What to buy the couple who had everything and despite their pleas, hadn't come up with any ideas, had been resolved at the restaurant when Paul and Ellie had been chatting to Patrick. Surprised when he'd told them that not only was he a roofer, but in his spare time, he dabbled was the way he'd put it, in sketching and painting. That the suggestion to try what he'd always enjoyed at school, had come from his father, who knew the toll that carrying heavy tiles took on the body and as he was blessed with a talent that could see him through to old age, thought he should give it a go. Before he'd proved how good he was, by showing them a selection of his work on his phone, all of which had been sold. Assuring them that he had a photographic image of the day so far and could provide them with an album before they went back to Germany. Gift wrapped if they wanted it, they only needed to tell him the dimensions. Leaving them with the easy task of guiding people towards the buffet and topping up glasses, so that Harry and Ruth didn't have to play host.

.

His duties over for the moment, 'what language do you suppose they're using to communicate?' Paul asked Harry, who having been told to take a back seat, was passing the time by watching Valerie's children helping Maddie to load her plate with a selection of snacks, despite them having eaten all three courses at lunchtime. Chatting in a way that suggested that they all knew what the other was taking about and more importantly were getting on well.

Your guess is as good as mine,' Harry told the man who had developed eyes in the back of his head, happy that the first of the evening's pictures were being committed to memory, by his newly acquired and self-confessed human feline, as Valerie came over to join them.

'You will let me know if they start to become a nuisance,' she told them, pleased to see that her own children were doing as they'd been asked. While her husband Maurice, who Ellie now knew was a market gardener and a very successful one if the house they lived in was anything to go by, but was less confident than his wife was, when it came to speaking English. Unless of course you got him onto the subject of plants, in which case he became bilingual.

Maurice, who when Ellie abandoned him, for the very good reason that she needed a drink, was joined by Paul. Happy to spend time with to the one guest that fell into the fish out of water category, telling him about the area, the full benefits of country life and how well Ruth and Harry had settled in and that he hoped that they'd stay. Which was confirmation, not that Paul needed it, that his own decision was a sound one. Having enjoyed the week with his family, the lack of having a regime to govern what he did and how he behaved, the man without the uniform, didn't need persuading that finding a rural idyll of their own was the way to go. His decision to wait until the wedding was officially over before he told Ellie, that a month from now, he'd be joining Harry in his pursuit of a peaceful life. The where, as Harry had put it, still up for discussion.

Whilst on the other side of the room, Harry's contribution, apart from ensuring that Ruth was happy, was limited to pressing play on his sound system, which when he did, resulted in Francoise Hardy replacing what had been a variety of golden oldies. A blast from the past if ever there was one, but it was their night, his and Ruth's and besides he'd been in his twenties when she'd hit the charts and just had he had then, he liked her music. 'All over the World people must meet and part' sang Francoise. A fitting tribute he thought, to the group of people who were here celebrating with them. All of whom, or maybe because the majority of guests didn't know each other's backgrounds, seemed to be getting along just fine. Including Maurice, he was pleased to see, as he himself wandered off in Patrick's direction. Pondering as he did, why it was described as circulating, which inferred you needed to behave like a contestant in Strictly Come Dancing and why Patrick who was perching on the windowsill in the dining room, seemed perfectly content to be on his own.

Ros wasn't off the hook either when it came to mingling, but in her case, it was with the children, when in an effort to avoid what was one of her worst nightmares by giving this giggling bunch who were sitting on cushions in front of the fire a wide berth, she trod on a discarded plate of food. Tempering her language to a quiet, 'oh bollocks' she heard herself being invited by Maddie, to explain the rules of I Spy. More than that, as one of three people in the room who were more than capable of reading other people's minds, she knew by the expression on Harry's face, that he wasn't going to rescue her any time soon. Or that as she sat down, that she was going to escape being the subject of one of Patrick's pictures.

The same applying to Valerie, who without her brood or her husband to worry about, was the last to join in the cleaned up version of let's throw the keys in a ring and see who I end up with.

When 'I'm so pleased it was you who bought this house,' she told the happy couple. Who in all honesty she'd grown fond of. Taking a breather with the glass of wine and settling herself down on the empty chair beside them. 'You've brought it back to life, so thank you, and for inviting us today. It's rare that we get out as a family, work tends to get in the way, but I'd like to think that today is just the beginning and once the dust has settled, that you'll let us return the favour and come to lunch with us.'

There were several ways that Harry could have responded. By saying that they'd love too and meaning it. By telling her that if Paul and Ellie hadn't stepped in, that he and Ruth would probably have been back in the UK by now. Except that he recognised, as did Ruth, that over the past few weeks it was them that had got in Valerie's way. So instead, the man who had learnt that telling people what he really felt, didn't mean that he'd gone soft, he said, 'they'd be eternally grateful for her efforts.'

Only being prevented from giving her a peck on the cheek to prove how truly grateful they were, when Maurice arrived and asked her if she'd like to dance.

.

Orchestrated maybe, but Harry knew that the entire evening had been building up to this moment. That much he and Paul had discussed, so, when Valerie said, 'not before Harry and Ruth,' he did as he'd planned to do and held out his hand for Ruth to take.

He was tempted to say, 'come on we can do this,' but that would have been turning the clock back, so he went with his heart and told her what he'd been thinking all day, 'that she'd never looked more beautiful'.

A compliment that Ruth didn't verbally respond to, as they walked what was barely five metres from one end of the room to the other. Passing Ellie, who had a tight grip on Maddie's hand, having promised her that she could join in with the dancing in a moment. 'With Uncle Harry?' A strong possibility. While Ros, who had managed to extricate herself from Valerie's two children, had walked over to where Patrick was was standing. Patrick who was in the prime position to record what he was also privy to knowing. Sweet Caroline had just ended, so it only took two more steps until with the intro to Perfect Day, Harry put his right arm around Ruth's waist and eased her towards him.

Now closer together than they'd ever been in public, Harry Pearce the master when it came to keeping secrets, with his choice of Perfect Day for their first dance, didn't know that he'd broken what was left of Ruth's resistance, to the point that she no longer cared who was watching them. Or that she was sure that they could hear Harry's heart beating like a drum in time with hers and knew that he was going kiss her before the song ended. Replaced by an overwhelming feeling of being safe, in the arms of the man who only a few hours earlier had vowed to love and cherish her for the rest of his days and she him. That Harry was right in his choice, because it had been a perfect day.

.

It was close to eleven when Ros, who having admitted, if only to herself, that she'd enjoyed the evening and wouldn't have missed it for the world, told Harry and Ruth, 'she and Patrick were going to head off.'

But not before she and Harry had had what they both knew was going to be a final goodbye conversation. That they could have done it without words, was because they knew each other inside out and how their joint pasts had evolved. How her becoming his only female Section Chief, had been because of Adam's death which they'd mourned together. His loss of Ruth, unspoken on that night when they'd sat side by side in the bar and she'd told him to 'go to bed,' hitting home like a nail in a coffin. Acknowledging now, that at least one of them had come full circle, which was why she'd wished him, 'all the happiness in the world,' to which he'd responded, 'you take care now.'

'Drive carefully,' he told Patrick, who had arrived with Ros's coat, shaking his hand and then opening the door. At which point, any plans that he might have had for waving goodbye to the remainder of their guests, evaporated along with his hopes. Because what he hadn't counted on, was that whilst they'd all been enjoying themselves, mother nature had stepped in and there had been a heavy fall of snow, making the already treacherous roads almost impassable.

'You'll all have to stay here for the night,' said Ruth, ignoring the expression on Harry's face that said, you've got to be kidding me, or the implications of sharing the house with what to Harry, suddenly felt like hundreds of people.

Leaving Paul who was on the same train as Harry, where a wedding night was turning into something that in no way resembled what his friend had mind, with a problem to solve.

Before Patrick who had also been planning a night similar to Harry's, cut into the chaos by saying, 'I'll be able to drive part way home and I know a short cut across the fields if Ros doesn't mind walking.'

Which left Valerie and Maurice who with two young children, had no option, other than to say, 'I'm sorry, but I don't think we should risk it.'

Enter Paul, who had returned to being the man who had organised the movement of an entire regiment from Cyprus to Germany, so certainly wasn't put off by a foot of snow, when a game of musical beds was the answer. Suggesting that, if he and Ellie slept in their room, meaning Ruth's and Harry's and Maurice and Valerie took the other double and the girls didn't mind sharing, they could sleep in the barn.

Which prompted, 'what about Barry?' from a small voice.

All of which meant that it was another hour, before Harry finally locked the door to the barn and added wood to the fire. Ruth making them a warm drink before they went to bed, because despite it being warm and toasty inside, it had been like crossing the arctic circle to get there. Even though they'd changed into warm clothing and had been carrying a few essentials for an overnight stay, which Harry had joked, 'did constitute them going away.' Thirty metres across the garden in deep snow and with a freezing wind coming from the east. Ellie having insisted, that she'd organise breakfast and that Paul and Maurice would be able to get the snow cleared from the drive, so they could take as long as they wanted, before they came over in the morning.

Maddie who hadn't needed to be persuaded to share a room with Valerie's two girls and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Harry having told her that, 'she was the best bridesmaid in the world,' when he'd kissed her goodnight and that, 'he and Ruth would look after Barry and make sure he ate his breakfast.' Both of which she'd accepted without argument.