Standing on the landing had been one thing but when Ruth opened the door to her room it soon became obvious to Harry that unless this was going to be a very short conversation and she was going to tell him that she didn't love him and that the last twelve hours hadn't meant anything, in which case he would spend the rest of his life wondering, that the only place for them to sit was on the bed. Because unlike his room where there were a couple of chairs the only other option was that they sit on the floor. Whether or not that she had considered this he suspected not besides nothing was going to happen was it he told himself other than he was going to listen, until she took off her coat and shoes, propped up the pillows against the headboard climbed onto the bed and suggested he did the same.

Having done so and not as fast as he might have done but given this was Ruth he took his time, whatever she said wasn't going to shock him or upset him was his next thought because over the years he had heard and seen more than most people would experience in a lifetime, he was prepared for anything or so he believed when she started by saying, 'during those first few months I was desperately in need of somewhere to live and something to occupy my time, a bit like now really except then I believed I was destined never to see you again. The only thing that sustained me was knowing that you loved me and being able to picture you at work which I know was ridiculous, as was going Cyprus given that Mani found me. Not that it was somewhere I had considered until I overheard a couple talking about Paphos and how friendly everyone was and how much they had enjoyed their holiday which was when I applied for and got the job at the hospital.'

'And George?'

'We met in the coffee shop one morning and got chatting but what I hadn't banked on was my being naïve enough to have believed that when he told me he was looking for someone to take Nico to school and back and look after him when he himself was at work in return for a room with no strings attached, which at the beginning there weren't other than he saw everything as being either black or white which led to a lot of arguments such as the one in the safehouse when he said he didn't want to hear about my moral values, which on reflection makes me think that he had always known there was someone else, despite me having told him that after years of sitting behind a desk I had made the decision to see more of Europe for no other reason that I had always wanted to travel I don't know, or whether it was the lie that did it? But on what I later found out was the third anniversary of his wife's death I woke up to find him standing in my room. I thought it was a one off so I accepted his apology but after that and with no pattern to it happening during the months which followed the only way I could cope with his attention which at times was relentless and given he was a doctor shouldn't have made a difference but somehow it made it feel worse, was to close my eyes and pray it would be over soon? That or lose my job and a roof over my head because who was going to believe me if I reported what everyone including his sister thought was someone who was a pillar of the community when I was a nobody, only to see him shot. I mean what does that say about me as a person?'

Harry had stopped breathing when she said relentless and now because she was crying in earnest, he did the obvious and yes as they were both fully dressed which made it unnecessary but he pulled the covers over the two of them kissed her on the forehead in the knowledge that not only would the temperature drop but it would be a long time before he himself fell asleep, whereas mercifully Ruth did so within moments.

.

'He seemed so mild mannered it just goes to show,' said a more than shocked Malcolm, who having heard footsteps on the landing the following morning had gone downstairs expecting to see two smiling faces and instead saw a very angry looking Harry in the process of making tea which he didn't usually drink, so rightly presumed he was making it for Ruth but for an entirely different reason in that she had woken up not surprisingly with a headache, before Harry elaborated, at which point Malcolm could only wait and in the hope that Harry would calm down.

Thankfully without having to wait long and with a plan when after taking a deep breath he said, 'I am going to call Ros and tell her that I need to take some more time off and if anyone questions why that I trust she will deal with it accordingly. That and ask her to offer Tariq the vacant techie job which will take some of the pressure off.'

'Good idea and you do know that you're both welcome to stay here for as long as you like, but given the reason I'm sure you and Ruth would rather be on your own,' said Malcolm knowing what the answer would be but still felt that he needed to offer.

'I think it's the only way to convince Ruth that none of this was her fault, will require us find somewhere quiet so any suggestions would be more than welcome.'

'If you want quiet then there are some nice little villages just along the coast from here or there is always East Anglia which has vast sandy beaches, but given Ruth was in Cyprus when it happened maybe not. Either way just take her a cup of tea and a cup of coffee for yourself and when you come down to breakfast if she has agreed and just as importantly that you have accepted that none of this was your fault Harry, we can have a look and see what's what.'

.

Hope wasn't a word which had figured highly given what Malcolm had witnessed over the years, but when Ruth and Harry finally reappeared by which time he had laid the table for breakfast, he saw behind what he could imagine for Ruth had felt like a confession the makings of a much happier resolution which he presumed meant that Harry's anger had been overtaken by a need that was far greater than he had witnessed before, which was not only to protect her but allow her to choose where they went and based on Ros's answer of everything here is ticking along nicely and for however long you need, despite not knowing why, that Ruth had overtaken Harry's job in terms of being his priority. And pleased yes of course he was when Ruth said, 'East Anglia sounds lovely and maybe at some time in the future we might go there but for now we've decided that we would like to find somewhere nearer to here so that we can spend more time with you Malcolm.'

Which by mid – morning was to become a reality when having driven what was only fifteen minutes to the small coastal town of Winchelsea they were sitting in the car outside what was a two bedroom property that according to the agent who was meeting them there and the details which Malcolm had called up, was the ideal place not only for Ruth to bury her demons but to move their relationship forward, and as Harry had always intended and more so now at a pace that she was comfortable with.