Red Bones (Shetland Quartet 3)

respects to Mima’s family, wondered what sort of mood he’d be in when he got home.
    The phone rang. She reached out to answer it, hoping it would be Ronald telling her he was on his way home. A quiet afternoon had relaxed her. Perhaps it might be possible to put things right between them. But it was Jackie sounding excited, eager.
    ‘I was checking on the time you’d be able to make it up to the house this evening.’ Jackie always called it ‘the house,’ as if it was the only dwelling in Lindby.
    Anna, cradling the baby with one arm, felt an ache of disappointment. She wasn’t sure she could keep up the pretence of happy families. She’d hoped Mima’s death might mean the cancellation of the meal. The rituals and proprieties surrounding death were taken seriously on Whalsay. ‘Whenever’s best for you,’ she said. ‘We’re looking forward to it.’ And perhaps it would be better to have company tonight. Otherwise she and Ronald would spend all evening going over the incident of the night before and she might say something unwise, something she’d really regret.
    She replaced the phone and heard Ronald open the door into the house.
    ‘We’re in here,’ she said.
    Outside, the light seemed to have faded early and she only saw him as a shadow standing just inside the room.
    ‘Look at you two,’ he said. He was still wearing his jacket, but he’d loosened his tie at the neck. She hardly recognized him in the smart clothes. He was speaking to himself and his accent was more pronounced than when he talked to her.
    How can we get on? she thought. We don’t even share the same language. We come from different worlds. I don’t know him at all.
    ‘Have you been to see the Wilsons?’ she asked.
    ‘No. I bumped into Sandy, but I wouldn’t know what to say to Joseph.’
    ‘You look so smart,’ she said. ‘All dressed up like that.’
    He paused, then shrugged. ‘A gesture of respect, maybe. It didn’t seem right to be wearing my working clothes today.’
    He came further into the room and squatted beside her chair. He stroked her hair and watched while she prised the baby’s mouth from her nipple with her little finger. She lifted James on to her shoulder and rubbed his back, then held him out to her husband.
    ‘He probably needs changing,’ she said.
    ‘We can do that, can’t we, son? We can manage that.’ He was murmuring into the baby’s hair.
    ‘Jackie’s just phoned to sort things out for tonight.’
    ‘Are you all right with that?’ He looked at her over the baby’s head. ‘We can always cancel if you can’t face it.’
    ‘It’ll probably do me good to get out.’ She smiled at him tentatively. ‘I’m sorry I’ve given you such a hard time. It was the shock. I haven’t been much support.’
    He shook his head. ‘No. I deserved it all. I’ve been a fool.’
    Oh yes , she thought, you’ve certainly been that . But she knew better than to speak out loud.
    Later they wrapped the baby in a blanket and carried him up the hill to the big house in his Moses basket. It was the first time Anna had been out that day and she enjoyed the feel of the drizzle on her face. As soon as they walked through the door she realized there would be the new lamb of the season to eat. The smell of it reminded her again of her parents’ home, the calm lunches after church, her father drinking sherry and reading the Sunday papers. Then they were engulfed by Jackie’s hospitality; she hugged them both and would have had James out to play too, if they hadn’t said they hoped he would sleep.
    Through an open door Anna saw that the table had been set in the dining room to show this was a special occasion; there were candles already lit and the napkins had been elaborately folded. After Mima’s accident it seemed tasteless, as if they were celebrating her demise. Usually they ate in the kitchen, even if a crowd of guests had been invited. Andrew had been dressed in a shirt and dark trousers and Jackie wore a little black frock, rather stylish and simpler than her usual taste. Anna felt lumpy and under-dressed. She hadn’t bothered changing and there was probably baby sick on the back of her top. She wondered if Jackie’s understated wardrobe was a gesture towards acknowledging Mima’s death.
    Apparently not, because she seemed in determinedly party mood.
    ‘We’ll have champagne, shall we?’ she cried. ‘I’ve got a couple of bottles chilling.’ She led them through to the kitchen and