One Step Away (A Bedford Falls Novel Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

and she didn’t expect grand gestures that would
symbolize eternal bliss. But once she found him, she suspected that
a switch would flip in her mind, removing all doubt, allowing her
to trust her impulses and spend the rest of her life with the man
of her dreams.
    An ever-present self-doubting voice told her
that she was afraid to hit the switch. After all, she’d fallen in love many times. But she’d never been in
love. Most people considered those terms as identical, but Marisa
knew the difference. Being in love required the other person in the
relationship to love her back. And since most of them men she’d
dated preferred to spend the vast majority of their waking hours
working, they obviously considered her much less important than
their careers.
    Judging by the effortless smiles these
mothers exchanged during their conversation, they knew what that
experience felt like (diamonds sparkled on the ring fingers of
their left hands). But how could they have met their future
husbands at such young ages? Better yet, how had those women known
that they were destined to spend their lives with the men they
married? What factors pointed to a lifetime of happiness? And how
come Marisa had never received that same compass to navigate her
own romantic relationships?
    Entering a relationship never posed any
difficulty. After all, Jaclyn had passed along an endless number of
techniques for her daughter to embellish upon her “facial
imperfections,” and to aid her in selecting the type of man who
could provide her with a secure future: strong in mind, body, and
spirit; ambitious; protective; and accomplished.
    Unfortunately, the men Marisa dated lacked
either kindness, emotional and/or physical generosity, or an
interest in forming a tight bond of friendship. Just as
importantly, she couldn’t imagine any of them as fathers—at least,
not the kind who would attend his daughter’s school play or watch
his son play baseball from the bleachers, who would instruct and
correct, encourage and discipline, and above all love and support
them no matter the situation.
    Something tapped her right foot and, looking
in that direction, she saw a four-year-old boy racing over to
retrieve the ball that had hit her ankle. An attractive man
Marisa’s age—probably the boy’s father—jogged after the little one
with a smile. His eyes met Marisa’s. “Sorry about that, miss.”
    “Oh, no problem,” she said, grinning as the
boy grabbed the ball and turned around, only to get scooped up by
his father. “Have fun, you two.”
    As they headed in the opposite direction,
Marisa thought about the situation she currently faced with
Alexander. It dwarfed all of the doomed relationships she’d endured
over the past fifteen years. Of course, ever since she had first
met him, she’d suspected that he sought more than just
friendship.
    Sometimes after she turned away, his gaze
lingered just a little too long. Whenever they hugged, he held her
just a bit tighter and was always last to break their embrace. Not
only that, but whenever she had a bad day, he miraculously
appeared, sensing that she needed someone to talk with.
    He never judged her, never tried to solve
her problems, and never allowed her to beat herself up. Even if he
disagreed with her opinions or decisions, he supported her one
hundred percent and never criticized her. She’d never known anyone
so compassionate and understanding and thoughtful.
    Few women could claim to have anyone in
their life with those prized attributes, and she counted herself
incredibly fortunate to have such a loyal and supportive friend.
His family instilled those values within him.
    And Marisa loved his family. Of
course, she counted his sister as a great friend, someone she could
always count on to tell her the cold hard truth, regardless of the
circumstances. And while their father’s intense nature sometimes
contrasted his sense of humor that only became evident after
several beers, their mother…no,