Page 32 of Save the Dance

Tara stared up at him, a puzzled frown on her face.

He cleared his throat. “Yep.” He swiped the berry from her outstretched fingertips and popped it into his mouth.

“Hey!” she protested.

“I had to make sure it tasted as good as it looked.” He grinned around the sharp-sweet flavor of fruit at the height of perfection.

Following his lead, Tara helped herself as well. “Mmmm.” She smiled, her eyes closed. “I could eat these all day, but we have work to do. Ready. Set. Pick!” Gathering berries in both hands, she began filling her basket.

Unable to banish the saucy tilt of Tara’s head from his mind, he kneeled beside her, grasped a plump strawberry, and gave it a tug. Their hands in motion, they worked their way down the row while fat bumblebees lumbered through the still air like overloaded cargo planes. The noisy shouts and laughter of children faded in the distance.

The sun warmed Jason’s shoulders and back while he drank in the good smells of rich earth, green plants, and ripened fruit. Almost before he knew it, their baskets couldn’t hold another berry. It was time to leave. He stood and extended a hand to Tara. She grasped it, unfolded her long legs and rose with a grace he only wished he was capable of. In an instant, they were face-to-face, their bodies mere inches apart. His breath stalled.

“What?” she asked, her voice suddenly hoarse.

Falling for someone who lived so far away was not on the agenda, even if she stirred a yearning in his heart he couldn’t explain. He straightened and took a step back. “Nothing. You look relaxed and happy. That’s all.”

“I miss working in a garden more than I thought I did.” Like a cloud drifting in front of the sun, a shadow passed over her face. She hefted her basket. “Well, I guess we’re done here. We should probably get back.”

“Hungry?” Suddenly, he didn’t want the day to end. “Connie packed a picnic lunch.”

“I could eat a bite or two. And don’t forget, you owe me an ice cream.”

“Me?” Jason gave her a look filled with mock indignation. “I filled my basket first.”

“Not a chance.”

The easy banter chased away the tension between them, and they headed for the main building to weigh and pay for their purchases. Tara was telling him a story about her co-worker when they reached a bench at the end of one of the rows. Amid the backpacks and diaper bags piled atop the seat, a young woman sat wiping red smears off a grinning toddler’s face. The little tyke beamed a strawberry smile at them as they passed. If he hadn’t been paying attention, he’d have missed it when Tara’s face nearly melted.

Jason swallowed. Someday. “Do you ever see yourself having a family, children?”

Tara gave the child a wistful glance. “One day. Sure.” She shrugged. “Not for a while yet. And, of course, I’d have to meet the right man and fall in love. How about you? You think you might ever change your mind about having a family?”

A baby to swaddle and push through town in a carriage? A child he’d teach to throw a ball, to take on piggyback rides or play hide-and-seek with? Someone he could pass his legacy on to, who’d carry on the Heart name? His eyebrows slammed together. “Who said I didn’t want children?”

“You did. That first day when you took me on the tour of the Captain’s Cottage, you said you didn’t think kids and a family were in the cards for you,” Tara murmured, her voice soft.

“Oh, that.” He took a deep breath. “Clarissa and I had just called it quits the day before. I was a bit sour on, well, everything.” His feet stirred up a grasshopper that went shooting off into the distance.

“This is probably none of my business, but were you two together long?”

“A few years. We met at a fundraiser in Boston when we were both starting out. She had just landed her first client at Handon’s Ad Agency. I’d recently taken over as the manager of a great little venue in South Boston. We had a lot in common and, for a long time, I convinced myself that she was the one.”

“What happened, if you don’t mind my asking?” Tara pulled the elastic band free from her hair and swept the thick blond strands into a new ponytail while they walked.

Did he mind? No. Like the print on some of the old photographs in the attic, his feelings for Clarissa had faded long before they’d broken up. “She realized it before I did, but we simply weren’t headed in the same direction. Things were never quite the same after my dad died. I had moved back to Heart’s Landing to help out while he was sick. After he passed, I was busy learning the ropes at the Captain’s Cottage. When she begged to help entertain Regina Charm, I thought maybe she was hearing wedding bells. As it turned out, she only saw an opportunity for a potential client. She has her heart set on a vice-presidency and all that comes with it—the brownstone in Back Bay, rubbing elbows with the rich and famous, nannies, and private schools. She never understood how I could give all that up for what I have here.”

Tara tucked a few loose strands behind one ear. “This is what makes you happy. Anyone who loves you should understand that. I’ve only been here a few days, but I get it.”

Neatly Jason turned the tables on her. “And your job, does it make you happy?”

“Not yet.” Tara’s mouth turned down at the corners. “It will, though. Soon. My days of doing the legwork for the senior editors will end once I get this next promotion.”

They reached the entrance to the old farmhouse that had been converted into a store. Jason held the door for her. “I hope that works out for you. I really do. In my experience, a promotion just means more of the same.” He shrugged. “I could be wrong. That might just be the way it worked out for me. As for Heart’s Landing, yeah. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

“It is a beautiful town. I’ll admit, in the short time I’ve been here, I’ve fallen a little bit in love with it.”

He wanted to ask if she’d ever consider moving here, where she saw herself in five years or ten, if her plans for the future could ever include someone like him. But he held his tongue. In less than a week, Tara would return to New York and the future she’d planned for herself, while the life he loved was here in Heart’s Landing. He had no business falling for her, no matter how perfect she seemed. The problem was, he thought he’d already fallen. And the more he learned about her, the deeper he fell.

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