The beauty of Dove Cottage, for Sally had always been its location. A place where she could pause from whatever she was doing and look out of the window at the ever-changing landscape. To forget if only for a moment that she was a widow with a small child who was totally dependent on her, until Harry and Ruth had moved into the village with their non- judgemental attitude and hand of friendship.
Today though no matter how hard she tries, there is the not so small matter of it her son's fourth birthday to negotiate. Something which brings a sharp reminder, not only of how scared she had been through what had been hours of labour, but the relief which had followed when they told her not only that she had a healthy baby boy but she could take him home. Home to a house where she no longer needed to be frightened as which of the two Robbie's would turn up. That was until she had been the subject of intense questioning during the inquest, which had left her feeling that in some way she had been responsible for his death.
What she doesn't know is that the couple she has come to look on as family not only have a past which required them to read people, but that Maurice had taken it upon himself to grill Harry to be sure that he and Ruth, unlike the previous owner wouldn't treat her with anything less than respect. Had she done, she would have realised when Harry says to Jacob, 'I think we should all go down to the beach this morning,' that this is as much for her sake as it is his.
The walk from the house which usually takes a maximum of fifteen minutes, depending how many times they stop to look at the view, today takes more than twenty. But only because Jacob's bobble hat had blown off and Graham had been slow in retrieving it. Unlike the absurdity of going anywhere near the beach in December, which is gaining momentum as far as Harry and Ruth are concerned when they are attempting to drink a cup of coffee when they can no longer feel their fingers. Balanced out by the fact that no more than two metres in front of them, Jacob and his mum with Graham's help are making a very good if not authentic attempt to build Norwich Castle using buckets and spades.
'One more for the family album,' says Harry, when Graham looks up and grins at them.'
Or a chance to make our excuses and head home, thinks Ruth who is now firmly of the belief that Graham is as stubborn as Harry used to be when he was confronted by – well anything really.
When they do finally escape, from what Ruth has made her mind up is the approach of next ice age and arrive back at the house, the only thing that prevents her from responding to what Graham describes has been a breath of fresh air, is that everyone needs feeding. Until she remembers that in less than three days, she and Harry are going to the Midnight Service and it will take more than the threat of meeting a woolly mammoth in the lane to stop her from going to that.
Or from the enjoyment that comes from watching Harry and Graham who are debating whether the tree is leaning to the left and would it look better if they moved it to the opposite corner of the room, despite Jacob who is sitting between her and Sally with the decorations lined up on the table in front of him in the order he likes them, itching to get started.
Until Harry surprises her yet again by saying, 'come on you two what are you waiting for,' meaning that Sally and Jacob should help Graham to decorate the tree, before sitting down on the sofa next to her and in a show of affection that he normally reserves for moments when they on their own, he leans in and kisses her.
That the kiss is a brief one, she knows in no less heartfelt than the hundreds of other times that Harry has kissed her. Or when through the squeals of pure joy from Jacob when Graham lifts him up to hang one of the decorations on the tree, she turns to look at Harry who she has loved for as long as she can remember, only to find that he is looking at her. His chest rising and falling, his eyelashes which over the years have turned from blonde to grey protecting the eyes that once brought terror to those who stalked the corridors of Whitehall, but have never looked at her with anything other than love.
.
'Thank you, we've had a wonderful day,' says Sally hugging Ruth, having hung back from following Graham who is carrying Jacob out to the car where Harry is waiting to drive them home.
Tempted to say it was nothing, Ruth decides sounds the sort of thing you would say if someone had thanked you for seeing them across the road. Which in a way is what they have done for Sally and successfully if the smile on her face when Jacob had been blowing out the candles on his birthday cake had been anything to go by. But from what Sally has told her of her past and her own feelings on the day when George had been killed, despite she and Harry vowing never to speak about again, the anniversary still causes her to stop and think. That it no longer hurts is because she has Harry and a new home, in a location which is poles apart from Cyprus, if you ignore the fact that you can walk to the beach. But even when they do that and on a day like today when she had been frozen to the bone it hadn't crossed her mind. Whereas Sally still lives in the same flat that she did when Robbie had been alive.
The sound of Harry turning on the ignition, prompts her to find an answer which is, 'yes it was and we must do it again soon, or better still if you and Graham want to have a proper night out, maybe on New Year's Eve you know that Harry and I will never say no to looking after Jacob.'
.
Bright as a button and right on time the following morning, Graham turns up to continue working in the garden. That Harry has gone out there with him, will Ruth hopes, along with progress being made, give Harry the chance to broach the subject of him taking Sally out somewhere other than the pub. That Graham has been working for them for nothing other than they have fed him, if he does say yes, Harry agrees with her is something they should pay for. As she does his suggestion that they should offer to pay for whatever it takes to re jig and change the colour scheme in Sally's flat.
Graham's response of, 'we agreed no presents other than for Jacob,' is predictable. But what it also does is to trigger a memory of a not dissimilar situation when Graham had been Jacob's age.
Paving the way for Harry to say, 'in a roundabout way this is for Jacob as it was for you when you wanted me to paint your bedroom red. Not that I was going to do the actual painting, but what I do remember is that it was one of the few times that your mother and I agreed about something.'
None of which Ruth knows or sees the look of understanding which passes between father and son. Because along with brushing up cake crumbs from the previous evening, she is making a mental list of what they still need to do before the 25th. A list which confirms that in less than half an hour she and Harry are due at the farm shop to pick up the turkey and veg that they have pre ordered. Followed by an afternoon of tidying up and because Jacob is spending the day with Sally, wrapping the box which contains his wheelbarrow and sundry garden tools. Before settling down to a quiet evening on their own which will include a prearranged chat with Malcolm and Caroline.