The instant Michael Helwart’s arms encircled her from behind, Linsy’s entire body locked into a rigid line. It was an instinctive recoil, a flinch she couldn’t suppress. For three long seconds, she held the heavy Le Creuset skillet suspended above the flame before slowly, deliberately, setting it down on the burner. The garlic sizzled, a frantic, dying sound.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice a carefully modulated instrument, stripped of alarm. “Dinner will be ready in five ...