'I do hope that we're going to get along, now that you're permanently in the hot seat,' Towers told Ros, who had very quickly come to realise that the constant demands on her to visit Whitehall, although necessary, were going to require her to be sparing with the truth. Harry, the master of manipulation when it came to dealing with politicians, might no longer be there, but she has no intention of letting go a system that had served him well. In this case answering his next question, in a way that suggests she doesn't know the whereabouts of Ruth. Something that has left her struggling to find a more than average analyst. Harry's gone and she doesn't like it any more than he does, she wants to tell him but doesn't, as she tries to think of a response that would make Harry smile, as Towers asks her 'how's the recruiting going and am I right in assuming that the analyst that Harry had in mind, hasn't come up to scratch?'
'Not at all Home Secretary, she's extremely proficient in what she does, she just doesn't want to be doing it here,' she tells him, wondering if proficient is an appropriate word to describe what Ruth is currently up to and deciding that it is. Harry certainly seemed to be enjoying it anyway, the last time that she'd spoken to him. But having also received Malcolm's resignation, that this trip to the Home Office to update Towers, is an interruption that she can well do without. That her top priority now, is to get back to Thames House and start re building the section. Halted, if only for a moment by another question.
'And Harry, am I allowed to know where he is? I was really quite fond of him as you know?' Is certainly true and the reason that she decides to give him an honest answer.
'Maybe at some time in the future, but in the short term and if it makes you feel any better Home Secretary, I can assure you that he's well and happy,' she tells him. Watching as he smiles briefly and then turns his attention back to his breakfast.
Leaving Towers, she ponders as she has done since her first day in her new role, whether she envies Harry? On the whole she doesn't, although she does envy the speed of his decision. The oneness that he and Ruth have created, seemingly out of nowhere, if anything is understated. The looks and the gentle touches and how their voices change when they talk to each other, that have changed Harry almost beyond recognition. Sufficient for him to have resigned, leaving her the keys to his Kingdom. Something that she'd have been passed over from doing, because of her association with the past, if it hadn't been for the glowing reference that Harry had written, long before he'd been up for dismissal. Something that makes her realise, that even beyond the grave of his resignation, that he still has influence and will always be important to her.
The reason that for one time only, she will go and see them in Suffolk. Not this weekend though, because Catherine and presumably Malcolm will be there. Both of whom will be able to see Harry and Ruth whenever they want to. As opposed to her, who is now destined to follow his example as Section Head, by rejecting a private life in favour of serving her country.
.
While Ros has been trying to extricate herself from the Home Office, Ruth has been upside down in a packing case. The last of many that they've unpacked, as she tries and fails to think of a way to convince Harry that her upcoming birthday at the weekend isn't important. Whilst ignoring the other Ruth, who keeps telling her to make the most of it and to let him spoil her if he wants to.
The whirlwind of the last couple of months, when they've spent as much time in Suffolk as they have in London, until they'd stumbled upon the house with its peeling green painted door, which she'd instantly fallen in love with. A house that is slowly beginning to feel and look like a home, having moved in a week earlier, as Harry comes in from the garden where he's been dismantling cardboard boxes, ready to go out with the next bin collection. Hot and dusty, but happier than he's been in years. Apart from the fact that it will be Ruth's birthday in two days and now they'll have company.
Catherine's insistence that she couldn't possibly wait another week, pretty much making the decision for them. That and Malcolm ringing to tell Harry that he was heading off to Scotland. Never to return being implied, is only true in part as Ruth well knows. That Catherine is in her words, desperate to see her Dad and her together, having just come back from her latest fact-finding trip, Ruth can well understand. She's looking forward to seeing Catherine as well. It's just that the remainder of the conversation, that she's still trying to get her head around. Especially as it was said, with the assurance that a weekend of playing happy families will be fun and that all the unexpected things that they've been confronted with during the last few days, will be minute by comparison. Like the shed door that hasn't wanted to close, no matter how many times that Harry has sworn at it, or the dripping tap in the bathroom that's on their 'to do' list.
'Not that I'm not enjoying the view, but if you can drag yourself out of there, isn't it time you took a break?' Harry asked her, both heading across the kitchen to put the kettle on and fulfilling Ros's prophecy that he is happy.
Which is why by mid-afternoon, because of a rule that ensures that they both get some time each day to do absolutely nothing, Harry is lying on a sunbed in the back garden with his eyes closed. Not asleep by any means, he is comparing his previous life to this new one. Something that he knows he will eventually stop doing, once them living in Suffolk becomes the norm. Asked what the differences are, he would say that he now feels both happy and lucky. That he still has to pinch himself, each and every morning, because he has struck gold in Ruth. That in her, he is running towards someone rather than away, and that as she loves him, apparently unreservedly, is a miracle in itself. That he feels the same about her and that the transition from them living in London to here has been so easy, is just a bonus. In a road where there are one car families, where the street lights go out at night and where the chaos of London, has been replaced by an endless calm. Every day, a small adventure not a major tragedy and something that he looks forward to. As opposed to the relentless bombardment of terror and the guilt that have been strangling him for years. That they might have only been here for a week, but it already feels like forever. A forever that he's looking forward to, even if their peace and quiet is about to be gate crashed by his over exuberant daughter.
While Harry is mulling over the pros, because there aren't any cons about living with her, Ruth is watching his chest rise and fall, from her favourite place in the house. The huge window that runs across the entire length at the back. A feature that gives so much light and a wonderful view across the garden. The first thing that had struck her when they'd been shown around. Now her Harry, as opposed to the nations, who is dressed in shorts and a shirt sleeved shirt is relaxing. One day, she knows that she'll forget that Lucas is still out there somewhere and how close she came to losing Harry because of him, but not for the moment. This ridiculous need that she still has, that makes her want to continue to protect him, which let's face it she can't really do, other than to ensure that he has some quiet time to himself each day. How lucky she is, if luck it is that has brought them together. Fate not being a word that she's prepared to entertain any more. You've got everything that you've ever wanted, so pull yourself together she tells herself, before pouring two glasses of water and heading out into the garden to sit next to him.
.
The saving grace on Saturday morning as far as Ruth is concerned, is that having planned her morning to include as many jobs as possible, it won't seem as long until their visitors arrive. It's almost comforting to hear a lawnmower somewhere in the distance as she heads outside. Only to find that there's absolutely nothing for her to do, because Harry has tidied it up the previous evening. Which in normal circumstances would have been lovely, but today isn't a normal day. It's a hello Graham, I'm Ruth day. I do hope that what your sister has told me is the true and that you really do want to put things right with your father.
Harry has no such concerns, as he walks back along the road, having been to the local shop to get some fresh veggies. It's another lovely sunny morning and he's got used to walking. Not only because it's good for him, but because he actually enjoys it. Clear blue skies, fresh air in his lungs, his daughter is on her way – what's not for him to like? In the distance he can hear a car approaching, rare along what is such a quiet road, where everyone parks their car in a block of designated garages, before walking the remainder of the way. Apart from the postman and the occasional car that hasn't seen the sign, that tells them that it's a no through road. It's far too early for it to be Catherine, but at least whoever it is, is slowing to a reasonable speed, as he steps into the side to let them pass. But then the car stops, just as it reaches him, which of course forces him turn around.
'Where are they? Is Harry alright?' Ruth asks. Having heard the front door open, she'd turned round expecting it to be Harry, not Catherine who is carrying their shopping.
'Dad's fine, or at least he was when I left him, although you might need another lettuce and some tomatoes because he stepped on these,' Catherine tells her, handing over a bag that appears to be dripping blood all over the recently washed kitchen floor. Ruth's mind in a complete whirl and trying to imagine the scene that is being played out further along the road and knowing that she'll have to sit it out until he and Graham arrive. Was it so much to ask that Harry wasn't shocked and hadn't Catherine agreed to make the entrance low key, not to nearly run him over?
'Graham stayed at mine last night, so we left earlier,' should have come with a phone call thinks Ruth, who had been expecting them about lunchtime and not on the stoke of ten. The only reason that she hadn't told Harry, the fear that Graham would change his mind and the disappoint that this would cause.
Catherine, who has inherited her Dad's ability to read people, has spent a lot of time with Graham over the couple of months, so hasn't got Ruth's concerns. Like Ruth though, she is more than curious to see her Dad and her Brother together after such a long time. That and to confirm that what Malcolm had told her is true and that the capable and calm Ruth who had taken control when they'd been kidnapped, is still as besotted with her father as he is with her. A good enough reason to want to see where they've chosen to live and to see how her Dad is adapting to a normal life away from London. Pretty well had been her first impression, when she'd seen him striding along the road whistling.
.
'Can I ask you what made you change your mind about seeing your Dad?' Ruth asked Graham, as he offered to help her wash up after lunch, presumably to escape. Harry having looked at her, in a way that suggested she was far more capable then he was, when it came to getting Graham to open up.
There's no mystery, it was Catherine, curiosity and concern,' he told her, reaching for the tea towel. 'We've always been close, Catherine and I, but then I expect you already know that? She'd been banging on for weeks about how great you were. I didn't want to know at first, but then when that call came from Malcolm, to say that Dad was in hospital and he thought that we needed to come, it sounded so final. Which of course it could have been. I'm ashamed to admit, but knowing that Dad was unconscious, somehow made it easier for me to say yes. Dad looked so fragile wrapped in all those blankets and I thought, what if I've missed my chance to really get to know him? You didn't see us and for that I'm sorry, but unlike Catherine, I just couldn't walk away. You were sitting by Dad's bed, holding his hand and talking to him and something inside me changed. The anger just left me, if you can understand that. Then last week when Catherine told me that he'd resigned and that you'd moved here together, I just knew it was the right time.'
'Then that's what you need to tell him Graham. All of it.'
'Only on one condition.'
'Which is?'
'That you don't let the fact that Catherine and I here spoil your birthday. Dad's planned something, so please just go for it.'