That Adam thought their idea was a good one, gave a tired Ruth the opportunity to suggest that after what now feels like the longest day of her life, other than the day she had sailed away from Harry, that they talk more in the morning, allowing Harry to switch off the patio lights and follow her indoors as Adam heads off to bed.
The fact that she had been turning her wedding ring the entire time, Harry knows had been subconsciously because it is what she does when she's confronted by a problem that are few and far between these days, in contrast to those on the grid which had been a daily occurrence when neither of them had acknowledged even verbally how they felt about each other, something which had resulted in one or the other of them or both at the same time moving papers around in an attempt to pretend that there was nothing going on.
Which is why, 'leave it,' he tells her, meaning what is left of the washing up at what is almost midnight before putting his arms around her and pulling her close, this extraordinary woman, now his wife who almost from the moment he had laid eyes upon her had turned his life on its head and now if he wasn't so bloody tired would make love to, whereas all he can manage is a kiss which she responds to in the silence of their kitchen with the moonlight streaming through the window and with bed beckoning.
.
Waking up the next morning to find the bed empty and to the sound of voices in the kitchen, he looks at the clock at what is almost eight and after a dreamless sleep and once again thanks his lucky stars that he has the perfect wife. Who after he has dragged himself out of bed, been to the bathroom and padded downstairs looks bright as a button. As does Wes which reminds him of the small house by the canal where they consummated their relationship and more often than not had interrupted them at the most inconvenient of moments, now helpfully telling him, 'Dad's still asleep,' before repeating what he imagines he had already told Ruth given her expression that 'last week Fidget caught a mouse and brought it into the kitchen but because his dad doesn't like mice Ruben's mum came round and flushed it down the toilet,' then after a pause adding, 'the mouse' as if he presumes he thinks that Fidget is somewhere in the sewers of outer London.
A conversation that is resurrected when Ruth and Wes are upstairs getting ready for the morning walk which causes Adam to suggest to Harry that 'they might want to rethink their decision before he asks Wes if he would like to spend the rest of his holiday here once he himself goes home and at the same time keep the idea of future holidays under wraps,' not knowing that during the time between the mouse story and breakfast that he and Ruth have worked out the logistics when it comes to getting Wes here and back again.
Although what the best spy duo in the history of the service don't know, is that there is a twist in the proverbial tale when it comes to Adam which only becomes apparent when he says, 'Malcolm said your idea of a restful morning was to walk up a mountain,' when he and Ruth have stopped to admire the view. Her despite seeing it almost every day knowing she will never tire of seeing it, unlike Adam who is seeing it for the first time, can barely believe the panorama that having walked the best part of a quarter of a mile from the house can be so far ranging, is using it as a stop gap that is rapidly closing to the point where he knows he needs to speak up.
That Harry and Wes are some way in front of them with Wes keeping Harry occupied by reminding him of the week when they had driven through France via Reims and stayed in the forest where there had been bears until finally arriving here, means he doesn't notice that Ruth and Adam have stopped or does he hear Adam say, 'it's the guilt that I can't shift when I look at Wes because as much as I love him I crave adult company outside of the workplace so what does that say about me as a father?'
Or does he hear Ruth's reply which is, 'then you're in good company because I'm married to a man who mastered in guilt who will tell you that guilt only sends you one way and that sometime in the future you will come to realise that you have to let it go Adam, especially as we both think that you're doing a fine job where Wes is concerned and that to refuse our offer of help won't make you feel any better.'
Wes adding weight to what in all honesty had been the first thing that had come into Ruth's head, by pointing to the sky and shouting, 'look Daddy buggers,' at the pair of buzzards which she and Harry have concluded must be nesting close by are vying for space, and again when they are sitting in what Ruth has named the café in the sky and Adam asks him, 'if he would like to stay with Harry and Ruth until it is time to go back to school?'
A question that as they all know will be answered by a resounding 'yes!'
.
The sum-total of which means that rather than suggest that perhaps Adam needs to talk to someone better qualified than they are when it comes to balancing home life and a job, something that went part way to Harry's first marriage ending in divorce, they overcome by doing what they had always intended by making sure that Adam gets to spend quality time with his son until he flies home. Manipulating situations such as suggesting that when they go into St. Flour that it's Wes who shows his dad where they stayed on the night when they had arrived because they need to go to the bank and do some shopping and on the day when they visit Padirac, a vast cave where to gain access you are required to go down in a lift with the option of a trip through the underworld in a rubber dingy, crying off by saying Ruth is nervous, until it is Adams last but one day when they are on the way to the coast. A child's paradise compared to the beaches in the north with vast sandy beaches that despite it being the height of summer which means that it is teeming with holiday makers, sees father and son swim in a clear blue sea, build a sandcastle of such huge proportions that it attracts admirers and share fish and chips, whilst he and Ruth take themselves off to explore the harbour and do some people watching without a backup team and a surveillance van.
That Adam knows it has been contrived not mattering or when he and Harry are enjoying a beer on the patio when Wes has gone to bed and Ruth is in the kitchen does he mention it other than to say to Harry, 'I am exceedingly grateful and if Ruth ever decides to divorce you, well she knows where I live.'
To which Harry responds with a look that Adam has seen all too often, but this evening comes with the addition that even an earthquake won't shake the bedrock of their rock-solid marriage.
.
'How are they?' is Jo's first question, when Adam opens his front door on the evening he arrives home to find her standing on his doorstep with a takeaway which is not only unexpected but very welcome.
'Well, happy and remarkably unchanged to the point that it was easier than I expected to air my concerns, providing that Ros hasn't changed her mind.'
'When has Ros ever changed her mind,' says Jo but before going on to confirm that they have all bought into the concept that until Wes is confident enough to fly on his own, which is now in her opinion given what she has seen of him on the evenings when she steps into the role of childminder, a description she really doesn't like because it sounds as though he's a mini terrorist which of course he isn't, that if Adam for whatever reason isn't able to go with him, one of them and preferably her, who more than any of them other than Malcolm misses Ruth not being around will accompany him.
'And you?' she asks him when they are sitting in what used to be Ruth's kitchen, knowing about his concerns, having been the one to suggest that talking to Harry and Ruth was the answer. Her own guilt which had been at the forefront of her mind on the day when Fiona had been killed lessening and pleased that she has forced Adam's hand because whatever happens in the future Harry and Ruth will always be seen as part of what is essentially a family.
Only to have it confirmed as if by magic when Adam's phone beeps showing a picture obviously taken by Ruth of Harry about to light the barbeque and Wes with a string of sausages around his neck.