Page 40 of Save the Dance

In her room at the Captain’s Cottage, Tara nodded, caught herself, and added a hasty, “Yes, ma’am.” She’d done all that she’d been asked and more, transferring her notes on each day’s events into a full account before she turned in for the night. First thing the next morning, she’d emailed a summary to Regina while she sipped her first cup of coffee in the dining room.

“I’m disappointed with the rosy picture you’ve painted of Heart’s Landing. The weddings you’ve attended, there haven’t been any mistakes? No problems?” Regina’s voice turned hopeful.

“No wedding goes off without some kind of hitch,” Tara conceded. Rain had nearly spoiled an outdoor wedding earlier in the week, but the staff at the Captain’s Cottage had been quick to react. The tent they’d erected moments before the ceremony had kept the wedding party and guests perfectly dry. When the father of the bride raised a water goblet instead of a wine glass for the traditional first toast at another wedding, Alicia had deftly exchanged stemware before the second round of well-wishes. Mildred Morey had plucked a wilted bird of paradise from the bridal bouquet and replaced it with a fresh one just before the Garrison bride had walked down the aisle.

Tara glanced at the bouquet she’d caught. She drew in a breath of floral-scented air for strength. “The only problems I’m aware of have been so minor or so quickly corrected, dwelling on them would make us look petty and biased.”

“Well,” Regina said with a huff. “I guess the town cleaned up its act after they botched my wedding. I warned you it wouldn’t be easy to pull Heart’s Landing off its pedestal. That’s why I told you to focus on Captain Thaddeus. If you’re calling, that means you must’ve found something to discredit him. What is it?”

She could practically see Regina leaning into the phone, twirling her eyeglasses in anticipation of some juicy tidbit. She gulped. “Nothing. Everything I’ve learned about Thaddeus Heart indicates that he was what the legend says—a man with an unconditional love for his wife.”

“There has to be something. Piracy. Smuggling. Mistreatment of the passengers or crew.”

Shocked by the implication, Tara sucked in a breath. “No,” she said firmly. “None of that. I’ve gone over the cargo manifests and the bills of lading with a fine-toothed comb. He was as upright and moral as they come.”

“You can’t expect me to believe that all the rumors floating around about him are false.” Regina’s shrill, nasal tone raised the hairs on the back of Tara’s neck. “If you haven’t found anything negative about Captain Thaddeus, you haven’t tried hard enough, dug deep enough.”

To say the woman was less than happy with the results of her research was a vast understatement. Nevertheless, Tara refused to smear a good man’s name without proof. “I’ve read every one of the captain’s journals and the Mary Shelby’s log books twice. Some of them, three times. Without exception, he professes a steadfast love for his wife.”

“The storm, then. What about that? He couldn’t have sailed through a hurricane to make port for her birthday.”

“It looks like he did. According to the weather reports, the year everyone says Captain Thaddeus braved a hurricane, one roared up the East Coast in October.” She read the passage she’d copied from the last log book. “I know it doesn’t sound like much of a blow. I suppose we could accuse people of embellishing the story.”

“There’s more to it than that, Tara. I feel it in my gut. You need to keep digging.”

“I’ve just about run out of options.”

“This isn’t the kind of defeatist attitude I expected to hear from you.”

Regina’s voice was so taut, Tara could practically hear the editor’s teeth grind together.

“I know. I’m sorry. But if there’s validity to the rumors about Captain Thaddeus, the proof is not in his journals or in the ship’s logs.”

“Well. I guess that’s it, then.”

Tara held her breath while Regina drummed her nails against her desk. She braced herself when the drumming stopped.

“Finish out the week there as planned. I’ll expect your report on my desk first thing Monday morning. Two pages, max.” Regina paused for effect. “Payroll will have your final check ready the day we announce this year’s winner.”

“You’re firing me?” Tara gulped. Her worst fears had come true.

“We had a deal, you and I. You were supposed to give me the proof necessary to knock Heart’s Landing out of the running for America’s Top Wedding Destination. In return, I’d hand you that promotion you’ve been after. I warned there’d be consequences if you failed.”

“Wait—wait a second.” Tara swung a searching glance through her room. Her desperate gaze landed on the thin volumes on her desk. The answer to her dilemma might be sitting in her very room, and she hadn’t even had time to thumb through them. “There’s one more avenue I haven’t explored. I stumbled across Mary Heart’s diaries in the attic this morning. They could contain the proof we’re looking for.”

“For your sake, I hope so, Tara.”

“I—” she started, intending to reassure her boss, but she was speaking to dead air. Regina, having said her piece, had ended the call.

Tara drew in a thready breath. Fired. Regina actually planned to let her go. She’d expected it might come to that when she’d taken this assignment. But anticipating an event and actually experiencing it were two entirely different things. Tears she was powerless to stop rolled down her cheeks.

What was she going to do if Regina followed through with her threat? With her savings nearly depleted, she might be able to hang on to her apartment for another month, two tops. She could land a job as a barista or a waitress while she looked for a position with another magazine, but what was the point? No one in the industry would hire her, not after she’d been fired by Weddings Today.

She might as well admit defeat and get it over with. Her dream of becoming a world-famous journalist had crashed and burned on Rhode Island’s rocky shores. As soon as she returned to the city, she’d pack up her belongings, rent a car, and head south. Back to Savannah. Back to her childhood bed in her parents’ house. Back to a job in her parents’ restaurant. Sadly, she shook her head. They’d be so disappointed.

And where would that leave things with Jason? New York had merely been a four-hour drive from Heart’s Landing, but Savannah was a thousand miles away. She couldn’t ask him to give them a chance if she moved back home. For a man who’d already been hurt by one long-distance relationship, the risk of more heartache was simply too great.

Her cell phone chirped a reminder of tonight’s dinner with the town’s dignitaries. She was supposed to meet Jason downstairs in less than half an hour. She didn’t feel much like going, but that was beside the point, wasn’t it? She’d agreed to evaluate Heart’s Landing for Weddings Today. As long as she still worked for the magazine, she’d keep her word. Brushing the tears from her cheeks, she spun toward the closet. As she did, her gaze landed once more on the stack of Mary Heart’s diaries lying on the desk where Jason had left them. She clutched her fingers into a two-handed fist and pressed it against the underside of her chin.

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