving to accentuate how round and kissable they looked.

God help him, Alan wanted her.

He noticed her eyes grow dark as they stared at each other. Alan could feel the palpable yearning in the air between them and could only assume she felt it too.

When Jain turned away, Alan’s smile faltered, fading slightly when he took her by the hand. “One day, Jain. I will show ye the land ye dream about. I will take ye there with me.”

~ * ~

Jain grinned. His brown eyes gazed back at her, meeting the silent challenge. After a moment she relented, seeming to accept his sincerity once more.

Shifting her back against the tree, Jain asked, “And what do ye want, Alan?”

He leaned in close enough that she could feel his breath against her face. Cool, dark and masculine. She breathed in his scent and closed her eyes, exhaling as they conspired close together.

“To see ye smile,” he murmured. “To hear yer voice every day fer as long as I live.”

Her eyes widened. “My voice?”

“Aye, to hear ye speak is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. Yer voice is like music—like the songs birds sing.”

Jain blushed, wetting her bottom lip unconsciously as she gazed up at him. “Is that what ye want? A pretty song bird to take back with ye in a cage?”

“Nae,” he said. “Birds are not meant to be locked up with nowhere to roam. They’re meant to fly with the wind beneath their wings and see the world.”

Jain laughed, her voice bubbling with carefree wonder. “And ye would set me free. Is that what ye’re suggesting?”

Alan nodded with sincerity. “Aye. I see ye. I see ye fer the beauty that ye are. Ye deserve the adventure that ye long fer.”

Her confidence waivered. A whisper of longing passed through her, tightening her chest. She turned to him and said, “Mayhap, but this is what God saw fit to give me and fer that I’m grateful.”

Gently, Alan took her by the hand and turned so they faced each other properly. “I would see that ye have the great adventure ye desire.”

“Dinnae let my da hear ye say that,” Jain warned him. “He’d hear nothing of the sort. He and Moira would have me married, settled down and with a brood of children.”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that,” he conceded. “But is that what ye want?”

Jain shook her head, biting back the smile that was fighting to break free.

“Adventure it is then.”

Jains heart fluttered from the contact as she gazed up at him and said, “I ken.”