‘What did you tell her?’
‘That there was nothing to be served by allowing one very bad man to drag a very good woman down with him. Gregor’s done enough damage. I hope I showed her also that her kids will need her up there as an example to them.’
‘And Ranald?’
‘Gregor’s older son?’
‘Except he’s yours.’
‘I’ve never met the boy; I feel no attachment to him, and I never will. I don’t know why, but it’s different from the way I felt about the kid Myra had aborted. As far as he’s concerned, as far as Phil’s concerned, he’s Gregor’s. As far as I’m concerned he’s Gregor’s. It all came down to racing tadpoles; mine won but the bookies paid out on the other.’
She laughed as she looked up at him. ‘You can be a real romantic when you try, you know.’
‘So I’ve been told.’
‘How would you feel if we had a kid?’
‘That’s a question for you, just as much as me,’ he told her, as they reached the door of the Mallard Hotel, where supper awaited, followed by the regular Friday gathering of the informal local group known to some as the Ten o’Clock Gang. ‘But I’m not asking it, not for a while at any rate. Let’s get married first.’
She nodded as he held the door for her. ‘Let’s do that,’ she agreed. ‘But first, Chief Constable-in-waiting, you have a promise to keep.’
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