A quiet Friday afternoon doesn't always guarantee that Adam will get to enjoy two whole days away from Thames House with his son other than this weekend when even if the sky were to fall, in which case whoever is planning to cause chaos in whatever way shape of form will feel the full force of Ros and the rest of the team who have bought into the concept of the man who still haunts the memory many a politician that time away from work when it comes to family is a must do. The reason being that today is Wes's last day of his first week at a non – secular school which is less than a mile from where they are now living in what used to be Ruth's house.
Why this school when the plan which he and Fiona had mapped out was that Wes would stay at the small private school until he was eleven and then move on? Was the question her parents had asked and he had answered by saying that he didn't want Wes to grow up thinking that privilege meant you'd be happy or would it ensure that you succeeded in whatever you planned as a future, plus the not so small fact that three doors down are a Jewish couple whose son Ruben just happens to be Wes's best friend and although they might not think that Wes having adopted Fidget ranks as a high priority, his son was taking the responsibility very seriously.
Now a week later he is wondering if perhaps he should be the peacemaker and ring them again whilst knowing that this isn't the first time that they have disappointed him with their narrow-minded attitude, or have they offered to have Wes stay with them and with Fiona's words look after Wes which he believes he is doing in a way that would make her proud, means he decides to keep his apology for another time. Added to which the reason his son is happier than he has been in years he knows is almost entirely down to Harry and Ruth which was why before he had made the final decision he had rung the two people who every Friday evening at seven their time, get a call from Wes telling them what he has being doing over the past seven days, which this week has the added significance of Malcolm having arrived which means that he also wants a word. That his will be quick and to the point and Wes will string it out for as long as he can, not only goes without saying but that it comes with their blessing, is enough he thinks to justify his decision.
That he himself can only imagine the house and the surrounding area brings with it a sense of frustration, unlike Wes who has been there and described it as cool, something which had caused Harry's eyebrows to rise despite himself according to Ruth, has in dribs and drabs made Adam all the more determined to balance work with a life that equates to normal for both of them, not an easy thing to do when a phone call or a piece of intel can scupper any plans he might have made, plus the relentless meetings that from the day that Harry walked away has made him understand the full weight that Harry will have carried on his shoulders and yet still they are offering themselves as an outlet as their insistence that Malcolm should come and stay with them, proving not only the stability of their relationship but how unselfish they are when it comes helping those who quite frankly have nowhere else to go.
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Six hundred miles from where Adam is contemplating, 'then I want to make myself useful whilst I'm here,' Malcolm who is sitting on the patio with a glass of wine in his hand tells Harry, having already said, 'first Wes and now me,' to which Harry had responded, 'but you won't want to sit on Ruth's knee every evening or to sleep with us, or will you?' Delivered with a smile and in a voice that had released any remaining tension to the point where Malcolm finds himself wondering how the man sitting in front of him, is even now able to pluck these one - liners out of seemingly nowhere. The table laid and with Ruth putting the finishing touches to dinner, the music from the kitchen the only sound on what for Harry and Ruth is a normal evening but for Malcolm feels as though he has been launched into an altogether different universe.
One which will allow him to look positively on life again, starts when during breakfast the next morning, his hosts idea of a quiet morning is that they go for a walk to the village which as it turns out requires them to follow a winding path behind the house through a field full of wildflowers and where overhead buzzards are vying for space with red kites. Why is he surprised he tells himself because he knew that they walked every day when they had lived in Ruth's tiny rented house, but this is altogether different in that not only is it uphill and the views in every direction are truly breath taking but there is a togetherness about them that doesn't make him feel left out, which given that they are so recently married and although he doesn't know it, has him pondering his own version of what Adam had been thinking the previous evening, which is that this is just what he needs to shake of the belief that he's alone.
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Day two of Malcolm's visit with his insistence that he wants to be useful, sees the three of them making a trip into St Flour to a builder's merchants in search of the much need shed, which as luck would have it in that it needs to be a specific size they are told not only can it be delivered the day after tomorrow but erected as well, means that with a day to spare not only will they have time to clear out the spare room, but Ruth can spend the rest of the morning pottering around the shops whilst he and Harry drive up the winding road to the upper town to visit The Museum of the High Auvergne before meeting up for lunch. On a day when the square becomes an overspill from a restaurant which they have earmarked as one they want to try.
That when Harry and Malcolm return having had a friendly debate as to which one of them looked most like the relic in the centre of one of the glass cabinets, finding Ruth with her head buried in a book comes as no surprise until she reveals that the book which she had found in a charity shop is the work of a local woman who decades ago had wanted to put pen to paper to show how the local cuisine had sustained her family when times had been hard and would for years to come. Leading Ruth to suggest that she or they meaning her and Harry should be a bit more adventurous when it comes to cooking and what better way to start than trying to replicate some of the local dishes.
Causing Malcolm who has eaten at their house near Calais and again here so knows they are both more than capable in the cooking department to wonder if she is planning on using him as a guinea – pig, only for the waiter arrive and ask them if they are ready to order from a menu which amongst its many and varied dishes are what are described as local specialities, one of which although written in French is clearly tripe and onions. His salvation coming when he realises that not only Harry is on the same page as he is but when Ruth who had bought the book out of interest puts them both out of their misery by saying that her suggestion hadn't included plating up anything that was white other than fish.
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That Harry's expression had changed to suggest that not only had he known that, but by buying the book Ruth had seen it the opportunity to suggest that perhaps they ought to eat more healthier than they already were, Malcolm who had been intent on choosing something he did like hadn't seen, is a thought that Harry had kept to himself until the morning when the shed was due to arrive which had required them to get up with the birds. Something which since their wedding day and until Malcolm had arrived was a habit that they had managed to kick into touch. That it doesn't always end up with them having sex, although when they does, not only does it reach heights that Harry had long since given up as believing were possible, on this occasion causes him to remember that when he'd had his last medical, the company doctor had warned him that the stress he encountered not only during his time in the Security Services but in several theatres of war in the army was just as likely to kill him as a bullet from someone looking for revenge, to which Malcolm's albeit joke about them being relics now makes Ruth's suggestion that they need to eat more healthily perfect sense.
Reinforced in way that brings tears to his eyes, when Ruth calling from downstairs that breakfast is ready coincides with a vision of his mother, clearer than it has ever been telling him that Ruth is lovely which means that she no longer needs to worry about him.