Cards on the table when they had been packing Harry had told Ruth it was Malcolm who had told him to get his priorities right and leave the rest of the team to deal with whatever happened between now and the funeral. Now three hours later when they are walking along the seafront in Southwold, despite what is a watery sun which is only just taking the edge off what is a cool breeze, for the first time since she has come home Ruth truly feels at peace.
Why East Anglia or more specifically Suffolk despite it being where Tom had shot Harry is because Malcolm when they had been staying with them had suggested not only was it somewhere to go for a break but it was going to be his next stop off point on a year-long trip on foot around the coast until he reached Pembrokeshire, only to be curtailed and then some when Ros had been killed and Harry had needed not only his calming influence but expertise and now that they are here and from what little they have so far seen feels like the perfect place to settle down.
A feeling that deepens for both of them when Ruth links her arm through his and yes finding the right house is important, one like the vicarage which despite the chaos had screamed of family, but there is also the not so small matter that Harry wants to ask Ruth to marry him, which given his track record when it comes to romantic gestures means that whatever he says he knows he must leave Ruth in no doubt that he wants to spend the rest of his life making her happy. That and the when and where to ask her, both of which are currently eluding him. Thoughts which for the moment are superseded by needing to get out of what has become a biting wind, which sees them heading into a café which not surprisingly given how cold it is has plenty of empty tables, apart from a couple with a dog and a small group of what appear to be hikers which again reminds them of Malcolm.
Choosing a table by the window, for the first time in what feels like an age since they have last said anything, Ruth saying, 'this if fun isn't it,' relieves the underlying tension and makes him laugh. Only for them to be interrupted when the waitress arrives and because they have booked a table at the hotel for dinner tonight they order a couple of bowls of soup and a round of sandwiches, after which Harry spots a copy of the local paper discarded on an adjacent table and having opened it at random, sees as the centre spread what are described as the glories of Suffolk, which as it has now started to rain would have seen the old Harry saying something that was akin to bollocks, whereas now he can see the funny side of almost everything.
Other than when it stops raining and having left the café they walk into town where the estate agent who introduces himself as Alan, tells them which now that they think about it makes perfect sense that, 'in a county which is heaving with people in the Summer, quiet and a sea view don't really go hand in hand.'
'How about quiet and within walking distance of the sea?' Asks Ruth who is seeing the bigger picture and a future that will inevitably involve a visit from Malcolm and probably Harry's daughter, although hopefully not too soon and in Catherine's case without the need for pistols at dawn.
'That I can do,' he tells them, disappearing into a back room and returning with both a smile of anticipation and two sets of details, plus the instructions as to how to get to both properties.
If that part had been easy then the choice as to which one or if either they might want to buy is anything but, because the house in the village of Walberswick which is described as one of Suffolk's secrets, something which in itself isn't lost on them, is located at the mouth of the River Blyth across the marshes from Southwold, wild with fewer crowds whereas the one in the village of Kersey is described as the prettiest village in Suffolk which suggests that it has everything and more that had so caught their eye when they had driven into Pavenham. Only to find that the decision as to which one to view first is a made for them because Mr and Mrs Russell are at home and are happy to see them now, whereas the Hopkins who own the house in Kersey, have when the agent rings to make an appointment left a message on their answerphone saying they are away until the following week.
Leaving the hopeful Alan having told him that they will let him know, they walk the short distance to where the car in parked, then follow the coast road in a southerly direction. The warmth of the car and the anticipation allowing them for the first time to acknowledge that what has up until now has been a possibility could conceivably become a reality. A feeling which deepens when they drive into Walberswick which according to the details which Ruth has found on her phone has moved with the times as well as having a thriving community.
Quiet now to the point of looking deserted and yes the mile long sandy beach suggests that it will be busy during the summer months, but it's the quaintness of the buildings and the lack of pretentiousness which had been their only doubt about Kersey that grabs them and more so when they pull up in front of the house and are greeted by a smiling and as she introduces herself Edna Russell, before adding, 'Jack's down at the shop, he won't be long and I'm sorry we're in such a muddle but we're flying to New Zealand next week and there's so much to do, would you like a cuppa before you look round?'
Now trying to picture what must be a woman in her early eighties and a husband that he is yet to meet on a several long-haul flights, without getting lost in airports god knows where in less than a week, whose priority is to ask them if they would like a cup of tea, 'yes please,' Harry eventually says, because Ruth for once seems to have lost the power of speech and he can see why. Because in a word the view from what is described as the room which extends beyond the kitchen, is breathtaking.
Only for Edna to continue by saying, 'my son and his wife have lived there for the best part of thirty years and I know it's a long way away but they've finally persuaded us that being closer to family is important as we get older.'
All of which is said in such a matter a fact way when she is weaving her way between packing cases to put the kettle on, before reaching for a teapot and four cups and saucers, that Harry feels compelled to say, 'please let me help you with those.'
That it coincides with Jack as he introduces himself arriving back with a packet of biscuits that he had obviously gone to buy because they were coming and at which point they are invited to come through to the sitting room which all bar a settee and a couple of chairs is empty, isn't lost on either of them, or when they have finished their tea that the invitation to look round the rest of the house and the garden on their own. Because not only has there has been no pressure whatsoever for them to make a decision or has there been a sales pitch about the village and how lovely it is and a wonderful place to live by the couple in question, because even without having gone upstairs they both know and had done from the moment that they had stepped through the front door that they had found their forever home.
One which has three bedrooms, all but the largest where there is a double bed having been stripped of furniture and a more than adequate bathroom despite needing some updating, again causes Ruth to take a moment before saying, 'I'd like to think that we'll do the house justice because in all honesty I don't think I've ever met a nicer couple.'
A feeling which appears to be reciprocated given the expression on the Russell's faces when they tell them that they would like to buy their house.
.
That the contract has already been drawn up and signed, the assumption being that they would be have thousands of miles away when a buyer had been found, for both parties means that the sale will go through sooner than it might have done. That they themselves have what remains of the day and night to look forward to and a day and night after that, can as Harry puts it with a smile once they have said their mutual goodbyes and best wishes for the future, enjoy the glories of Suffolk although not before they go back to the hotel and in the privacy of their room, he rings his solicitor to put the wheels in motion.