She woke in the morning to silence. The wind had stopped, and the space where Adam slept had gone cold. She sat up, the blankets pooling in her lap, and pushed her hair away from her face, blinking in the pale light filtering past the curtains.

She heard the front door swing open, and the sound of Adam’s boots crunching in the entryway. Before she could think about getting up, she saw his tall frame duck around the doorway, and he took in the sight of her sitting up, naked in bed, his eyebrows rising with appreciation. “All men should be lucky enough to walk in to a vision like that,” he said, walking over to give her a kiss. Amelia smiled against his mouth, and ran her hands down his sides, her fingers working their way under his shirt.

“Oh no,” he said, grasping her hands in his. “You’ve worn me out, woman. Besides, I’m starving. How does breakfast sound?”

Amelia fake-pouted, smiling at him. “Breakfast does sound pretty good,” she admitted. She slid out of bed and stretched as he walked away. She felt sore in the most delicious way. The room was chilly but not freezing, and she dressed more slowly than usual, pulling on her jeans and a thick wool sweater. By the time she’d splashed some water on her face and brushed her teeth, the smell the of frying ham was filling the house.

Adam was setting a plate on the table as she walked in, and Amelia sat down, and poured herself a cup of tea. In Chicago she’d always started the day with coffee, but she was rapidly getting used to, and even enjoying, drinking tea instead.

She was hungrier than she’d realized, and she was halfway through the plate by the time Adam sat down across from her and poured his own cup of tea. “This is delicious,” she said, “Where did you learn to cook?”

“Oh you know,” he said. “Living by myself, I got tired of eating crap all of the time.”

“I wasn’t very good at cooking when I first lived alone,” Amelia laughed. “I got a bit better over time. It was that or eat out every night.”

“I take it your boyfriend wasn’t much of a cook?”

“My ex? No. Not at all. He grew up in a house with servants, maids, a cook, the whole shebang. I don’t think he ever even thought about cooking for himself.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Maids and a cook, hmm? Sounds very fancy. Not what you were used to then?”

Amelia shook her head. “I grew up in the rural Midwest. Kind of like here, really, except not as pretty.”

Adam laughed.

“I couldn’t wait to move to the city,” she said. “But no…having servants was never something I pictured. I always felt very awkward when I’d go to his parents’ house. It just seemed strange.”

Adam was quiet for a few minutes, looking down at his plate. “What caused you to break up with him?” he finally asked.

Amelia glanced at him, startled. Personal questions were not usually his thing. “It was a lot of stuff,” she said. “A lot of little things that finally all came to a head, I suppose.” She shrugged, pushing her eggs around the edge of her plate. “We didn’t talk about the future much. I was always uncomfortable with how much money he had—just his inheritance and trust fund could have carried us for life without him ever having a job. Also, he was so reliant on his father’s connections that he didn’t really try during school. He just sort of skated through, and there I was, killing myself to finish my PhD as fast as possible.”

“I see,” Adam said softly. “So you resented him.”

Amelia nodded. “I guess I did. And then after graduation, he said we were moving to New York City for a job he was taking. A friend of his father’s. He never asked, never even mentioned it to me, just assumed I would up and go.” She sighed. “So we broke up, I suppose. We did leave it a bit open-ended, I agreed to look for some jobs in New York and consider moving. But the more time passes the more unlikely it is we'll get back together. I haven’t even spoken to him since the flight over here.”

She looked up and saw that he was looking directly at her. “He was a fool to let you go,” he said. Amelia started to laugh, but his face was utterly serious. “He had you and he couldn’t be bothered to include you in his plans. He’s an idiot, and you’re well shot of him.”

Amelia stared at him, surprised. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

He nodded, reaching for her hand. “Amelia…if I had that chance with you, the chance to make this a real thing, I would do everything in my power to keep you.”

Amelia squeezed his hand. She thought of the time they’d spent together so far, that first night when he’d been just a kind, handsome stranger who’d offered to help her out and the amazing sex that followed. Her thoughts went to the glorious horseback ride to the stream, Christmas dinner together followed by the surprise bad ending. And last night, when he’d showed up on her doorstep because he was worried about how she would fare in the storm.

“I feel the same way about you but there is no way this can work,” she said finally. “What I had with David was my first real relationship, and I think I felt a lot of pressure to make that work, to see it through regardless. It was scary to think of going out on my own again but I shouldn't have worried, I’m more okay on my own than I thought I would be.” She took a deep breath. “And that’s just the thing. I didn’t come here for a relationship. What does that mean if I immediately fall back into one? And I don’t see how it would work, like we’ve both said before. I can’t ask you to move to the States with me—this land is a part of you. You are rooted here. and it wouldn’t be any different from what David did to me. Besides, I can’t just uproot and move here.”

“You could fit in here,” Adam said, and he immediately pressed his lips together, as if he thought he shouldn’t have said it. Amelia felt a dart of happiness at his words, a quick thrill, but she tamped it down. This can’t work, she reminded herself.

“I wouldn’t though,” she said softly. “It’s peaceful, and beautiful, and I’ve loved being here, but I don’t think this could be my life. I’ve spent years getting my degrees—what would I do here? Just work on the farm and take care of horses?”

She saw immediately that she’d hurt his feelings. “I see,” he said quietly, and she heard in his voice all the things he didn’t say. She couldn’t take her words back though, just like she couldn't just throw away her education and ambition. Taking care of horses for years would be mind-numbing.

She squeezed his hand again, but he pulled it away, standing up to clear the table.

“Adam,” she said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I understand exactly what you meant,” he said quietly. “You’ve worked hard to be where you are, and you don’t see that you could be happy living my sort of life.”

Amelia sighed. He’d summed it up well and she felt an ache in the pit of her stomach. “I want it to be different, Adam, I do.” She looked at him, willing him to turn around from the sink, but he didn’t. “I’ve never met anyone like you before,” she said softly. “We’re two very different people. We’ve lived totally different lives. We want different things.”

“You have no idea what I want,” Adam said. His tone wasn’t harsh, but it was firm, and she bit her lip.

“Then why don’t you tell me,” Amelia said, frustration leaking into her words. “Other than the basic story of the farm and the data you gave me, I know almost nothing about your life! I don’t know why you’ve chosen to stay on the farm, or if you even really want to be here, if this was always your dream, or if you have other ones. I don’t really know you, Adam, so of course I think that this can’t work. To be honest, I thought we had agreed not to even bring these things up.”

Adam had stopped washing the dishes, and was leaning against the sink, looking away from her. Eventually turned to face Amelia, his face drawn. “I suppose if we were going to try to have a relationship I would need to tell you all about myself but we are not, so we just have to enjoy the now. That was what we agreed so that’s what we’ll do.” He walked over to her, and dropped a soft kiss on the top of her head. “We’ll enjoy the now, and you’ll go home, and this will all be a lovely memory.” He rested his hand on her shoulder for a minute, and then he walked out of the room, his footsteps heavy on the floorboards as he walked down the hall to the bedroom.

So like Christmas night, Amelia thought, him retreating to the bedroom and leaving her alone. He seemed to be a man of intense emotions. It was attractive, she had to admit, in a romance-novel sort of way. It was likely what made the sex so good.

She knew that she had fallen for him. The way her heart leapt a little when she heard his footsteps in the house told her that much. Her skin tingled whenever she thought about him touching her was another big clue. The aching pit that opened up in her stomach whenever she thought about the day when she’d leave Scotland left her feeling flat and alone. This was new territory for her.

She told herself that the sense of loss would fade over time. That she was feeling this way because of the novelty and adventure represented by this handsome stranger in a strange country. Working with him on the farm, dealing with the hardships that were a part of that life, far away from the familiar, would surely kill any spark of romance?

She got up and walked to the bedroom. Adam was standing at the window looking out at the high drifts of snow. “I’m sorry,” he said without turning around. “I shouldn’t have suggested that you should stay. It was foolish of me.”

Amelia bit her lip and walked towards him. She wanted to touch him, but she stopped a few inches away. “This just isn’t the life I’ve been working towards, Adam.”

“I know,” he said quietly. “Let’s not talk about it anymore.” He didn’t turn around, and they stood there in silence.