Lucas watched with a certain degree of curiosity as Malcolm first stood up then edged gradually closer and closer to the corner table where the laptop was sitting and then eventually gave in to the temptation to examine it.

A couple of minutes later, Jo excused herself and went to speak to Wes Carter who was sitting quietly in the corner of the room with some elderly relatives. He could see her whisper what looked like a joke into his ear and place her arm around his shoulder as she sat down next to him. His mood brightened noticeably with her appearance.

The prospect of making polite chit chat with strangers wasn't entirely appealing to Lucas who decided instead to take a tour of the gardens.

After some twenty minutes exploring the extensive grounds, Lucas rounded the corner to enter the rose garden and was surprised to see Jo sitting quietly on a park bench, staring into the distance with a forlorn expression on her face.

He considered for a moment what he ought to do, then wandered over to her and asked if he could join her. She nodded silently and moved over to make room for him.

"I didn't know him well, but Adam Carter must have been quite something," Lucas began in a low voice.

Jo nodded then said quietly, "He was – he really was." Her voice had a shaky edge to it. She wouldn't look at him but he could tell that she was struggling to control the tears that were threatening to fall.

She looked down, silently contemplating her hands. There was something about the emotion in her voice as she said that, and the expression on her face as his gaze swept over her delicate features that made him realise with a start that the last eight years had made him forget what women were like. That they were different, more emotionally orientated than men and wholly more subtle. With Ros and her businesslike manner he hadn't really noticed the difference. With this one he noticed it. A lot.

He said nothing, but just sat quietly beside her, watching her closely without making an effort to seem to do so and waiting silently to see what she would do next.

After a few minutes it appeared that she had won the battle and regained her self control.

She took in a breath and commented softly, "He recruited me, you know. Read my gas meter when I was fresh out of university." She stopped and smiled weakly, "I didn't buy him though. Adam was good at what he did but he should have been wise to the fact that most BritishGas employees don't look like movie stars or sound like they were educated at Cambridge."

Jo continued, "I kind of wonder what my life would have been if he hadn't though. All my friends seem to talk about is when their next paycheck is so they can buy a new outfit or go out for a night, what their boyfriend's like in bed and what's on the telly that evening." She paused, then added quietly, "anyway, I'm not really sure what he saw in me."

Lucas wondered if she regretted meeting Adam. Probably, he thought.

He was about to add a comment that her background showed that she was clearly both intelligent and resourceful, but he quickly closed his mouth, remembering that he wasn't supposed to have read her file that it would probably upset her to know that he had and instead said, "he must have recognised something promising in you."

Jo answered with an almost imperceptible sigh and said tiredly, "I don't know what. I expect whatever it was is gone now anyway."

So, Lucas thought, she was clearly no longer the happy go lucky, Miss Popularity she had been a few years ago anymore. A bit like him, really. Someone who through a change of circumstances had gone from optimistic to jaded in the blink of an eye.

"I don't know what we'll do without Adam. He was section D – without him, I'm not sure how we'll cope." She might have added that she wasn't sure how she'd cope without him but there was something about Lucas that didn't encourage her to confide in him.

"I expect we'll carry on as we've always done. Adam Carter might be a legend but he was only one man," Lucas replied firmly.

"You might very well say that, but then I guess you didn't know Adam," Jo commented softly, but with conviction in her voice.

For some reason Lucas suddenly resented all this talk of Adam. He was dead. Gone. Why couldn't she focus on what was here now? In front of her. Beside her.

Without thinking he shifted on the seat and moved closer to her until their bodies touched, and concentrated his attention on her.

"No I didn't know Adam, but I know life will go on. People will keep on getting older, they'll continue to get married, make love, have children. The world will keep turning even without Adam Carter in it. And I'm sure that Adam isn't the storybook hero you think he is – I think you'll find everyone has flaws," he said sharply.

It was true that Adam hadn't been perfect but that didn't stop her missing him so intensely it was like a physical hurt, gnawing at her insides day and night ever since that phone call four days ago.

She edged away from him on the seat and broke his gaze. Jo thought once again with resentment that this new Adam was a poor replacement for the old one. Adam had been safe, familiar, comforting. This new one was unpredictable, unsettling. And vaguely threatening.

She looked at him briefly then rose to her feet, commenting coolly, "I don't need you to point out that the real world isn't some kind of fairytale idyll - I'm well enough aware of that myself."

That was true enough, Lucas thought as he watched her silhouette disappear into the distance. He wondered what had possessed him to speak to her like that. He supposed it must be because he had no idea what constituted appropriate behaviour any more.

Lucas looked at the sky, taking in the ominous mass of grey clouds gathering above him. He sat for a while longer, contemplating the rapid changes the past few days had brought until his thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of large droplets beating down on his face aggressively. His body reverted to instinct and his head dropped forward as his lungs started desperately gasping for air. After a moment, he steeled himself to get up from the seat and return to the house without flinching as the rain continued to pound his face.