Page 48 of Save the Dance

Wordless, Evelyn held up both hands, signaling for him to wait. While he lingered in the doorway, she pretended to eat off an invisible plate.

Jason scratched his head. “You want me to bring you some lunch from the dining room?”

Evelyn shook her head. Pointing to the booklet he held, she repeated her motions. She mouthed a silent, “Tara.”

“You saw her in the dining room?”

Tiny laugh lines appeared on his cousin’s face. She nodded.

“Thanks. I’ll head there first.” Whistling the ballad that he’d sung with Tara, he continued on his mission.

A few minutes later, he stood listening to the hum of a dozen conversations, the clink of silverware, the gurgle of coffee pouring into one of an endless number of cups. He didn’t spot Tara, but her laptop stood open on the table he’d come to think of as hers. He shrugged. Wherever she’d gone, she wouldn’t leave her computer unattended for long. He’d wait for her. Threading his way through the tables, he stopped to welcome today’s influx of brides and their parties and extend good wishes to those who were starting their lives as married couples.

When he reached Tara’s spot, he circled around to her chair. He’d planned on dropping the script on the table and taking a seat, but he bumped the corner of the table. The screen on her laptop sprang to life. He scowled. He hadn’t meant to disturb her work. He certainly didn’t mean to pry. He had no business reading what she’d written. Intending to put the computer back to sleep, he’d pressed one finger to the touchpad when a line on the screen caught his attention.

The myth that Captain Thaddeus Heart battled a hurricane to make it home for his wife’s birthday is a lie. The storm was still hundreds of miles south of North Carolina when his ship, the Mary Shelby, dropped anchor in Heart’s Cove.

He held his breath as he scanned the rest of the article that was obviously meant for Tara’s editor. The more he read, the lower his stomach sank. Tara had claimed that access to Captain Thaddeus’s logs would provide the interesting tidbits she needed to include with her evaluation of Heart’s Landing. But she’d lied. In reality, she’d used the information for an altogether different purpose. One that would not only damage the Captain’s reputation, but the town that bore his name.

Had that been Tara’s plan all along? It had to have been. Nothing else made sense. He’d say one thing for her—she knew how to get people to confide in her. Based on her encouragement, he’d opened up to Tara, shared his deepest fears, his hopes for the future with her. The whole time, she’d been playing him, letting him think she’d fallen in love with him, when all the while she’d planned to stab him in the back.

He pushed away from the computer. He had to face facts. Tara didn’t love him. She never had. People who truly loved one another would never deliberately destroy everything they stood for.

New fears bubbled in his chest like acid. His stomach plummeted even lower. All along, Tara had offered assurances that Heart’s Landing was a shoo-in to retain its ranking as America’s Top Wedding Destination. But if she’d lied about everything else, the odds were nil that she was telling the truth about that.

What if the real purpose behind her visit wasn’t to ensure that his home town retained its ranking, but to make sure it didn’t?

Betrayal seared his lungs, his heart. The pain lanced through his chest. How had he let himself be duped? Tara was the second woman he’d given his heart to and, like Clarissa, she’d betrayed him. Only this time was worse. Clarissa had only hurt him. Tara’s treachery would destroy Heart’s Landing.

Once Weddings Today published her article, brides and grooms all over the country would cancel their reservations. Newly engaged couples would look elsewhere when planning the most important day in their lives. Within a year or two, five at the most, Heart’s Landing would become as distant a memory as Paragon Park in Nantasket Beach.

He eyed the computer screen. The temptation to erase Tara’s report surged within him. But what good would it do? She’d only recreate it.

Retrieving the script for the play from the table, he rolled it into a thin cylinder. He might not be able to stop Tara from writing her article, but he didn’t have to let her on stage. With so much at stake, he couldn’t take the chance that she’d announce her discovery in the middle of the pageant.

The heavy weight of responsibility pressed on his shoulders. For a moment, he bowed beneath it. He struggled to draw in a breath of air that had inexplicably thickened around him. Abruptly, he turned. He had to leave. No matter how badly Tara had broken his heart, he wouldn’t let anyone see his pain. No matter how badly she’d betrayed them all, he’d stand tall, determined to uphold the traditions of Heart’s Landing for as long as possible.

A task that would’ve been infinitely easier if he didn’t practically run into her at the door.

“Tara.” He pulled himself erect. Until her article appeared in Weddings Today, the unenviable task of acting like nothing was wrong fell to him.

“Hey. I hoped I’d see you.”

Tara’s smile was just as bright and honest-looking as it had always been. He’d swear it was the genuine article if he hadn’t stumbled over the truth. But he had, and he couldn’t go on acting like everything was fine and dandy between them. He stiffened. “It turns out you won’t be needed in the pageant after all.”

“You’re sure?” Tara’s smile dimmed. As if she suspected something was amiss, she peered over his shoulder at the laptop she’d left on the table. “Is everything all right?”

“I don’t know why it wouldn’t be. Do you?” he challenged.

“No,” she said, though her brows knitted and guilty color stained her cheeks.

Another lie. He’d once considered her guileless, but he’d misjudged her. He brushed past her. “You’ll have to excuse me. I have an appointment with the mayor.” Or he would, as soon as he got the man on the phone.

Behind him, Tara’s voice called, “Want to meet for dinner tonight?”

“I can’t. I’ll call you.” Eventually, they’d have to talk. He’d have to say the words that would put the end cap on their relationship. But not now, not today. He set off at a brisk pace before she could ask any more questions or, worse, see how badly she’d broken his heart.

What was that all about?

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