Between them, Harry and Graham succeeded in keeping the conversation on a lighter note and in doing so made Ruth realise the depth to which Graham had been hurt when his parents had split up and just as importantly why Harry had built a ring of steel around himself in order to cope. Memories so vivid in both their minds that just listening was enough for her picture Harry the father as he had been then and Graham the son who had and still did love him. Stories of holidays almost always on a beach somewhere or other. Where sand castles had been built, ice creams consumed and a kite flown. Expertly according to Harry and less so according to Graham. A boat trip that had been memorable, not for the fact that they had circumnavigated the world as Harry had told them at the time, but because Catherine had been sick and how a very young Graham had piddled his pants on the way home. Their very own version of the father and son bonding that Harry had suggested to Adam after Fiona had been killed but this time for her benefit.
What it also succeeded in doing, was to explain why Harry who in his work life had been impatient to the point that it was engrained in all their minds not to waffle, her being the exception, revelled in was the best way to describe the relationship he had with Jacob. The endless questions on the day when they had erected the shed, when and where was he going to have a garden and what was going to grow. Harry's willingness to take him to Minnows on a Monday and on the couple of occasions when they had taken him down to the beach, the curiosity which applied to almost everything which had been washed up by the tide. To the extent that there was no doubt in her mind that Harry had he been honest with Jane, he would have fulfilled his expectations as a father in the same way that he had done his job.
Something which in Graham's case since he had asked if he could come back with them, diluted if only until the morning what Lucas intended to say, in the hope he might ensure that they never spoke to each other again.
Which of course depended on Graham being able to play the part which had been asked of him. Something which when he opted to stay with Ruth and help pack her books, rather than go with Harry to pick up his music collection was thrown in the balance, when out of the blue he said, 'I'm not sure I can play the angry son well enough to convince Lucas.'
Nor am I thought Ruth being brought sharply back down to earth, having held back from saying so when Dimitri had been suggesting it the previous day. For the simple reason that Graham had rung Thames house for assurance and now that she had listened to him, unlike the feisty and aggrieved Catherine, Graham had simply been hurt. As had she but for a very different reason, so in order to explain to Graham that he wasn't alone in thinking that he wasn't capable in acting a part, she put herself back in a place she had buried along with Cyprus by saying, 'I once had to pretend I was willing to shoot someone having pulled a plastic bag over her head.'
Expecting Graham to be shocked, or even suggest that it was hard to believe that she had been asked to do something so out of character, his response of, 'did Dad know about this and why didn't he stop it?' left her wanting.
No because he was locked in a police cell having been arrested for glassing the chairman of the JIC to save me, even to her ears sounded implausible. In the same way that Harry jumping out of an aeroplane without a parachute if it had been necessary, despite her picturing him doing it and being here to tell the tale. Both of which would probably have impressed Graham in his current state of mind but neither were hers to tell. Which was why she opted for what given where they now were, was a toned - down version based on the truth.
'Emotionally your dad and I were in the same place. Wanting a relationship beyond the one we had at work but prevented from doing so by a very bad man who doctored some paperwork to suggest that you dad had been party to torturing several people. Had he succeeded there was a fair chance that your dad would have gone to prison for the rest of his life so I stepped into the frame and with the help of our colleagues disappeared abroad for a couple of years. It was an awful time for both of us and even when I came back there were other people who tried to come between us and now Lucas for a reason that neither of us can understand is doing the same thing. And I have no idea why I have told you this Graham, other than Harry and I have made a promise to be open and honest with each other.'
'Am I allowed to say to say that I think he's a lucky sod?' said Graham, surprising her again.
'Only if you smile,' she told him.
.
Dimitri arriving only a few moments after Harry got back, relieved the tension even more by saying, 'don't try and overthink it just let's take it one step at a time,' to Graham, when Harry was ringing Lucas to say that he would meet him in front of the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens.
All of them knowing that Lucas would immediately ring Graham and suggest that he or who he presumed to be Malcolm would meet him there either just before or just after Harry arrived.
The decision having been made that the meeting would take place early in the morning when people were out walking their dogs or going for an early morning run. Not when it was heaving with tourists as it would be once it got past nine. In other words on their terms, which meant that Dimitri and Tariq could both pick the best spot from where to watch and listen later that evening.
The predictability that was now Lucas meant that Graham's phone rang within minutes of Harry finishing his call, he answered with his eyes fixed on Ruth who having told Harry about the conversation she and Graham had had and how he was doubting his ability to pull it off, had gone through to the kitchen to make everyone a drink rather than crowd Graham.
That he could hear what Graham was saying, not only made him feel relieved, but proud of his son and grateful to Ruth, who having told him about their relationship pre and post Cotterdam, had paved the way for future conversations once they were home. Home, the sanctuary which he and Ruth had created, less than a day away he told himself switching the kettle on. Having already decided that rather than go home, he was going to suggest to Graham spend the night with them.