Amelia heard the sound of a car engine growling up the driveway. She quickly pulled her burgundy wool sweater over her head and hurried out to the front door. To her surprise it was Callum. She felt her heart skip a little as she watched him walk up the gravelly drive. She recalled the night before, and then this morning, his hands sliding over her body as his hips pressed up against her.

She shook her head and opened the door. “This is a surprise,” she said, leaning forward as he bounded up the stairs and reached out to hug her.

“Well, I knew that you went to the café today to work, and I didn’t think you should have to make the long walk twice. So, I thought I’d come and rescue you.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” Amelia said. “You really didn’t have to.”

“I know. But I’d rather you save your energy for other things.” Callum winked at her. “Can’t have you falling off to sleep every evening.”

She felt her face flush a little, the memory of him in bed with her that morning flashing through her mind again. “No,” she said, her voice dropping a little. “I can definitely think of better things to do than sleep.”

She turned around to grab her boots from beside the chair, and she realized he was standing right next to her. He reached out and touched her hip, and she stood up slowly, turning slightly to face him. He reached out and pushed the hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear, and she breathed in, her bottom lip sliding between her teeth.

“Amelia,” he murmured softly, and he leaned forward, his hand resting along her jaw as he tilted her chin up and bent to kiss her.

There was nothing she wanted to do in that moment more than let him. His tongue traced along the edge of her lower lip, and she gasped a little when he sucked it gently into his mouth, his hand curving around her face as the kiss deepened.

The kiss went on for several wonderful seconds, and when he finally pulled back, his eyes fixed on hers. She was more than a little breathless.

“You don’t know how happy I am that I can do that,” he said softly, his hand still touching her face. Amelia let herself lean into the caress for a moment, relishing the touch of his long, smooth fingers against her skin.

“Ready to go get some dinner?” He smiled at her, and Amelia nodded. She grabbed her scarf and purse, and they headed out to the car.

* * *

Adam looked up and waved to them from behind the bar. It was such a change from a few weeks ago, Amelia thought, when he’d been so jealous and upset when Callum had approached her. Could this really be the new normal?

Adam delivered their beers, and he leaned down for a kiss from Amelia. She tilted her head up, brushing her lips over his, and when he pulled away, she saw him give a quick, heated glance to Callum. The elderly regulars in the pub would have had a heart attack if he’d kissed Callum, and Amelia could tell from Callum’s relaxed expression that he knew that, and wasn’t upset. But the look Adam gave him conveyed as much desire as any kiss could.

“There’s a lamb stew on the menu tonight again,” Adam said. “If the two of you were thinking of having dinner that is.”

“Lamb stew sounds fantastic,” Amelia said.

“Agreed.” Callum took a sip of his beer and smiled at Adam. “Still on for Edinburgh next weekend?”

“That’s the plan.” Adam glanced across the room at one of the other patrons, who was holding up his empty beer glass. “I’ll be back in a bit, yeah?”

“The two of you are off to Edinburgh next weekend?” Amelia asked.

Callum nodded. “I meant to tell you over dinner, I wanted to ask if you wanted to come along.”

“My feelings weren’t hurt, if that’s what you were worried about,” Amelia assured him. “The two of you have every right to go off on your own for the weekend.”

“I know,” Callum said, taking another long draught of his beer. “It’d be better with you along, though.”

“Really?” Amelia raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you don’t want some time alone?”

Callum shrugged. “You’d think. But I don’t know, Amelia. It feels different with you around, better. Adam and I tried a long time ago to be something together, and we never could quite figure it out. And then I moved away. I don’t know how to explain it, exactly, but it’s like you provide something that's missing.” He glanced at her, and then away, towards Adam. “Sorry, that was a bit more than I should have said.”

Amelia looked at him for a long moment. Hadn’t she been thinking something very similar earlier? The three of them fit together in some inexplicable way. But that didn’t change the fact that she was due to go back to Chicago very soon, or that staying here with them was not a practical option. Also, they hadn’t flat out said they wanted her to stay. They’d all avoided that topic, up until now at any rate.

“I’d love to go to Edinburgh,” she said. “It’ll be a nice mini vacation, I could use a few days away from all the work. It’s starting to get a bit mind-numbing now, really. Too many hours in front of spreadsheets and so few in front of people.” She took another swallow of her beer. “Is there some specific reason for going, or just a weekend away?”

“Looking for apartments for Adam,” Callum said. “It’s getting down to that time.”

“I suppose it is.” Amelia realized that she’d somehow thought in the back of her mind that Adam would just be moving in with Callum on a permanent basis when he went to Edinburgh. She’d pictured the two of them cozily shacking up together. The idea of Adam living alone in a city studio made her feel slightly sad. But then again, he was used to his own company. The years he'd spent on the farm had made sure of that much. Besides, she was sure Callum wouldn’t let him stew for too long.

She realized that she would be back in Chicago by the time Adam was settling into his new life in Edinburgh. She’d be sitting down to dinner with David, hearing him apologize for the things that had gone wrong in their relationship. She’d be looking for a little city studio of her own, trying to find a job, get established. She’d be living a different life in another country, and all the while she’d be thinking about Callum and Adam. Having dinner together, drinking and laughing in the pub, along with everything else they'd be doing together. She’d be alone in bed, or lying next to someone she barely knew, and Adam and Callum would be forgetting that once there’d been a third person in their bed.

“Hey, there,” Callum said, and she looked up, her train of thought broken. “You went somewhere else there for a minute.”

“I guess I did,” she said, curling her mouth up in a smile she didn’t entirely feel. “Sorry.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, of course.” She reached for her beer. “I’m fine. Just a bit hungry, that’s all.”

“Well, then it’s lucky that that handsome man there is bringing our food.” Callum winked at her, and Amelia saw Adam approaching the table, balancing two giant bowls of stew and a basket of bread. “Here you are. Can’t promise the bread is all that good, but stick it in the stew and it'll taste fine.”

“It’s a good thing you’re not in charge of the marketing for this place,” Amelia observed. She took a deep breath. “It smells delicious, though.”

“The seven people who bother coming out are all already here,” Adam noted. “No need for marketing. And they already know most of the food is borderline at best.”

Callum snorted, and Amelia broke into laughter. Adam stared at them for a long moment, his hands on his hips, and then he was chuckling as well, shaking his head at them. “Meet me back at mine tonight?”

Amelia felt a flush run over her skin at the thought. “Och, aye,” she heard Callum say, his voice low, and she glanced at him. Callum rarely spoke in the Scottish vernacular, his speech polished by years of being in the city. She could see from the expression on his face that he was already picturing Adam naked, already thinking about the things he’d like to be doing to him.

“I think that sounds like a lovely idea,” she said softly, and she felt the heat of Callum’s gaze shift to her.

“See you then,” Adam said, bending to drop a kiss on her lips. It was brief, but firm, possessive, even. He walked past Callum, and Amelia saw him quickly grip Callum’s forearm, his fingers sliding down to his wrist before letting go as he walked away.

Callum’s lips pressed together. “Another reason I’m glad he’s coming to Edinburgh,” he said softly.

Amelia looked at him. “Because of the people here? What they’d think?”

Callum nodded. “In Edinburgh, he could kiss me in public and no one would think anything of it.” He shrugged. “I mean, anywhere you go there’s going to be people stuck in another century, yeah? That’s just a thing that happens, unfortunately. But there, it wouldn’t be so common. Here, if he held my hand it’d be all over the town within the hour. Nothing bad would happen, these aren’t the sort of people to get out their pitchforks, but no one would ever treat him quite the same again. It’d always be hushed whispers and sideways glances and “his poor dear parents, what a good thing it is they never knew…” he trailed off.

“You really care about him, don’t you?” She reached out and touched his hand, and his fingers curled around hers.

“Yeah, I do,” he said. “I did years ago, when we were just mates in high school, and I did after. He was the first guy I was ever with—not the first I kissed, that was one of the rugby players, yeah?” He grinned at Amelia, lopsided, and she smiled back, curling her fingers tighter around his. “He was the first I ever did anything else with, though. I didn’t even know if he liked men that way—to tell the truth, I don’t think he knew either. We were hanging out behind the gym one day, hiding from the coach because it was track day, and we both hated running. And we were sitting there, talking about some girl that Adam had a crush on, and who was ignoring him. He wasn’t like he is now, you know? All muscled up like a Greek God.”

Amelia giggled. “So he wasn’t always so handsome?”

“Oh he was handsome, alright. Just different. Tall, still, but lankier, more like me. Awkward, like he hadn’t grown into himself fully. Still had those broad hands, though. I remember always looking at his hands. And so anyway, we were sitting behind the gym, and Adam was talking about this girl that wouldn’t give him the time of day, and I remember thinking that I’d wanted to kiss him for longer than I could remember. If this girl wasn’t going to pay him any mind, I’d show him there was someone who would.”

“That’s pretty romantic,” Amelia said softly.

“I guess it is. I had it in my head we were some sort of star-crossed lovers, that we’d live out this forbidden thing, and run away together to some place where we didn't have to hide to steal kisses.” Callum pressed his lips together, the fingers of his free hand tapping against the wood of the table. “I kissed him, and he was really shocked! I stopped, having this awful sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, thinking that I’d ruined everything, that he’d never talk to me again.”

“Clearly that didn't happen.”

Callum laughed softly. “No, it didn’t. That lasted a few seconds, and then he grabbed my head and kissed me back, and I swear, if I lived to be a hundred and five, there’s no kiss I could ever have again that would be like that one.” He frowned. “Sorry, no offense. You’re a great kisser.”

Amelia smiled. “Don’t worry, none taken.”

“After that,” Callum shrugged. “We couldn’t keep our hands off of each other. Couldn’t stay away. It was just days before we were sleeping together, and I thought for a while that everything would be just as I had imagined it—that we’d run away together, go off to college, live happily ever after.”

“What happened?” Amelia asked, her voice soft. Adam had told her all of this, after the day that she’d seen him and Callum together, but it was different hearing it from Callum. Adam kept his emotions close. He recounted things matter-of-factly, and he wasn’t given to showing his feelings. Callum told the story with all of the emotion that Adam had kept back, and she could see it vividly, the younger versions of these two men, sneaking kisses and embraces where no one could see, counting down the days until they graduated, and could be free, together.

“His parents died,” Callum said. “An accident. His brother was on a gap year when it happened, just about to start university. The will said the farm was meant to go to him, but he didn’t want it. He refused, said he was going to university, and he’d sell it, but he wasn’t staying.”

“Yup, I heard the story.”

Callum nodded, his face solemn. “He was so broken up about it, Amelia. He was close to his parents, both of them, exceptionally close. He couldn’t live with the idea of selling their life’s work. So he stayed.”

“But you left.” There was no accusation in her words.

Callum nodded. “I did.” He passed his free hand over his mouth, rubbing at the hint of coppery stubble that had sprang up on his jaw since the night before. “God, Amelia, it’s one of the things I regret the most. I should’ve stayed. Should’ve deferred college, should’ve been here for him. I left, because I was afraid to get stuck here. I was afraid if I stayed, I’d never leave. And I couldn’t bear the idea of having to keep hiding what we were to each other, to always having to touch and kiss behind closed doors. I wanted to be out in the open, to have to stop hiding what we were…who I was. And so I left. I left him.” Callum’s voice cracked slightly, and Amelia took his hand, leaning towards him.

“That was years ago, Callum. You were so young, you both were. You made a reasonable choice for yourself.”

“I should have been there for him,” Callum repeated, shaking his head. “I can’t believe he’s forgiven me.”

“Maybe he doesn’t feel there’s anything to forgive.” Amelia squeezed his hand. “Maybe he understands, especially now, that you’re both older, I think he knows why you left—and that it wasn’t because you didn’t love him.” She looked at Callum for a moment. “You do love him, don’t you?”

Callum nodded. “I do, I always did. None of the other people I dated came close to making me feel what he did. And then I came back—and it was as if I’d never left.”

“And now he’s moving to Edinburgh. You’ll have the chance to try and have what you wanted back then. But maybe it will be even better, because you’re both grown up now, and you know what you want.”

“That’s true.” Callum frowned. “But now there’s something else, too.”

“What is that?”

“You, Amelia.” He paused. “I know we aren’t supposed to talk about this, and I’m not going to say much. But I feel something that I haven’t felt for a long time when I am with you. Now, when the three of us are together…” he shook his head. "That's like Christmas, birthday and every other good thing all at the same time."

“We still have a little time left,” Amelia said. Her heart was starting to speed up, and she had a sudden, desperate urge to change the topic the conversation. If he asked her to stay, or said more about how he felt—she had no idea what she'd say. “I’ll go to Edinburgh with the two of you, and we’ll have a nice weekend away. Let’s not worry about anything else, right now.”

Callum nodded, and after a moment, he extricated his hand from Amelia’s grasp, picked up his spoon, and dug it into the bowl of stew. “To a nice weekend away, then.”