Just A Step Away (Closer) Read Online Free PDF Page A

been the one woman I could count on, the one woman who loved me unconditionally.
                  “What’s your excuse this time?”
    “Hello to you too, Mom.”
    “I think this is my cue to leave.” Brody picked up his coffee mug from my desk and started for the doors but not before stopping to share pleasantries with my mother. “Always a pleasure to see you, Mrs. Sparks.”
    “As you, Brody.”
    “Well, I’ll leave you two to talk.” Brody shifted his apologetic eyes to me and then back at my mother. “Take care, Mrs. Sparks. Oh and good luck, Lucas.”
    As soon as his office doors closed, I turned and regarded my mother.
    “I’m sorry about missing lunch, Mom. Things have been…hectic. But now that you’re here, I guess it’s as good a time as any to let you know that I’ll be going out of town until Sunday.”
    “When are you leaving?”
    “Tomorrow early morning.”
    “Business?”
    “Personal. I’m helping Lanie out with something.”
    And wait for it...
    “How come I haven’t met that girl yet? You’ve been living with her for a year now, and I haven’t even been introduced to her.”  My mother looked pointedly at me. It was that kind of look that could etch fear deep into your bones. “Is there something wrong with the girl? Because, really Lucas, it’s bad manners not to introduce your mother to your girlfriend.”
    “She is not my girlfriend, Mom. She’s my friend. And why does everyone think that there’s something wrong with her?”
    “Well maybe if you didn’t keep her under lock and key like some fragile little china doll, the rest of us, meaning me, wouldn’t pester your ass about it.”
    “Like I said, she’s not my girlfriend.” The words dripped from tongue like battery acid and I hated the way they sounded.
    “But you want her to be,” My mother said matter-of-factly.
    “Mom, I don’t really—”
    “Don’t really what, Lucas? You know you can’t fool your mother. I see it in your eyes every time you talk about that girl. So what’s the problem?”
    What was the problem? Oh, that’s right. The woman I was in love with acted like I had the goddamn plague!
    “It doesn’t matter, Mom. She and I are friends and that’s the way it’s going to stay. Besides, I don’t think she’s interested.” Again, the hypothetical acid coated my mouth.
    The expression on my mother’s face told a very clear story. She understood how much it hurt not to be wanted by the one person you loved the most. My mother knew exactly how that felt. Better than most.
    “Listen, sweetheart.” I felt her hand on my shoulder as I turned toward the window, looking out over the city below me. “You are every bit the man I had hoped you’d grow up to be. You are worthy of a good woman, and you deserve to be happy.”
    My chest tightened, and my mother’s praising words hit me like a freight train. She’d always been so supportive of my choices, and this wasn’t an exception.
    “I just don’t know what to do about it. Every time I look at her, it’s like I can’t breathe. She’s all I ever think about, Mom. All I want. It’s frustrating, to say the least.”
    My mother moved to stand in front of me, placing her soft hands on my cheeks and looked me sternly in the eye.
    “If you want the girl, get the girl. Simple. I did not raise a fool or a coward Lucas. I raised a man. A good man.” She smiled before pulling back. “Now, what’s this about going out of town?”
    I sucked in a deep breath and let my mother’s words resonate. She was right. I wasn’t a fool. I needed to just come straight out and tell Lanie how I felt. Simple.
    “I’m going with Lanie to Texas for a few days. She asked me to attend her cousin’s wedding with her. I said yes.”
    “And you don’t see this as a sign?”
    “She asked me as a friend, Mom, not as her date.”
    Mom crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. “Lucas Matthew, you had better grow some damn balls and