Sweet Surrender (The Dysarts) by Catherine George Page A

still is.’
    Alasdair stopped dead. ‘Why should she be worried?’
    â€˜Leo wants everyone to live happily ever after, like she does with Jonah.’
    â€˜And she obviously thinks there’s no chance of that for you where I’m concerned?’
    â€˜Right.’ Kate shivered suddenly, and Alasdair took her hand.
    â€˜You’re cold. Let’s go inside.’
    â€˜What are you going to cook for me?’ she asked, as they went back into the warm kitchen.
    â€˜Steak and salad do you?’ he asked, taking her jacket.
    â€˜Perfect. What can I do to help?’
    â€˜Just sit there and look decorative while I slave over a hot stove. How about a drink?’ he added.
    â€˜Do you have brandy?’
    â€˜Finest French cognac,’ he assured her.
    â€˜Ginger ale?’
    â€˜That too.’
    Kate grinned. ‘Then I’ll have a teaspoon of your cognac in a tall glass of ginger ale.’
    When Alasdair came back from the larder with her drink, and a beer for himself, Kate sipped at hers while she watched him switch on the grill and season a pair of steaks.
    â€˜I can make the salad,’ she offered, but he shook his head.
    â€˜Just sit there and talk to me.’ He looked up with a gleam in his eye. ‘You can do the cooking when I come to your doll’s house.’
    Kate gave that some thought, not at all sure she wanted her life in Foychurch disrupted by visits from Alasdair Drummond. Or from anyone else, Jack Spencer included. As she’d told Alasdair, the village was a close-knit community, where everyone had accepted her from the first. Consequently she’d always kept her socialising where men were concerned in Stavely, to save complications.
    â€˜I hesitate to cast a blight over the evening,’ she said, with a sigh, ‘but I don’t think visits to Foychurch are a good idea.’
    â€˜That’s obvious,’ he said shortly, and gave her a tablecloth and a handful of silverware. ‘Lay the table while you explain why.’
    Kate did her best, but she could see she was making no headway. ‘I prefer to keep my life there separate,’ she finished lamely. ‘It’s easier that way.’
    â€˜Why?’ Alasdair’s tone was caustic. ‘Was a vow of chastity required when you were taken on at the school?’
    She laughed. ‘No, of course not.’
    â€˜Then what’s the harm in seeing an old friend like me once in a while? Lord knows it won’t be often once I’m involved in the new job.’ He turned on her suddenly. ‘Why me, anyway? This embargo obviously doesn’t apply to your friend Jack.’
    â€˜The day you saw him he was just bringing flowers to thank me for looking after his niece.’
    â€˜Have you seen him since? Other than today, I mean?’
    â€˜Yes’ she admitted reluctantly.
    â€˜And did he ask to see you again?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    Alasdair sliced a cucumber with a speed and violence Kate watched with trepidation. ‘In this idyllic community you like so much, an old friend like me must surely cause less comment than the uncle of one of your pupils? You could be accused of favouritism every time you give his niece a gold star or whatever,’ he pointed out, and rammed the steak under the grill.
    â€˜Oh, all right, Alasdair,’ she said irritably. ‘You’ve made your point.’
    â€˜Then I rest my case. How rare do you like your steak?’
    Once they’d sat down Kate set out to defuse the situation by discussing Alasdair’s work again, a subject as dear to his heart as it was fascinating to her. Consequently the meal was more of a success than had seemed possible at one point.
    Due to her informed, intelligent questions he expanded at length, then stopped short at last, eyeing her in apology.
    â€˜I tend to get carried away. You’re a very good listener.’
    â€˜I find it fascinating,’ she assured