Necessary as Blood

didn‘t protest. His heart beat beneath her ear, and she thought she felt him tremble.
    ‘I‘m so sorry, love,‘ she whispered. ‘I didn‘t mean to...‘
    ‘No, no. Don‘t you worry about anything. We‘ll sort something out, and I‘ll deal with your sister.‘ His tone made her glad she wasn‘t Cyn. ‘If we have to, we‘ll take your mum with us and run away to Gretna Green.‘
    ‘That would be very romantic,‘ she said, managing a sniffled laugh.
    ‘Well, I‘m sure that, as brilliant detectives, we can come up with some solution that will make you and your mother happy.‘ He pressed his lips to her forehead. ‘And I — I don‘t care if we have a wedding on Mars. I just want to be with you.‘

    Kincaid stood in the kitchen, trying to collect himself enough to make Gemma another cup of tea and something to eat — simple enough tasks — but he found he was staring at the refrigerator and the kettle as if they were alien artefacts.
    The house seemed unnaturally quiet; Betty had taken the boys home with her for a bit, saying she needed help with the frames for the costumes she was making, but had whispered to him that she just wanted to give Gemma a bit of peace.
    But it was he who had been given the respite by the children‘s absence. It had allowed him to think, enabled him to admit for the first time, even to himself, how terrified he had been that he might lose Gemma, how afraid he‘d been that she‘d come to regret her impulsive proposal. He‘d felt as if she was slipping away from him, and he hadn‘t known how to stop it.
    When he‘d gone up to get Charlotte, he‘d stood for a long moment, watching Gemma sleep with the child beside her, and he‘d realized that now he simply couldn‘t imagine his life without their oddly cobbled-together family. And then doubt had assailed him — he‘d wondered if Gemma would ever be entirely willing to commit herself to them, or if there would always be some secret core in her heart that refused to yield.
    And then she‘d admitted, at last, how much she still grieved for the child they had lost. And she had cried. It meant, perhaps, that she could heal — that they could both heal, and that their loss would not separate them, but bind them closer.
    But that thought brought him back to the problem at hand. What in bloody hell was he going to do about the wedding? He‘d promised her he would sort it out, but he hadn‘t the foggiest how he was going to do it. Maybe Gretna Green wasn‘t such a bad idea...
    The trill of the phone broke his reverie, galvanizing him. He lunged for it, hoping it hadn‘t disturbed Gemma, hoping it wasn‘t Jack with more bad news.
    But to his relief it was Hazel, asking about Gemma. ‘I was worried about her yesterday,‘ she said. ‘I‘ve been thinking I shouldn‘t have let her drive home.‘
    ‘And I was an idiot. I should have seen that she needed to go to hospital. I should have insisted the minute I saw that bruise. She could have—‘ He stopped, unwilling to articulate what might have happened. Instead, he told Hazel that the doctor had ordered Gemma to rest for a few days, and then about Winnie and Jack.
    ‘Duncan, are you sure Gemma‘s all right? Emotionally, I mean?‘ Hazel added, a bit hesitantly. ‘It‘s just that yesterday she seemed awfully worried about her mum, and stressed about the wedding... Her sister—‘
    ‘Oh, I‘m going to have a word with Cynthia. She‘s going to mind her own business or she‘s going to have to deal with me. But if Gemma and I get married in a register office, without family — which seems the only manageable solution — and then Vi... gets worse, Cyn will already have convinced Gemma that it‘s her fault. But I‘ll be damned if I‘m going to let Gemma‘s family bugger this up. I just can‘t work out exactly what to do.‘
    ‘It‘s difficult, yes,‘ Hazel said slowly. ‘But I think I might have an idea.‘

Chapter Twenty-Five

A trio of Bangladeshi girls came up the street towards us, chewing gum and smiling and chatting amongst themselves. They were dressed modestly in long black coats, loose trousers, and hijabs, but they also wore make-up and lipstick and their nails were manicured and polished.

Tarquin Hall, Salaam Brick Lane

    The enforced idleness had not been as bad as Gemma had expected, because either Betty or Wesley had managed to bring Charlotte for visits every day, and Melody had kept her updated on work. Her guv‘nor had sent her