Forbidden Surrender by Carole Mortimer Page B

knew who Sara was.
    ‘I have to go back to work this afternoon,’ their father said regretfully. ‘Will you be here when I get back?’ He looked hopefully at Sara.
    ‘Well, I—–’
    ‘Oh, do stay, Sara,’ Marie cut in on her refusal. ‘Then after dinner we can—–’
    ‘Dinner?’ she laughed. ‘I only came over for lunch.’
    ‘I want you to stay,’ her father told her huskily.
    She shrugged. ‘All right—dinner.’
    He shook his head. ‘Not just to dinner, Sara. I want—we
both
want, Marie and I,’ he seemed to be having trouble articulating. ‘We want you to stay here with us.’
    Sara bit her lip. ‘Dominic said something about that. I have to go home—–’
    ‘This could be your home,’ her father cut in. ‘With Marie and me.’
    ‘Surely Marie will be getting married soon?’ Her voice was shrill at the thought of Dominic marrying Marie. She might have only been a replacement for Marie thismorning, but as far as she was concerned Dominic had been Dominic, the man she and Marie both loved. Yes,
loved
. She had fallen in love with a man who wasn’t just engaged to any woman, he was going to marry her own
sister
, a girl she couldn’t possibly dislike or fight.
    ‘All the more reason for you to come and live with Daddy,’ Marie said smilingly. ‘Then he won’t be lonely when I’ve gone.’
    There was no bitchiness intended in that remark, Marie just didn’t have it in her, and yet Sara realised that once again she was being used as a replacement. She had never felt second-best in her life before, but she did so now. Marie was a lovely, friendly girl, well liked by everyone, and Sara felt that she was being compared to her and found wanting. Marie was placid where she was fiery-tempered, accepted without demur the wishes of the people around her, namely their father and Dominic, whereas she rebelled at restrictions being put on her. Her independent upbringing was possibly responsible for that.
    ‘I want you to come and live with us for yourself.’ Her father perhaps sensed her bitterness. ‘After all this time I would just like us all to be together.’
    ‘I—I’ll think about it,’ she told him jerkily.
    ‘You go back to work, Daddy,’ Marie cut in on the tension. ‘Sara and I will go for a swim this afternoon, and I promise you she’ll still be here when you get home tonight.’
    ‘Okay.’ He bent to kiss her on the cheek. ‘I think your persuasive powers are a lot stronger than mine.’ He hesitated in front of Sara. ‘May I?’ he asked huskily.
    She raised her cheek in acceptance, watching as he left the room with long strides. He was a man any girl would be proud to have as a father, and she was fast coming round to thinking that way. After all, what had happened twenty years ago had been a joint decision, and she had loved her mother very much, so why shouldn’t she eventually come to love her father! Eventually? The way he had been talking earlier to heraunt and uncle, there might not be time for ‘eventually’.
    ‘Poor Daddy,’ Marie giggled. ‘All this has put him in a terrible state. He hasn’t rested since he found out.’
    Sara frowned. ‘I don’t understand how you can accept it all so easily.’
    Marie shrugged. ‘Life is too short to make an issue out of something like this. Oh, I know you think Daddy treated you badly, but your mother—
our
mother, treated me just as badly, and I don’t resent her. After all, she did leave me behind. New angle?’ she quirked a teasing eyebrow.
    Sara laughed, nodding. ‘New angle.’
    Her sister became serious. ‘What was she like? Was she beautiful? I mean, we must have got our looks from someone.’
    ‘Conceited!’ Sara’s eyes twinkled merrily.
    ‘Well, I have to be something to have captured Dominic. Everyone thought he was a confirmed bachelor before he asked me to marry him. I would have been a fool to refuse. Don’t you think he’s just gorgeous?’
    Sara was puzzled. If Marie thought he was so