Claire should know, of course, that John would give her anything, answer her any question she might ask of him, she need only say the word. It is just a question of whether she wants to hear it, before she has lived it. Whether she wants to open that gate. John has done his best to be as careful as he can, but there is just so much between them she has yet to experience. Fraser's Ridge... Is rather a large missing piece.

He offers her a smile of his own, bobbing his head in a polite nod before taking her advice and letting himself into her little cottage. He pauses to peruse her bookshelves, making note of the titles he does not recognize and some of those he does. His eyes fall on Robinson Crusoe and he plucks it off of the shelf, a smile tugging at his lips as he flips through the pages.

This will be where Claire finds him, lost in thought, when she arrives with the tea.