'It has always been our intension to put Wes's needs, or wishes in this case before our own. And besides visiting the church where Adam and Fiona are buried, is something that we need to do together.' Harry told Malcolm. Putting the emphasis on the together, when he'd popped in to see them, with the news that he'd found a man with a van who was willing to drive their belonging to Suffolk. Before accepting Harry's offer of a quick coffee before he headed into work. Which as he knew it would, brought Wes onto the scene.
'Red means they're fragile,' which was how Harry was feeling. 'Blue are Uncle Harry's things and mine are green,' he told Malcolm, peeling off a blue sticker. Before sizing up the next in what was a long line of boxes that were being giving the Wes treatment, as they edged past him to reach the kitchen. Wes who unlike Harry and Ruth, had woken up with more energy than the morning deserved, given how late it had been by the time they'd gone to bed. On what was their final day in London, when not only were they going to say, what for Ruth was a proper goodbye to Adam and Fiona, something she'd been denied at the time, but were visiting Wes's grandparents. A first for her, after what had been an evening that she'd really enjoyed, despite her earlier misgivings. Especially after what had been a trying few days, but as the evening had worn on and as a result of drinking too much, Ros of all people, had lost her inhibitions. Most evident, during a speech that hadn't been as embarrassing as she'd anticipated it might be, when she'd talked about her and Harry. Before as a way of bowing out, she'd told her assembled audience, that if Dolby thought that Harry was the ultimate when it came to being a pain in the arse, then he was more stupid than she'd imagined him to be. After which, with what had been a less than accomplished attempt at being a magician producing a rabbit out of a hat, she'd presented her with a bouquet of flowers. The second in less than a week for, but in this case, had been accompanied by and a large bottle of champagne for them to share on New Year's Eve.
What they hadn't known, but she'd told them when they'd been waiting for their respective taxis, was that seeing them together in a setting away from the grid, had brought it home that not only was Adam gone from her life, but now Harry was as well.
To which Harry had responded, by telling her that there were some friendships that warranted breaking the rules, so if she needed him, or if she just fancied a change of scenery, then she knew where they lived.
.
The drive to River View, a fairly obvious name for what had once been the village rectory on a tributary of the Thames, was on its other three sides, surrounded by high hedges and what looked to be an impenetrable gate. Having waited until the bulk of the early morning traffic had dispersed, they still arrived in good time and with no preconceived ideas as to what to expect from Clive and Mary who had invited them to lunch.
Their hosts on the other hand, felt that not only was it the right thing to do, but that it was time they met Ruth. Thoughts that had been triggered when Wes had called them on Christmas morning, sounding much more like the child they knew and loved. Which they'd taken to mean that not only was he happy in his new surroundings, but with the couple who in all but name were his new parents. Something that was reaffirmed in their minds, when they'd spoken to Harry, who had told them that he was going to retire and Ruth, who apart from knowing she'd been a real support to their late son in law, they knew nothing about.
Questions or concerns if they had any, put to bed within a few moments of greeting, what in all honesty looked like a family unit. Completely different in appearance to the one they'd lost, but nothing less than perfectly suited was their assessment of Harry and Ruth as a couple. A couple who had welcomed their grandson into their lives without a second thought, walking towards them as though this was anything but the first time they'd visited.
That Clive invited Harry to join him in the conservatory, because Mary wanted to take Ruth and Wes to see what she described as a new feature in her garden, sounded not only outdated, but smacked of divide and conquer. But not without reason Harry soon found out, as he accepted the cold beer he was being offered, before sitting in the chair that Clive was indicating.
'I'm sorry to drag you away from Ruth the moment you got here, but I need to talk to you on your own. I would have done it at the funeral had it been appropriate, but you had enough on your hands looking after Wes and me Mary. She's still feeling guilty that we didn't take on the responsibility of looking after our grandson.' Harry could understand. 'But after Fiona died – well you know how it was. Adam never here and even when he was, his mind was on something else. We love Wes we really do, but we simply don't have the energy to cope with a child of his age. I know you might think we should have prepared ourselves better, perhaps even realised that this would be the eventual outcome. Because we've always known that this job that you all do takes precedence, whatever the cost to the people that you love. But tell me honestly, has anyone other than you, walked away in one piece?'
Harry refrained from telling the man who was looking for answers to make sense of it all, that it had taken him years to stop feeling guilty for abandoning his own children, or that he'd been stabbed and shot more times than he would have liked. And in the case of the latter, it had been by one of his staff who had pulled the trigger
Instead, he took a very deep breath, before answering Clive in a way that he hoped would bring him some, if not all of the assurances he was looking for.
'I won't insult your intelligence, by pretending that both Fiona and Adam were unlucky to have lost their lives. Because during the time that I've been in the service, there have been many others who have met the same fate. Most of them with families, who unlike you and I'm sure I don't need to explain why, haven't been told the manner in which their loved ones died. I appreciate that this might not make you feel any better, but what I can tell you, is that both Fiona and Adam were exceptional officers. Having said, and this is only guesswork on my part, I'm pretty sure that when Adam was driving that car, he was totally focussed on saving, what in reality turned out to be hundreds of lives. And as horrific as his death was and believe me, I'm not trying to play it down, I know for certain that he never once lost sight of how much Wes needed him. He adored that boy.'
'Thank you,' said a man, who Harry recognised could so easily have been him. Except that he still had his own children, distant though they might be. His other family, who might over time, be prepared to meet the woman who had stolen his heart and the boy, who he'd already risked his own life to save. Something else that Clive and Mary didn't need to be told. Or that in order to sustain their memory of Adam and Fiona as a couple, that had Adam not been distracted by the sudden appearance of Ros, he might still be here.
His thoughts interrupted as Mary, Ruth and Wes, walked past the window, heading for the back door and the kitchen. In which Harry who had skipped breakfast in favour of taking a stomach settling tablet, could smell lunch cooking. His stomach rumbling at the prospect of eating something, not too far away he hoped.
Until, 'if you're sure,' Ruth told Mary, who had suggested, 'she go and relax with Harry and that Clive and Wes would give her a hand.' Mary who was also feeling better, having listened to Ruth chatting about her own house and garden. With an honest and refreshingly positive attitude about the plans that she and Harry had to make it more comfortable for Wes. Before telling her that she hoped that once the weather got warmer that they'd come and visit them. To which she'd said yes.
Just one of many reasons that when lunch was over, 'we can go any time,' and do was implied, by Clive. Suggesting that 'they should walk the short distance to the churchyard on their own.'
Which meant that Ruth, who had imagined this moment, to such a degree that she was in part dreading it, was not only grateful to feel the comfort of Harry's hand wrapped around hers, but was grateful that their host had somehow managed to understand how she was feeling.
Accepted also by the wind, which had been threatening to bring rain, but had subsided. As if it knew how important this moment was, not only for her, but to them as a family. A chance for them to say, if not out loud, 'we're here Adam, the three of us, just as you planned it to be.'
In complete silence which didn't last for long when, 'granny brings flowers every week,' Wes told them. Before saying, what on reflection, once they'd both regained some sort of equilibrium, they realised must have been on his mind, since the day of his father's funeral and in a voice that was barely audible, 'you won't leave me will you.'
Which was directed at both of them, but because Harry could see that Ruth who was here for the first time was beyond responding, he answered. His need to protect Ruth as real as it ever had been.
'And miss all that decorating that Ruth's got lined up for us. Not a chance.' He told Wes.
'A fairly obvious thought when you come to think of it. But it didn't feel like the time or place to be telling Wes that we're all going to die one day. I hope you didn't think I was being flippant,' Harry told Ruth, when they were back at the house and sitting in front of the fire to get warm. Mary having insisted that she make them all a drink before they set off.
'But you are going do the decorating?' Ruth responded, taking Harry's hand and smiling. A smile that not only reassured him that she was feeling better, but told him that whatever happened in the future, they were in this together. Which was why, the short drive back to central London, to spend one last night, before they drove home to Suffolk, was completed with the radio as a distraction. What they'd come to London to achieve they had and more, but until they were able to compute it, either in the privacy of their bedroom or when Wes was watching TV, anything else was best left unsaid.
.
The house as they knew it would be, was warm and welcoming and the takeaway that Angela had ordered for them was due in an hour. But it was the quiet and the sense of belonging, that made them give in to Wes's request that he go and see Michael. Without a discussion, or telling him he wasn't to be out too long. That and because Harry was no longer a member of The Security Services, which until they'd opened and read the card which had been lying on the doormat, signed by all their colleagues, wishing them a lifetime of happiness together, still felt like part of a process to reach this moment. Now transformed into something that deserved the celebration that was only a day away on New Year's Eve, but for this evening, they intended to keep simple.
Until less than fifty metres away and an hour later, their phone rang. 'I've told Wes he can stay the night. I'm assuming that's OK?' Angela asked them. After she'd said, 'welcome home, followed by, 'I hear your going to demolish your house and rebuild it.'
'Yes please, you're an angel, and don't believe everything you hear. We'll have a proper catch up in the morning,' Harry told her, before turning his attention back to Ruth, who was stretched out on the sofa with her eyes closed.
'I'm not asleep,' she told him, in voice which suggested it wouldn't be long before she was and was why they went straight up to bed. To sleep, which after they'd made love, captured both of them within seconds.
The following couple of days, Ruth had booked when she'd had to phone the boatyard to rearrange the trip that had been part of Wes's Christmas present. Persuaded by the owner, into signing up for what she'd hoped would be a more fitting way to enjoy themselves as a family, whilst at the same time being able to welcome the New Year in a less than conventional way. At a time when she hadn't known, whether or not there would be any long-lasting effects for either of them. Whereas now, she was blessed with a certainty, as much as anyone could be, that providing she hadn't overestimated Harry's ability to steer a boat, which according to Ros, who had said it would be with the same bonhomie that he made love, was going to make it interesting.
During a conversation which had taken place in the ladies in the restaurant. When she'd decided she liked a drunk Ros, in the same way that Harry liked the soppy one. Imagining what she hadn't thought about until that moment, that she and Adam must have had one hell of good time between the sheets. Something that had things turned out differently would have changed the course of all of their lives, including Wes's. That it wasn't meant to be, something else that Ros had thrown into the mix of what was a conversation that she obviously hadn't had with anyone other than her, which suggested that they'd always been friends, which of course they hadn't, had changed her mind. To the extent that when Ros who had masterminded their reunion demanded it, she'd accepted the fact that she wasn't going to be allowed to leave the restaurant until they'd all seen Harry kiss her. A kiss which had been met with a prolonged round of applause.
That had been then and this was now and 'we need to get going or we'll miss the tide,' Ruth fortunately knew was Harry joking. His way of telling her he was looking forward to a couple of days and nights on the Norfolk Broads. Which as the owner of the boatyard had suggested would be theirs to enjoy and calm as a millpond, providing whoever was doing the steering, didn't cause the boat to come in contact with either of the banks. Which as they were about to find out, wasn't as easy as it was reported to be in the instruction booklet that Wes was in charge of. Well not until you got the hang of it and even then, certainly not with the bonhomie of Ros's imagination.
