It was good to get off the M74 after so many hours. I was relieved to reach Glasgow and to know I was close to home. The east-winding road to Edinburgh is one of my favourites; I don't know how many times I'd stopped along it as a student, just to get out and look at the stars: I hadn't done that lately. Not in many years. Maybe that's why I felt compelled to do so on this night. The rain had let up a bit, so I pulled ove...

“Right,” she said, deftly wielding the spatula under the triangle-shaped slice of omelet, and positioning it perfectly on my plate, “let’s have a wee snack, and we’ll get to a bit of housekeeping, as you corporate folks like to call it.” I looked at her quizzically for a moment but was instantly distracted as she bent in a fluid motion to open the oven. My senses were overrun all at once by the wondrous sight of her bent...

The month sped by, and I found myself fully immersed in work again throughout October. An unplanned trip back to the States, and the additional preparations that required, meant that my weekends were taken up, and I had to disappoint Cait several times. I was grateful that she seemed to take it in stride, and she even surprised me once, driving an hour up from Abingdon to steal me away for a quick dinner. “My adoring gent...