"See." Jamie said, watching Juno try to compose her features out of the corner of his eye. "And you thought I had this glamorous, jet set lifestyle. Proved you wrong in a moment, didn't I?"

Juno nodded her head and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing again. "Yes. You have admirably shaken away any illusions I had about your fabulous life."

"I thought as much." Jamie grinned as he stopped for a traffic light as they drove into Nairn. "Feel free to stop laughing any time."

"I swear, I'm trying." Juno said easily, but with an edge of laughter. "I really am."

"Shall we head for the shore and see if your boat has docked yet?" Jamie asked. "Your friends are probably frantic waiting for you."

Juno nodded. "I suppose we should… unless you have any other interesting deliveries to make." She couldn’t resist adding after a beat.

"My schedule seems to be completely free at the moment." Jamie answered, negotiating the narrow streets that led up to the stony beach of Nairn. In a few minutes, he'd found the massive loading dock for cruise ships and he and Juno hopped out, instantly linking hands to walk down to the port station.

"Is the sea usually that choppy?" Juno asked, shading her eyes and looking out towards the horizon. "It seems a little bit… rough."

Jamie shook his head. "No, it's usually a bit more clear, but this isn't all that unusual." He glanced out at the horizon as well. "Perhaps you should have pushed for that Caribbean vacation after all. Probably would have had better weather and a better view."

"Nah." Juno replied. "I'm sure it wouldn't have been as… adventurous."

Juno and Jamie picked their way down the stone steps to the beachfront, both scanning the coast for any enormous ships, but there was none to be seen.

"This doesn't look very promising." Jamie said with a hint of skepticism. "Let me pop in and ask about your ride. Hebridean Shadow, right?"

Juno nodded and reluctantly let go of his hand so he could step inside the dimly lit port authority building. She looked up and down the beachfront, noting how different this coast was from Florida – her only other beach experience. Florida was sandy beaches and warm sun; Scotland was a beach of stones, with huge boulders jutting out the sea. The sun peeked out rarely, and the beach had few people on it, even at midday. Daytona Beach it's not, Juno thought to herself. It's different, but it's beautifully different…

Jamie broke her reverie when he emerged moments later with a grim look on his face. "They've not heard from them, but I'm sure everything is just fine. They are probably just approaching with caution due to the waves. Apparently, it happens quite a bit with this particular port."

Juno nodded and searched for somewhere to sit down nearby so she could watch for the cruise liner. "Do you mind if we wait around for a little while?" She asked uncertainly. "Unless you have things to do, places to go, then you can just drop me off here…"

Jamie smiled. "Not at all. Let's get a drink and sit down." He said, gesturing towards a small beach side café.

Juno claimed a table as Jamie approached the order counter, joining her a few minutes later with two cups of milky tea and a bag of crisps, which he immediately opened and offered to Juno. Out of habit, she eyed the nutritional information with reluctance as she grabbed several crisps from the bag.

"Stop doing that." Jamie ordered, making Juno snap her head up and look at him.

"Stop doing what?" She squeaked.

"Looking for the calorie count." Jamie shot. "Stop doing that."

"Oh sure, easy for you to say. You're tall and skinny and gorgeous." Juno fired back. "I'm short and dumpy and can't seem to lose a pound even if I eat nothing but lettuce and drink nothing but water for weeks at a time."

"Why try to lose weight?" Jamie asked seriously. "You're already perfect."

Juno rolled her eyes. "I'm really not."

"You really are." Jamie argued. "You've got a figure other women must absolutely envy. You're curvy and have that dark hair I want to wrap my hands in, and your smile lights up a room. And if I hear you talk about your weight one more time, I'm going to throw you into the boot of Thor and leave you there." Jamie said with finality, making Juno bite back her retort.

"You want to wrap you hands in my hair?" Juno ventured after a moment, speaking at precisely the same time that Jamie said "You think I'm gorgeous?"

They both giggled nervously and looked away from each other. "So." Juno tried after a beat. "Tell me about your family, where you're from."

She watched carefully as Jamie stiffened for a moment and then tried to relax. "I'm sorry." He said after a long pause. "You've probably noticed I don't really like to talk about my family."

"I'd noticed that, yeah." Juno said, leaning back in her chair and taking a sip of tea.

Jamie shrugged. "They are a lot of the reason I do what I do for a living. I'm trying to step out from their shadow and be my own man, but they keep trying to pull me back. It's a bit complicated. They want me to take over the … the family business, but I want more from life."

Juno nodded and waited for him to continue.

"My parents are actually quite old, and my father has become increasingly ill, which is hard on me to say the least, but I'm dealing the only way I know how. We've never been close and have never seen eye to eye, but I'm not ready to lose a father yet, if you know what I mean. My mother is a nervous woman whom I barely recognized as a child because she was always gone. She's cold and unfeeling, and we don't pretend to get along. I do have a younger sister, and I really do regret not being around more for her, but otherwise…" Jamie looked out to the crashing waves. "I'll go home soon, just not quite yet."

"Where's home, exactly?" Juno asked gently.

"Up the coast a bit." Jamie said vaguely. "It's beautiful and it's home, but… I guess I wanted to see more before I settled down in the exact spot where I was born." Jamie seemed to visibly shake himself from the past and turned to smile at her. "But tell me all about you. Sounds like you have family tension as much as I do."

Juno sighed deeply and nodded. "I'm the oldest of two, and it was always expected that I would take over the family business. Instead, I 'went totally insane', according to my parents, and stepped out on my own to try this whole writer gig. Every time I complain about bills or not having any money, they are quick to point out how great my life would be if I would just come home. They make it sound like I'm still in college. I'm 28, and I'm still trying to get out of their shadow – just like you."

"You have a younger brother or a younger sister?" Jamie asked with interest.

"Brother." Juno replied. "He got all the good genetics in the family. He's frighteningly smart, he's charming, and he's athletic. He went to school on a football scholarship, and now he's an assistant coach on a big football team in America, called the Packers. He's done really well for himself, but I hardly ever seen him."

"So you feel like you are in his shadow as well, then." Jamie said matter of factly, and Juno nodded.

"Always have been." Juno sighed. "Since I'm the oldest, I've always been the really responsible, really steady one. He's the risk taker and the charmer, whereas I'm the caretaker and the steady one. I sometimes wish we could switch lives for a while, just to see what the other is like."

Jamie nodded and looked away again, out towards the horizon. "I know exactly what you mean."

Juno looked at him, and tentatively took his hand in hers and held it. "Sounds like we have more in common than I thought, Jamie Fulham."

Jamie smiled at her tenderly. "Indeed we do, Juno Jennings."

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