The summer house in the herb garden of Stone Edge House Hotel dated back to before the 1920's and was both beautiful and charming. Commissioned by the then owner during the arts and crafts movement, it had been built from attractive oak timbers into a circular construct. The timbers were whitewashed along with contrasting black beams in a mock Tudor style. The original stained-glass windows tinted the interior with colour and atmosphere. Although small, it was cosy and enchanting. There were roses growing round the entrance, not far off from blooming and a woody stemmed old clematis wound its way around the worn rustic door frame which invited whoever had stumbled across it to go inside. Laura and Robbie dashed in. It was a welcome shelter from the thunderous downpour. Both wet from the deluge they sat down gratefully on the small rustic wooden bench inside. The bench was small but surprisingly comfortable, although Robbie wondered if it just felt comfy because he found himself so close by Laura's side. He couldn't help but notice the warmth of their bodies together and he found himself, once more, yearning for all the missed opportunities she'd given him in the past.

Outside the summerhouse the rain was torrential, drumming onto the gravel paths and making pools of water in the cinders. It shook the leaves of the spring plants and flowers with a heavy and relentless assault of silver and crystal. The blackbird that had spied Robbie and startled Laura was undeterred by the storm and was taking full advantage of the earthworms that the rain had enticed up from under the lawn. A large bumblebee dodged the raindrops and disappeared into in a lavender bush for shelter and there was another flash of lightening followed almost immediately by another booming crack of thunder. Inside the summerhouse the lightning flashed through the stained-glass windows, flooding the little space with rainbow hues.

"Are you ok?" Robbie asked Laura after they had got their breath back and the thunder had relented to a low but present and persistent rumble. He meant was she ok from the dash to the summerhouse and also that she had wanted to talk to him, but in his mind he knew he was secretly asking her about how she felt from her encounter with McLeod.

"Yes I'm fine" Laura said, and although she smiled it was with a slight frown and she found herself almost on the edge of being defensive. What did he mean? she thought and felt very exposed all of a sudden.

Robbie saw her discomfort "I mean" he said "You wanted to talk to me?" He continued, with a cautious smile.

"Oh, Yes" she said, a small laugh escaping her lips, relieved that he was almost certainly referring to that fact alone

She took her handbag, blistered with raindrops, from her shoulder and rested it on her lap, unzipping it in the process. She dug her hand into the bag to retrieve something from inside.

Robbie watched as Laura took out of her bag a small battered old box. It was the size of a packet of playing cards and covered in worn burgundy leather. It was frayed at the corners and threadbare in other places which revealed the wooden structure of the box beneath. Clearly it was very old.

Robbie looked at Laura, a little puzzled. She smiled back at him, her eyes bright but with a self-conscious look about her face. This was a rare but not unfamiliar look that Robbie had seen before; he had witnessed her looking like this once when she had admitted to him that a case had affected her. She'd disclosed this fact to Robbie only, in confidence, and he had realised she had taken him into her trust. He wondered what was in the box or what it was she was going to say.

"This was in Aunt Clara's things" Laura said, handing him the box.

Robbie took the small box from her and, with a nod of encouragement from Laura, opened it.

Inside, on a silver chain, was an antique oval locket, an inch or so tall, old and beautifully crafted from silver. Robbie took it out and saw that the locket was not only silver but also comprised of the Blue John stone that he had seen in the reception of the hotel.

"It was at the bottom of one of her drawers" Laura said after she had watched Robbie study the locket for a moment. "I think she must have known I would find it, she knew the task of clearing the house after she died would probably come down to me as I'm the only one of the family who's still in the country" Laura glanced at the floor briefly and Robbie sensed she was sad, perhaps a bit regretful; she'd mentioned how she wished she'd visited her aunt a bit more before her death.

Robbie looked at the locket in more detail. It was beautiful. On one side, the Blue John gemstone had stunning bands of purple and yellow zigzags that had peaks and troughs like a heartbeat on a cardiograph. Turning it over, Robbie saw the Blue John on the other half of the locket resembled a landscape with mountains of purples and yellows and whites. The silver on the locket was engraved with tiny leaves and flowers and although old and a little worn in places the silver was bright and had clearly been loved and well cared for.

"It's lovely" Robbie said, smiling at her cautiously, slightly bemused at the situation and still not sure what was going on or why she was showing him the locket. Laura smiled back, and Robbie saw the self-conscious look on her face once more. He studied the locket again; it really was lovely. The Blue John was smooth and polished and the silver was bright and caught the coloured light that came in through the little stained-glass windows of the summerhouse. Between his thumb and fingers he pinched the little clasp on the locket. It popped open to reveal two oval halves faced with thin glass.

"I want Lyn to have it." Laura said, and her expression was bolder now as she kept looking at Robbie.

Robbie didn't reply. His mouth fell open in surprise and a flush of emotion tugged at his insides. He looked at Laura, stunned by her statement. He started to shake his head as if to say it was too much, something that was too precious to her family to give away

"I mean it" She said, placing her hand briefly on his

"But don't you want it for your family?" Robbie said softly but with a touch of concern, searching her face, still taken aback at the magnitude of her gesture.

Laura looked out onto the garden where the rain had slowed a little. "My aunt made it clear in her will who was to get what with regards to all her possessions, she made sure everyone got something. She left me a lot of things; she always had a soft spot for me." She smiled but it was tinged with sadness. "I was the only girl and she always said I had my head screwed on more than the boys" She looked at Robbie and he laughed gently, gazing back at her. Aunt Clara was right in that fact he thought to himself.

"Anyway" Laura continued with a sad sigh "I think she left the locket for me to find, she entrusted me to do with it what I want. I don't have anyone to pass it on to, and, well I can't think of anyone I'd rather give it to other than Lyn." She looked at Robbie and he could see in her eyes how important this was to her and in turn he felt the depth of her feeling, a counter response with equal emotion. He wasn't sure what to say and he could feel a tell-tale feeling in his stomach that he knew accompanied the emotion he was feeling. He swallowed hard, a frown on his face as he tried to push down a rampant tide of emotions.

"There's a space inside to put a photo" Laura said, looking at him again, he looked back at her and she was smiling, her eyes darting between his briefly before she looked down at the floor, almost as if caught unawares by her own emotion at the gesture.

Robbie felt overwhelmed. It was difficult to even look at her, so strong was the emotion; he knew Laura meant, without actually saying it, that Lyn could put a photo of Val in the locket.

"Thank you" Robbie said, his voice quiet as he tried to hide the tightness he felt in his throat.

Laura saw how her gift had seemingly stunned Robbie, more than she had imagined it would. Suddenly she partly regretted giving him the locket; she wanted Lyn to have it but maybe it had been too much, reminding Robbie once again of what he had lost when Val had died. Laura knew she was a link to the past, an old and happy past that had vanquished when Val was killed. Laura had known Val, not very well, but had seen Robbie and his family on occasion in Oxford, had spoken to Lyn and Val when they had happened to call at the station or had attended one of the social events. Laura was part of an old fabric of life, now lost but not forgotten.

"Robbie I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you..." "I shouldn't have…" she started to speak but he cut her off.

"No" He quickly reassured her

"Really you haven't, you absolutely haven't" he continued, shaking his head hoping to convey to her that she hadn't done anything to upset him, on the contrary.

He looked down at the locket, smoothing his thumb over the Blue John stone

"It's beautiful. She's going to love it. Especially when she knows it's from you." Robbie said, swallowing down the emotion that had risen once again in his throat. He wanted to say so much more to her but he couldn't find the words. The pureness of the gesture and all the things it meant to him was overwhelming.

"I can give it to her next time I go up, maybe when the baby arrives" he continued with a smile managing now to compose himself as he looked at Laura. "Thank you"

Laura nodded with a smile and Robbie felt his heart thud a little as they held each other's gaze. Robbie noticed a slight flush on Laura's cheeks.

"Oh" She exclaimed, "looks like the rain has slowed a little. Whether it will improve this dreadful cook-out thing remains to be seen however" she said with a wry smile, still looking out at the rain which had turned from torrential to steady. The blackbird, with another full beak disappeared into the yew hedge again and somewhere in the gardens a mistle thrush was singing.

"I expect it's going to" Laura started to say but Robbie cut her off

"Listen, Laura, there's something I want to say" he said

"Oh?" Laura turned to face him, still smiling and still with a peachy faded blush on her cheeks

"Well, it's not something I want to say, but it's something I need to tell you"

"Sounds very ominous Robbie" she said with a smirk

"It's about Iain" he continued ignoring her reaction

"What about him?" She said, the smile she wore had now begun to fade. Robbie felt his stomach lurch. Outside the summer house, a low rumble of thunder tumbled the air again. Clearly the storm was lingering.

"What? Robbie?"

Robbie paused, regretting instantly that somehow he had inadvertently, stupidly, chosen this moment to tell her about Iain. He glanced at her, her face serious now, with an edge of interrogative scrutiny. This was a look that Robbie knew well, even feared, after working with her for so many years. He knew it was often harbinger of at least her irritation and at worse, sometimes of her fury. He was suddenly painfully aware that there was no turning back and that he had obviously conveyed that what he was going to say about Iain wasn't good.

The genie was out of the bottle.

Laura's expression continued to grow from a frown into a challenging questioning look. There was also a look of vulnerability that both broke his heart but also spurred him on. There was no way out of this now. Robbie looked down to his feet and Laura saw an uncomfortable look on his face. She was suddenly filled with dread. Robbie was obviously about to tell her something pertinent about Iain. What it was, she wasn't sure. But one thing was for certain. Laura knew Robbie never lied and would never say anything deceitful. This fact alone made her stomach feel leaden. Panicked into retaliation with the foreboding of his words and his retreating gaze she found herself glaring at him, the questioning in her eyes now flashing with what Robbie could see, when he glanced up at her, was a flickering of fear, disguised as anger towards him. Still he knew there was no going back.

She stared at him, her eyes piercing his with a clear prompt for him to continue, to elaborate on what he had said; Robbie felt the full brunt of her glare. He looked down once more at the tiled terracotta floor of the summerhouse for a moment to gain some composure before looking back up at her, straight in the eyes before speaking

"He, err, well" Robbie stumbled, desperate to think of something else to say in place of what he knew he had to. But it was too late. He would not be a coward now. He owed it to Laura to tell her the truth.

"He's married" he said, finally holding her gaze without wavering now and saying the truth he knew needed her to know.

"Yes I know. He's separated". Laura said, her voice was clipped with consternation but it was also without any realisation of what Robbie was driving at, she almost smirked in mild derision at his words.

"The thing is, I don't think he is separated"

"What do you mean?" Laura said. "He told me he's separated, from his wife" she frowned "and how would you know anyway?"

Her voice was quick and edgy. Robbie could see she was fully on the defensive now. He didn't respond but looked at her, a concerned frown building on his brow.

Laura's face took on a challenging and questioning look at his statement. She shook her head with a glare and shrugged her shoulders in further unspoken questioning. Robbie held his nerve. She had to know.

"When he arrived, before he knew you were here, I noticed he had a wedding ring on" Robbie watched for Laura's reaction. She swallowed, her lips tightened and she looked a little afraid now, but it was a fleeting glimpse and what Robbie knew was a simmering anger overtook it as she waited for him to continue speaking.

"When you saw him for the first time in the bar the other night, well, he'd taken the ring off"

Laura was lost for words. Partly through shock at what she was hearing and partly through a rage that suddenly Robbie seemed involved all of a sudden in something that she had thought had been a private matter. She was also shaken by the conviction of his voice behind the words. She knew Robbie wouldn't lie to her. For now, however, she felt the force of her anger surge past any rational thoughts about what Robbie's statement meant to her current status quo with Iain.

"That means nothing!" She said, her defences fueling her anger "We've been doing bloody paint balling and potholing for god's sake" But she realised her statement fell flat when the paint balling and potholing had been much later on. The evaporation of her reasoning advanced her fury even more. In her heart, however, Laura had a sinking feeling. Why would Iain continue to wear a symbol of what he had so recently described to her as a moribund relationship. It was also true that she hadn't seen him wearing a ring. Cornering herself with her own emotions she found herself glaring at Robbie again.

"Laura, I'm sorry. I know you and he are friends, maybe more, I don't know." Laura felt her cheeks flush at his words. The jury's out she had said to him the day before when they had been talking in the bunker; her thoughts returned her briefly to Iain's kiss.

"I just thought you needed to know" Robbie continued, noticing her blush "It's not just me. Hathaway also heard him talking to his wife, or someone, on the phone, telling whoever it was that he loved them" Robbie realised he was digging himself deeper, but it was important she knew this wasn't just some random one-off observation.

Again, at least for a second, Laura had no words, until her anger at the situation galvanised her into a response

"Oh, wonderful. Hathaway's adding his counsel too is he? Well that's lovely, really nice. How good of you both to keep an eye on me. What great colleagues you are, what a great team you both make. What's next? Let's see, who else can we involve? Maybe we can do some teambuilding round it, maybe Jean can set something up and you can all discuss if Iain and I are sleeping with each other. And since when have you been so keen to observe whether or not an acquaintance of mine might or might not be wearing a wedding ring? And so bloody what!? And how is any of this any of your business!?"

"No, Laura, it's not like that." Robbie shook his head, a pained look on his face "It's none of my business who you. . .go with" Verbalising the reality of Laura being with someone else stung him, along with the sudden upset between them both, caused by his revelation. Laura felt it too, suddenly aware that he was clearly uncomfortable at referring to her with someone else

"Look, I wasn't going to say anything, but I saw you and him, just now. And it's not my business you're right. But if things were reversed, I know you would do the same for me, I know you would." He looked at her, she was looking at the floor, breathing hard with a rage he could see she was only just keeping at simmering point.

"I'm telling you because, well, because" He hesitated and took a deep breath "because I care about you. A lot. And I just can't bear the thought of you getting hurt, Laura." He looked at her, she was still fuming but there was now a silver shine that laced the rims of her eyes. You bloody idiot he thought to himself.

He sighed deeply and hung his head in despair of the situation he was solely responsible for pushing them both into. He looked out onto the garden. The sun came out and the blackbird was on the grass again, this time tenderising and disemboweling a large slug. The bumblebee that had taken shelter in a lavender bush ventured back out into the sunshine and continued its nectar gathering as if nothing had happened.

"I'm sorry" He continued, looking at Laura again. She didn't meet his gaze and he could see there was more moisture on the rims of her eyes. She was still angry, but some of the anger had clearly turned to upset. He frowned and looked down at the floor again for a moment. Clearly Laura wasn't going to say anything to him and the message he got from her silence was that she wanted him to go. He had come to the same conclusion. Shaking his head at himself, he stood up. Laura continued to look away.

"I'm sure you have reason to trust Iain, this was none of my business, you're right. This was a mistake. I've gone about it all wrong, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry." Still she said nothing and continued to stare at the garden as it recovered from the downpour. A flush of sunlight flooded the lawn with gold and suddenly there were dark crisp shadows and a million raindrops shone and glistened on the herb bushes and the grass.

And Robbie went, leaving Laura in the little summerhouse as he stepped out into the sunshine of the late afternoon.

Hello folks I hope you are all well. Sorry for a longer wait for this chapter (I have been really busy) and I hope you will forgive me for the turn of events in the summerhouse. I think we are all aware that Robbie isn't always the best at articulating important things sometimes, especially when it comes to Laura (I'm thinking of the alibi scene in falling darkness that he totally messed up, which although a difficult thing to do could have been handled so much more tactfully than he did) and I'm afraid this is no exception. I hope you will stick with me, however, despite this upset; this is a Robson fic after all ;-) Thank you all so much for continuing to read and for your reviews. Idodido - thanks for your previous comment about following a story from start to finish, it's great to know there are new readers looking forward to updates so a big THANK YOU to each and every one of you, newcomers and regulars – your reading keeps me writing!

ML xx