She now jolted upright, the tiredness once again fleeing as her heart started to race. She scrambled out of her seat, rushing down the aisle of the train as passengers stared at her in surprise. She practically stumbled down the steps as she began pushing her way through the people, weaving her way in and around as she kept herself directed to the last place she had seen him. “Adam!” she called out as she caught sight of his dark head once again, taller than most people in the station. “Adam!” she cried, although it seemed her voice was lost amongst the crowd.

He must have heard something though, as she saw him stop and look around, before shrugging and continuing on his way. She was inching closer to him, though, ever so slowly. “Adam!” She called, and this time he stopped and turned, his eyes searching to find her. Finally he saw her, his eyes alighting on her as she struggled through the crowd.

“Becca!” he called, making his way toward her with much more success.

They reached one another, but stopped as they stood inches apart, taking in each other, unsure of what to say, what to do.

“Are you—?”

“How did—?”

They both spoke at the same time, and Rebecca longed to do nothing but launch herself into his arms and kiss him as she remembered.

“Adam,” she said instead, breaking the silence between them, as the noise of the station seemed to disappear and the world seemed to now be composed of only the two of them. “What are you doing here?”

“I came for you,” he said simply, and with that she did what she had so badly longed to do, and she jumped from the ground into his arms. As he caught her in his strong embrace and held her tightly, he brought his lips down to hers, kissing her with such passion, such promise, that no words in the moment were necessary. He finally set her down on her feet, but kept her close to him, his forehead resting against hers. She couldn’t help the smile that broke out over her face. She could hardly believe he was here, that this was real, that he had forgiven all that had happened to seemingly want her anyway, despite what her father had done.

“Adam,” she said finally, “I’m so sorry for what my father did to you. He stole your work, he stole your design, and that is unforgivable.”

“That is not your fault,” he said, brushing her cheek with his fingertips.

“No,” she said, “That is true. However, I was not fair to you, agreeing to marry you, to return to the Highlands with you, and then so quickly turning my back when my father disapproved. It is hardly any wonder that you thought me to be a part of his scheme.”

“That was wrong of me,” he said. “I know you better than that. I know your loyalty. I should have understood why you made the choice you did to follow your father’s wishes of marriage, but that you were no part of the plan to lure me to London. You are far too trusting, far too good a person to ever do anything so deceitful. Forgive me?”

“Of course,” she said. “Always.”

“I should never have left you,” he said, cupping her face in his hands. “I should have fought for you.”

“You’re here now,” she said with a smile. “That’s what matters.”

“Rebecca,” he said slowly, and her eyes widened as he dropped to his knees in front of her, on the dirty stone floor of the station. “I told you before I cared for you, that I wanted ye for my wife. But what I didna tell you was that I love you. I love you with all my heart, and promise to forever be there for you, providing you all that you would ever want and all ye could ever need. Will you marry me? No matter what happens, I promise to love you for the rest of my days, but I wish to do so not from afar but with you by my side.”

“Oh, Adam!” she said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “I love you too, with all of my heart and all that I am. Of course I will marry you.”

She gave out a choked cry that was part laugh, part sob, and he rose and gathered her in his arms.

“Do you not want to get away from all of the people?” she asked, realizing that they could not have found a busier place in likely all of London to be standing in. She looked around, suddenly embarrassed when she saw all the people staring at them, though many wore smiles on their faces.

“When you are with me, I see no one else,” he said, and she felt the blood rushing to her face at his words.

“And what has brought you to the train station?” he asked suddenly, not letting go of her hands.

“Oh! I was coming to you,” she said, looking at the clock in the corner of the station, realizing the train was to leave in but minutes. “Should we go back? I realize you just disembarked, but … well, I will explain, but perhaps now is not the time to return to my father’s house.”

“Is that what you’d like?” he asked. “Do ye truly wish to return to the Highlands with me?”

“Well, of course,” she said with a laugh. “I just agreed to marry you, did I not?”

“You did,” he said. “But if you would rather stay here, if you feel London is the only place you can make home, then I will stay here with you.”

“No,” she said adamantly with a shake of her head. “You belong in the Highlands, and I belong at your side. There is nothing and no one holding me here, while you have an entire family at home in the Highlands, a family who I know will welcome me, as they did those few days I stayed with you. I would love nothing better than to return with you. The question is, when? We have but moments to purchase you a return ticket and be on our way.”

“We shouldna waste any more time then, should we?”

He picked up his old, battered bag as they raced toward the ticket counter and purchased his ticket just shortly before the close of the window for the journey. She led him to the train, climbing the stairs she had disembarked just minutes before. As they entered, she saw faces smile at them, and a couple of people murmured a “congratulations.” Rebecca smiled back shyly as she realized they must have seen everything that had happened.

They took their seats in her car, and she snuggled closer to Adam, content simply to be in his arms. As the train began rolling out of the station, in no time she was completely, deeply asleep.

* * *

Adam relaxed into the seat as he held Rebecca tightly in his arms, caring not about the stares of the passengers around him. He could hardly believe all that had just happened. Never could he have expected that Rebecca would be there, waiting for him. He was concerned, however. She had clearly defied her father, and he knew that must have torn at her. It would not have been an easy decision for her. What had made her change her mind?

As much as he wanted to know all that had happened, Adam was certainly a patient man, and he allowed her to sleep in his arms, for he had seen the exhaustion in her eyes. She awoke as the train pulled into Perth, and he allowed his sleepy fiancée to lean on him as they switched trains. When they boarded the Highland train that would take them to Inverness, he asked her if she felt the need to sleep longer or if she would like something from the dining car.

“We should eat,” she said, and together they rose. Never had Adam felt such a protectiveness, such a possessiveness, over someone, and he intertwined his fingers with hers. She looked back at him with a smile, and he could not help but feel the most fortunate man in all of the country that this beautiful woman was now his.

They sat, ordered their food, and then she rested her hands on the table as she looked at him with determination in her eyes.

“You must want to know the whole story.”

“I do,” he said, “when you are prepared to tell it to me.”

“Of course I am ready to tell you,” she said. “I simply needed a little sleep first.”

She laughed then continued, telling him of how she had spoken with Sullivan Andrews, and determined the true extent of her father’s treachery and thievery of Adam’s designs. She also told him of her father’s plans for her with Vincent Thompson, and how she discovered that Andrews knew nothing of the scheme. “It was not only you that he was fooling,” she said. “It was Sullivan, and me as well. Sullivan made me realize that while my father put a roof over my head and was ensuring that I would always be cared for, my happiness mattered naught. If he was not concerned about it, then I must take care of it myself.”

Adam reminded himself to thank the man for helping Rebecca come to the realization that likely she would have found herself at one point, but perhaps not until it was too late.

“Oh, and I have something for you,” she said, surprising him by standing. “I’ll be right back.”

He watched her take off back down the aisle to their seats, and it was but minutes until she returned, clutching papers in her hand.

“Here,” she said, holding them out to him.

“What is this?” he asked, then began to slowly skim his eyes down the page, realizing what he was reading.

“Are these patent papers?” he asked, somewhat in disbelief.

“Yes,” she said, a smile breaking out on her face. “Sullivan and I … slightly altered them.”

“You did what?” he asked, somewhat aghast.

“We broke into my father’s office and changed the patent papers before he mailed them in,” she said, seemingly quite proud of herself. “What you hold in your hand is a copy. It was what I was going to use to convince you that I truly did not conspire against you.”

“Rebecca, this is … this is amazing,” he said. “I can hardly believe it, to be honest with you. Not that you needed to do anything to make me realize your true intentions. I should have known—”

“Hush,” she said. “We are over that now and onto the future. It will be some time until we hear anything further, but Sullivan will ensure everything goes according to plan.”

“We have much to thank him for,” said Adam quietly, looking at all that was in front of him, the papers and, much more importantly, the woman.

“He’s a good man,” she said quietly. “I know it seems strange that he continues to remain in business with my father. As odd as it seems, however, they seem to complement one another well. Perhaps this has been the final straw for him. We shall see.”

Adam laced his fingers through hers. He had an inkling that Andrews had a lot to do with the kind, caring person this beautiful woman had become as well. He smiled at her, looking forward to the remainder of the journey, not only to his home, but through the rest of their lives.