‘I always wished I could have siblings. It was kind of lonely most of the time. That’s why I liked coming up here as often as I could. It never felt as lonely here as at home.’

An image of Stuart as a little boy instantly came to mind, making Elle smile before she pushed it aside.

‘I sometimes felt lonely even with my brothers and sister around,’ she said, trying to sound offhand but realising it was true.

‘How so?’ Stuart asked, after he’d finished organising their cups and turned around to lean back against the bench to face her.

‘I’ve always been the odd one out. The others loved doing the same kinds of things and I always seemed to be off on my own involved in something else.’

‘I admire people who can stand up and be themselves. I always seemed to be doing what made everyone else happy for most of my life.’

‘Not now, though,’ she said with a smile. ‘Now you’re a farmer.’

‘Yeah,’ he said, returning her grin. Elle was once again struck by how different he looked when he smiled. ‘It took a while, but I finally made the leap.’

‘Has it been harder than you thought?’ she asked.

Stuart turned back as the kettle switched off. ‘It’s been a pretty steep learning curve,’ he said. ‘I always thought I had a fairly decent handle on farming—I’d been following my granddad around ever since I could walk—but there’s so much more to learn. More than I was expecting, to be honest.’

‘Do you have other workers?’

‘Yeah, when it’s busy I get in some extra help, and I kind of inherited my granddad’s foreman, Old Geordie. I don’t think I could do it without him.’ He walked across the kitchen to a set of doors off the side. ‘I thought we might sit out here,’ he said over his shoulder as she followed him curiously.

The doors opened out into a glass conservatory, and Elle let out a small gasp, her eyes widening at the unexpected find.

‘Wow, this is beautiful,’ she said as she stepped out from the house. Glass surrounded her on all sides and stretched right out to a beautifully maintained garden accessed via large glass doors. It was a spacious room with glossy tropical plants that even Elle realised couldn’t be found outside in any gardens here in Scotland.

‘My granny always wanted to build a conservatory, but they never got around to doing it. When I moved back, I decided it was the first thing I was going to do.’

‘I imagine you spend a lot of time out here?’

‘I do. Not that we get as many sunny, warm days as I’d like, though.’