Page 57 of Save the Dance

But there was something he didn’t know.

“Jason.” Stepping forward, she placed her hand on his broad chest. Through the rough weave of his shirt, she felt his heart beat. “My promotion—I’ll be a columnist. I can do that job from anywhere.” She glanced at Regina for confirmation. “Isn’t that right?”

Lingering by the door, Regina swiped a finger under her eyes. “I don’t see why not. You’d need to come into the office once or twice a month, but everything else can be handled by phone or email.”

Longing to put the confusion she saw there to rest, she stared into Jason’s eyes. “I was actually planning to make my home in Heart’s Landing.”

“Really?” Jason stilled. “You’re moving … there?”

She shrugged, the worries of the past few months slipping from her shoulders. “My bags are already packed. I was going to load the truck tonight, hit the road first thing in the morning.”

“That puts a different spin on things. I hadn’t considered …”

When he wavered, her entire body went cold. She’d seen the possibility of a second chance in his presence here. But maybe she’d gotten it all wrong. Maybe that wasn’t what he wanted at all. She drew in a calming breath. “Jason. It’s okay. If we’re not on the same page, I don’t have to move to Heart’s Landing. I can stay, find another apartment in New York. The city’s not such a bad place.”

She’d never feel at home here, though. Not like she did in Heart’s Landing. A part of her would always belong to the small seaside town where brides went to get married.

“I’m not saying that. In fact …” Jason shoved one hand in his pocket.

Before Tara could draw a breath or form a cogent thought, he sank to one knee. “I love you more than I ever thought possible. I will regret to my dying day the words I said to you in anger, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, if you, Tara Stewart, will do me the honor of becoming my wife and accept this ring as a token of my love.”

The world came to a full stop. Her heart stammered. She thought she’d lost him. She thought she’d lost everything. Instead, she’d gained her heart’s desire.

“Yes!” The word whispered across her lips. When her thoughts caught up, she knew she’d said the right thing. Her heart belonged to Jason. It always would.

Her fingers steady with the firm belief that she’d made the right choice, the only choice, she watched as Jason slipped a circle of emerald and diamonds on her finger. She sucked in a gasp. She’d have worn the ring even if it were as ugly as the Dobson pendant, but it was truly a work of art.

“My great-great-great-grandfather gave this to his bride. It’s been worn by Heart women for generations. If you want something more modern …”

“Never. It’s a treasure. I’m honored to wear it.” She pressed Mary Heart’s ring to her lips.

She tilted her face to his. Eyes the color of unbreakable steel, as deep as the ocean’s depths, as impervious as slate, stared back at her in a steady gaze that told her Jason’s love would never falter. That it was, indeed, a love for the ages.

Regaining his feet, Jason drew her into his arms. Tenderly, almost reverently, he cupped her chin in his hands. Her breath steadied as Jason leaned toward her. He shifted closer, drawing out the moment with gentle strokes of his fingers against her throat until she couldn’t stand it. She ached to feel his lips against hers. Rising on tiptoe, she met him as, at last, he dipped down until their lips touched. A soft moan rose in her throat and she knew, once and for all, she’d found her home. He was what she’d been searching for her entire life. He was where she wanted to be more than anywhere else.

All too soon, they pulled apart at Regina’s not-so-gentle throat clearing. “I think that’s my cue,” murmured the misty-eyed editor. An instant later, she slipped out the door. It closed firmly behind her retreating figure.

“I thought she’d never leave,” Jason whispered.

Tara leaned against him. Eager to start her new life in Heart’s Landing with the man she loved, she lifted her lips for another of Jason’s amazing kisses. In an instant, she pictured the future they’d have in one another’s arms, the years they’d spend at each other’s sides. She and Jason would grow old together. One day, they’d have matching rockers in the Captain’s Cottage, where they’d sit side-by-side and regale their sons and daughters—the next generation of Hearts—with stories of Thaddeus and Mary and their very own Heart’s Landing love for the ages.

“Let’s go home,” she whispered.

Epilogue

“A little higher. Higher. You almost have it,” Alicia Thorn directed from beyond the first row of chairs in the side yard of the Captain’s Cottage.

“Now, don’t you boys crush my flowers,” Mildred Morrey fretted beside her.

“Not a chance.” Ryan Court’s head swung toward the helper he’d conscripted minutes earlier. “Jason, you good on your end?”

Jason tightened his grip on the rope they’d used in assembling the backdrop. Purple hyacinths swayed as the final piece of the wooden frame slid into place over his head. “Got it,” he said through gritted teeth.

As if there were a chance in the world that he’d let go and have the whole thing come crashing down. Not after all the hard work Ryan had poured into building the bower. Not after Mildred carefully covered every inch with ribbons and bows before tucking flowers into niches. Not with half of Heart’s Landing slated to arrive at the Captain’s Cottage in a matter of hours. Certainly not with Tara’s happiness at stake.

His heart hammered. In just a little while, in front of family and friends, he and Tara would say their vows and begin their new lives as husband and wife. He could hardly wait. He’d thanked God every day in the weeks that had passed since he’d sworn to love and cherish her for the rest of his life. Beginning today, he’d prove to her that he was a man of his word.

“Jason! Are you daydreaming again?” Hammering a nail into place with one blow, Ryan shook his head. “Serves me right for asking the groom to lend a hand.”

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