It was another half an hour, before Harry walked, not entirely confidently into their bedroom. Time which Ellie had used to persuade an even more hesitant Ruth, to concentrate on how she felt about Harry and not to worry about what might or might not happen. That done and because the pain killers were working, for one night at least, she should forget about the way she looked and just follow her heart. During a conversation when she'd been helping Ruth to get ready for bed and one that she'd hoped would move things along. Coaxing, with a good deal of subtlety built in and in the firm belief that she was doing the right thing by getting involved. Before she'd headed out into the garden and told Harry pretty much the same thing, but with the little prod to get him to understand that what might appear to be reticence on Ruth's part, was her concern about her appearance and not because she didn't want to sleep with him.
What she hadn't planned on saying was, 'she's all yours', but Harry's expression had been sufficient for her to believe that when she woke up in the morning, she'd have one less thing to worry about.
Right in her assumption and then some, when behind the bedroom door and within moments of an only pants clad Harry, climbing into bed bedside a similarly clad Ruth and with her advice ringing in their ears, her hopes and theirs were out of the starting blocks. As memories of their night together in Baghdad, the years they'd spent on the grid, longing to be in the position they were now in, both figuratively and literally, had them well down the first straight. Harry managing to school his expression, to suggest that he wasn't horrified by Ruth's injuries, which without any clothes he could now see in their entirety. Whilst Ruth who was recalling how easy it had been to share a bed with him, was wondering why on earth she'd ever doubted that the past two years would have changed the way he felt about her. With their combined unspoken realisation that the only that thing that mattered was each other and that for the first time since they'd known each other, there was nothing to stop them crossing the finishing line.
Which was why Ruth felt brave enough to say, 'hold me.' The trigger that Harry needed and should have acted upon, except that he couldn't. Because somewhere in the recesses of his mind and despite an almost uncontrollable urge to do as she asked him, he couldn't get past her injuries. Kissing her on the forehead instead. Only to be told in no uncertain terms that that wasn't what she'd meant and he knew it. Words that didn't sound at all like Ruth to either of them, but he acted upon. Propping himself up on one elbow and leaning in until he was within inches of being able to kiss her properly. This woman who he was trying to decide whether to call sweetheart or darling, who was gazing up at him with an expression that suggested if he didn't kiss her, she'd kiss him. A rerun of their goodbye if ever there was one, resulting in a kiss that when it finally happened, lasted far longer than either of them had anticipated and with their hands reaching for each other, in a way from which there would be no turning back.
Especially when, 'stop fussing,' Ruth told him, her inhibitions somehow gone, after Harry breathlessly asked if he was hurting her? Would if her body had been able to stand it, resulted in a night that would have surpassed the dizzying heights of their liaison in Baghdad. As it was, this felt more special and so totally them. A voyage of discovery of the most exquisite kind, which unlocked all their long-held dreams as how it would feel to be this close together again. Harry finally understanding and accepting and Ruth surrendering through the pain. Neither of them quite believing what was happening, as the doubts that had dogged their very existence were buried in amongst the bedclothes.
.
Ruth was still propped up on the pillows and sleeping peacefully when Harry woke up and reluctantly rolled away from her. Ready to start his day as a childminder come taxi driver, with the memories of the previous night still resonating, as he headed into the shower with a smile on his face and a plan in his mind. One that was rooted in what had happened and as the couple he'd always wanted them to be, whilst still acknowledging that he needed to be careful when it came to intimacy. To use the time here wisely and not to push Ruth to the point where she'd ignored the real issue, or in this case issues. Which was to get her to tell him what she wanted from now on in and at the same time get better. While he still needed to stick to the routine that he'd established with Maddie.
A miniature Ruth in the talking department and the polar opposite of Nico, it had already occurred to him that Maddie might be a useful healing tool during Ruth's recovery. Unlike the boys who were older so had been told a potted version of what had happened to her and were pretty self- sufficient, Maddie was as innocent. His responsibility and one although he hadn't thought about it when he'd swopped his time for a room over his and Ruth's heads, was also helping him. A distraction who had persuaded him to view the world in a different way. That despite what had happened, that there were thousands of people such as Paul and Ellie who were givers not takers. Living in a world where they didn't have to fight every single day to make a difference. A world that he now wanted to embrace and to take Ruth with him.
As opposed to being a tool of the state. Manipulated until he no longer had any real influence or was glued at the hip to Thames House. That the Grand Tour that he'd haltingly told Ruth he had always wanted to take, was no longer a pipe dream. It was there at their fingertips as soon as she was well enough to travel. A thought that brought goose bumps across his body. A body that he acknowledged in no way compared to Georges. George who was tall, slim and much younger than he was, but was apparently not as good in bed as he was. Just one of the things that he'd never imagined he'd here Ruth utter but she had, during what had been a night full of surprises. Time now though for him to get dressed, before his body told him otherwise and forced him to climb back into bed beside her. To wake her up in a way that he now knew she liked.
.
Ruth woke up and looked at her watch. It was gone nine and she missed taking her pain killers by an hour, which meant that it was hard to move without the pain shooting through her body. She was also in bed alone, when she'd been looking forward to waking up next to Harry. Compensation, small though it was, was that he'd written her a note. Taking the boys to school. I'll be back by nine thirty. Maddie and I are going swimming this morning and we'd love you to come with us. xx.
In all the time that she'd known Harry, he had never ever put his feelings down on paper. Text messages and phone calls and dozens of looks without the need for words had passed between them, all with an undercurrent, had been the way they'd communicated. This was different, it was transparent and she knew by this simple action that Harry was backing up what had happened last night. He'd said he'd be back by nine thirty, but that didn't mean she had to rush. There wouldn't be a deadline that he'd have to meet or his phone ringing part way through a conversation. Or an apology, before he turned and walked away from her. Bizarrely, this also felt as though Harry was asking her out on a date. A date that she very much wanted to go on and needed to get ready for.
'You're looking brighter,' Ellie told her, when she was helping her to pull the blue flowered sundress over her head. A cup of tea having been delivered and with breakfast on the table when she was ready. Maddie sitting at the end of her bed and gazing at her with eyes as blue as hers. Her blonde hair in two perfect plaits and her teddy bear that was called Barry, being told that she and Harry were going swimming later and that if he was a good boy that he could come with them. This family where there were no apparent arguments and where she'd been welcomed as though Ellie had known her for years. All of which was adding to her positivity. Only to be interrupted from her thoughts and in the nick of time when the sound of the car on the gravel outside the window. Also preventing any more questions from Ellie or her need to give answers. Not that Ellie didn't know, because Harry's expression when he walked into the kitchen and saw her sitting at the table, was a giveaway to trump any other. Twenty- four hours earlier he'd been picking her up at the hospital and now this. Ellie who after a quick cuddle with Maddie and telling them to enjoy their day, was already heading towards the door. While Maddie who was happily tucking into a bowl of fruit, between pauses to talk to Barry, had reached the who she was explanation. An explanation that included, 'nice lady, Harry's friend,' and was followed by, 'be quiet now.' To the bear that was sitting on the chair beside her and made up the most unlikely foursome that Ruth had ever imagined she'd be part of. Only to be brought back down to earth, when Harry winked at her. In a way that suggested he was also thinking about what had happened the previous night and not about what he was going to have for his breakfast. A wink that set the scene for Ruth, during a morning when she couldn't really partake, other than to watch, listen and learn. Not only about the man she was in love with, but herself as well.
.
The walk wasn't a long one, but because it was across the sand, she had to stop several times before they reached the beach. The view a familiar one, in that the coastline around Cyprus was invariably of a deep blue sea and a cloudless sky. Except unlike the beach where she'd swum with George and Nico, this was small and deserted. It was after all a school day, and schooldays in Cyprus were longer than they were in the UK. But it was more than that which was gripping her imagination. She and Harry had never been anywhere together that hadn't been work related and this tiny intimate beach with the sea in front of them was anything but. It also confirmed what she'd concluded. That she needed the sea and not just now to help her to get better. The sea calmed her down and enabled her to breathe. It was how she'd survived during her time on Cyprus and why now was the right time for her to leave. To search for that somewhere special with a view of the sea and God willing, where Harry would come and see her work permitting.
Dragging herself back from imagining where she and Harry might go, before he went back to work, she turned to watch him. Harry who was telling Maddie that they were going to swim first and then they'd read some more of her book, had she couldn't help but notice, stripped down to his bathers. Not that she hadn't seen Harry legs before, but on those two occasions he'd been about to make love to her, whereas now she didn't have that distraction. The only other image of Harry's legs had been on endless times that she'd see him in a suit and pacing the corridors of Thames House. Not that that hadn't been a real turn on because it had. But this was different because she had a chance to swim with those legs, if not wrapped around her, at least touching hers. Later and when Maddie was in bed. Naked in her case because a swimming costume would be too tight. The prospect of which was sending messages through her body that were making her temperature rise.
'It's nothing,' she told him. His head on one side and an unspoken question in his eyes. Reducing her even further into the uncontrollable heap, who wanted to drag him down onto the sand and beg him to make love to her. Instead having to watch him pretending to chase Maddie across the sand, leaving her to explain to Barry that love was complicated.
The swim over, 'Mrs. Tiggy-winkle's nose went sniffle, snuffle, and her eyes went twinkle, twinkle; and she fetched another hot iron from the fire,' read Harry. After Maddie had explained at length to Ruth, that the story about the iron wielding hedgehog, was her favourite book in her collection of Beatrix Potter stories. Curled up next to Harry and listening to his every word. Before right on cue, she repeated what he'd said, whilst running her finger across the appropriate sentence. Not without help, but even so Ruth was impressed by the way that Harry was interacting with this small child. The man who could and she knew had, killed with his bare hands, behaving in a way that she'd only seen on very rare occasions. But then maybe it wasn't so strange, because she too had found comfort in the company of a child. A child who'd she'd been prepared to die for and she still needed to say goodbye to. The thought of doing so, she forced herself to blocked out for the moment and concentrate on Harry telling the story. A story that came to an end far too quickly for all of them and was when they headed back to the house. In Ruth's case to have a rest while Harry and Maddie waited for Ellie to come home. Counting the pebbles that Maddie had collected on the beach and had brought home in a bucket.
.
'A day to remember,' was Harry summing up how they both felt, when they were walking back up the beach after their swim. Harry who had gallantly wrapped a towel around Ruth's shoulders, despite them being on their own and with the warm sand beneath their feet. Gazing at her reflection in a rockpool that they were passing and had changed his mind about introducing the subject of their future. Because why ruin what had been a wonderful evening. The fish supper that Ellie had given them so that they didn't have to rush back, still to be eaten and with the sun yet to go down.
All turned on its head when Harry's phone rang and he nodded to Ruth to pick it up. Ruth who instantly recognised the number, leaving Harry with the prospect of explaining why George not only knew his number, but why he was ringing him. That and he'd met him. A meeting that hadn't gone well. Never mind that it had been at her house.