Life has not been good to Barry Jackson. His wife ran off with his previous boss, leaving him to bring up two young daughters in his mother's house while he works nights as a security guard at Mackintosh. But though he's a loser, he is not bitter.

Then one day, he wins £20,000 on the football pools. To Barry, this is a fortune. It could change his life - not that he has a love life or even a social life. So when he meets Trudy's sister, Janice, he is smitten. But Janice is everything Barry is not - worldly, cynical, mercenary - and she has her eyes elsewhere, on Mack. Since her husband ran off with all her money and left her reduced to selling flowers at a roadside stall, love takes second place in her thoughts to cash.

Mack has cash, but isn't interested. When Trudy suggests a date with Barry, Janice dismisses the idea out of hand. Not only is he Trudy's 'cast off' but he is also only a security guard, hardly in a position to support her in the style to which she was accustomed. The n

Martin and Trudy are together and very happy. Martin's relationship with Mack, however, is not so good. Mack is jealous that Trudy, who was always devoted to him, has settled for Martin and, as transport manager, Martin gets the blame when the insurance company refuse to renew the policy on the Mackintosh trucks.

Trudy, however, suggests that she and Martin take over running the haulage as an independent company. Things go well, they get married, and Trudy cuts the final cord with Mack after he pushes her too far, leaving him with the realisation that he needs her a lot more than she needs him.

Then Martin's sister-in-law Sue (Alison Swann) turns up, eight months pregnant and with her husband, Martin's wayward brother Stuart, in jail with no hope of release. Martin had a relationship with Sue before Trudy and it's not long before Trudy realises that the baby is not Stuart's but Martin's. Sue swears she will never tell Martin but Trudy knows this is a secret she cannot live with.

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