Choices of the Heart Read online

  Choices of the Heart

  The Bradley Sisters: Book One

  By Kelsey MacBride

  Table of Contents

  Choices of the Heart

  Book Description

  AVAILABLE TITLES BY KELSEY MACBRIDE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Preview Chapter 1

  Book Description

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  Choices of the Heart is the first Christian Romance book in the Bradley Sisters series and begins the story of each sister’s search for a Godly man worthy of her heart. Each story highlights a sister’s hopes, her struggles, and her achievements as she trusts God to bring her the perfect soul mate.

  In this first book, Lauren Bradley wants to find true love and goes about experimenting with online dating websites and attending church singles groups to find the perfect Godly man. But her efforts are met with disaster and her frustration grows as she becomes impatient waiting for God to bring the right man into her life. She decides to become an entrepreneur and purchase Emilia’s, an Italian restaurant. But her goals of buying the restaurant are thwarted by Andrew, a handsome man who also wants the restaurant for himself. Lauren is attracted to Andrew, but becomes involved with her boss instead, ignoring a nagging feeling that he may not be the man God intends for her.

  Andrew has had a passion for cooking since childhood, having spent a lot of time in the kitchen with his mother. Now he wants to switch from being a teacher to fulfilling his lifelong dream of owning a restaurant. But there’s one problem: he’s attracted to Lauren and has to fight her for Emilia’s. Will he fulfill his lifelong dream at the expense of driving Lauren away? Or will he sacrifice his dream and compete with her boss for the chance at true love?

  AVAILABLE TITLES BY KELSEY MACBRIDE

  Desires of the Heart: Megan’s story (Available now)[RT1]

  Passions of the Heart: Tiffany’s story (Available now)

  Redemption of the Heart: Katie’s story (Coming July 30, 2014)

  Please visit www.KelseyMacBride.com for release dates of future books and to find out how to join my community of followers.

  Copyright © 2014 by Kelsey MacBride

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Emily Lam.

  Book design by Kelsey MacBride

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Kelsey MacBride

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: September 2014

  New Prosperity Publishing, Inc.

  ASIN-

  Chapter 1

  Newport Beach, California

  “The woman was pure evil I tell you, sent by the devil to bring me down.”

  “Oh really?” Lauren Bradley furrowed her brows and stared at the young man with spiked brown hair and black glasses sitting across from her as he took a bite of his prime rib. The guy was tall and handsome with a fit body. It was obvious he visited the gym frequently.

  “I bought her gifts, took her to fancy restaurants, even paid off her car loan. And what thanks did I get? At least she could have offered to repay me for the loan.”

  “That must have been devastating.” Lauren tilted her head, her curly blonde hair cascading down her shoulders.

  “That woman has no idea how she’s turned my whole world upside down by leaving me. I can’t sleep at night, can’t focus at work . . . my life’s ruined.” The young man paused, staring pensively down at his plate of food before continuing with a question, “Have you ever loved someone that much?”

  Lauren hesitated. She wished she could have replied with a resounding “yes,” but the fact was, her love life was on life support and she desperately wanted to do something about it. Her church friends told her to be patient, that God would bring the right Proverbs 31 man at the right time. “Trust and pray,” they would say. But while Lauren practiced that faithfully, it was hard to quell the urge within to be proactive, to put herself out there so the perfect soul mate could find her.

  Her date continued to pour out his woes, but her mind was in another world, dreaming of what her divinely appointed soul mate would look like. Would he have blonde hair and blue eyes, or dark hair with piercing brown eyes?

  A loud voice startled her.

  Lauren shook her head and looked up.

  “Are you listening?” He said.

  “I’m sorry? That must have been awful.” Lauren didn’t know why she was being polite. She wanted so badly to tell the guy he was self-centered and deserved to be dumped; that any decent, self-respecting Christian woman would never put up with that kind his better-than-thou attitude; that he needed to read Proverbs 31 to see what kind of man he needed to become in order for any respectable woman to date him. But she bit her tongue and smiled.

  “You haven’t been listening, have you?” He frowned, pursing his lips together.

  Lauren set her fork down. “Look, I’m sorry your last relationship didn’t work out. I can see it meant a lot to you. But I don’t think you and I are very compatible with each other either.” She forced a smile. She could never get used to the dirty job of letting a man down.

  “How can you say that? You haven’t spent enough time getting to know me. I haven’t finished telling you what my counselor said—”

  Lauren held up a hand. “Tom, you seem like a nice man and I had a nice evening. But I think we’re better off as friends.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by the chime of Lauren’s cell phone. Glancing down at the screen to check the caller’s I.D., she looked up at Tom. “Excuse me, but I have to take this call.” She got up from the table and headed toward the rear hallway of the restaurant, brushing past decorations of white Christmas lights and garlands of pine trimming.

  Turning her attention to the call she began, “Raymond, hey—any news on the restaurant?”

  The voice on the other end sounded tired. “I just got off the phone with the broker. I’m afraid I don’t have good news.”

  Chapter 2

  “What is it?” Lauren breathed, feeling sweat begin to form on her palms.

  “Sorry to bother you at dinnertime, but I just got word from the agent saying there’s a higher offer on the restaurant.”

  “What!” A knot began to form in her stomach. It had taken over two years to find the perfect restaurant and now her lifelong dream of being an entrepreneur was being snatched out of her hands.

  “Did he say by how much?” There was more than a hint of desperation in her voice.

  “He’s not allowed to divulge that.

  She held the back of her hand a
gainst her cheek. “Who’s the buyer?”

  “The broker wouldn’t say much other than that he lives out of state.”

  Lauren paced the carpeted hallway, glancing absent-mindedly at the gold-framed oil paintings on the wall. Frustration creased her forehead. “Raymond, you know I’ve reached my maximum. I can’t afford to offer more and this restaurant is really important to me. You have to close this deal.”

  “Calm down, Lauren. I know you really want this restaurant, but I’m afraid we’ll have to counter with a higher offer if you want to buy this business. I don’t come across many gems like this one. If you don’t grab it now, you may not see another opportunity like this in a while. Is there anyone in your family who might be interested in co-owning the business with you?”

  Lauren considered this for a second. She knew Raymond was right. It was a beautiful seaside restaurant with burgundy awnings and black trim, situated in the upscale tourist section of Newport Beach. The location had a lot going for it due to the heavy foot traffic, especially during the summertime. It was a dream location for a restaurant entrepreneur like her. After the owner had died suddenly of a heart, his widow had immediately listed it for sale. The listing broker was a friend of Raymond, which is how Lauren had been able to make one of the first offers on the business.

  But now there was competition. Yet Lauren refused to let the opportunity slip away without a fight. She had to convince one of her sisters to join in on the business venture. Her youngest sibling Katie was going to college and worked part time as a receptionist at a law firm, so she would be out of the question. Tiffany’s new medical career was beginning to take off, so she might be a possibility. That left Megan, her oldest sister, who worked as a wedding coordinator for a private country club.

  After giving herself some time to gather her thoughts, Lauren finally voiced her Plan B. “I’m not sure. But I can talk to Tiffany and Megan and see if they’re interested in partnering with me.”

  “That would be great if they could help you out.”

  “Is there anything else I can do to win the seller’s approval?”

  “What’s worked for many of my clients is sending a heartfelt letter expressing your sincere passion for the restaurant and how you’ll be carrying on their tradition of providing great food to their customers. It might sway them into giving your offer serious consideration.”

  “That’s a great idea. I’ll whip one out over the holiday,” she replied, biting her bottom lip.

  “I’ll be taking New Year’s off, so see what you can do and we can talk the next day.”

  “I’ll do my best.” Lauren paused for a second before adding one last thing, “And, Raymond?”

  “Yes?”

  “This mean’s the world to me. Please do your best to make it happen.”

  “Don’t worry, Lauren,” Raymond’s voice was steady and comforting. “I can’t perform miracles, but I promise to do my best. Enjoy your New Years!”

  “Happy New Year’s to you too.” Lauren ended the call.

  She was determined to buy this business no matter what it took. Good food and family gatherings had been the highlights of her childhood and this Italian restaurant would provide the perfect opportunity to keep their family bonded.

  The optimal time to approach her siblings would be at the family get-together on New Year’s Day at Megan’s house. She had originally wanted to hang out with some of her girlfriends, but Megan twisted her arm into going—something about introducing her to a “special friend.” But Lauren knew better. “Special friends” were Megan’s way of trying to set her up with a guy, a guy she would probably have no chemistry with. If there was one thing she hated, it was being set up on a blind date. But this New Year’s, she had a mission, and that was to recruit a business partner.

  First things first: she had to attend to some unfinished business with her date back at the table.

  Chapter 3

  “Lulu!” An excited voice greeted her by the nickname her sister’s had dubbed her with farther back than any of them could recall. Lauren’s oldest sister, Megan, held out her arms to embrace her younger sister.

  “Your dress is so cute!” Lauren’s gaze lifted from Megan’s brown suede shoes to her white V-neck lace dress.

  “Do you like it?” I found it at the cutest boutique store online.” Megan spun around, one hand on her left hip, modeling the dress for Lauren as if she were on the catwalk.

  “I think it looks gorgeous on you. You’d better be careful. Peter may have to fight off other guys tonight.”

  Megan had always had the best taste in fashion as the four sisters had matured through high school. She was the fashion queen her sisters would go to when they needed wardrobe advice on what to wear on a date. Lauren could recall many fond memories of the four of them hanging out together at the mall in their younger days.

  Megan laughed. “He loves this dress on me. Maybe you should get yourself one of these. It might help your love life.”

  Lauren smiled. “I’m not sure I’m ready for love after that last disaster.”

  “You didn’t go on another one of those online dates did you?”

  Lauren grinned sheepishly. “Afraid so.”

  Megan frowned. “How many times have I told you that online stuff is a waste of time? Who knows what kind of weirdo you’ll meet. You need to trust me. I’ve got this matchmaking thing down to a science.” She gave Lauren a friendly poke in the shoulder.

  Lauren rested her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. “Trust you? Do you remember what happened the last time you set me up on a date? The guy ended up bringing his mother along for dinner.”

  Megan chuckled. “Okay, I admit that was a bit of a disaster, but what about Blake?”

  “You mean the guy who brought his dog alone for the entire date and made me pay for half the bill when he ate most of the two pizzas?”

  “But I thought you liked dogs.” Megan giggled.

  Lauren rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but not on a date.”

  “Is she still trying to take over your love life?”

  Lauren turned in the direction of the new voice and broke into a smile at the young woman with flowing blonde hair and green eyes as she trotted over to join the two sisters.

  “Tiffany!” Lauren embraced her older sister tightly. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. You haven’t been returning my calls!”

  Tiffany returned Lauren’s hug, apologizing for the recent lack of contact with her sister, “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been a bad sister. It’s just that my medical practice is beginning to take off and I need to keep the momentum going.”

  “People always have to see the doctor sooner or later. I’m sure things will get better with time.”

  “I sure hope so.”

  You must promise to have lunch with me sometime next month.”

  Tiffany smiled. “Of course.”

  “Where’s Katie?” Lauren asked.

  “She couldn’t make it.” Megan said.

  Katie was the youngest of the Bradley sisters and the most rebellious. Growing up, Lauren remembered the times her parents had constantly found themselves having to scold Katie for sneaking out of the house to hang out with boys after school.

  Lauren breathed in and let out the air slowly through stiff lips. “Where is she now?”

  “She decided to hang out with her friends this New Year’s. She didn’t want to hear you preach at her.” Tiffany picked a piece of lint off her shirtsleeve.

  “Since when do I preach at her?” Lauren asked, indignant.

  Her sisters glanced at each other. “All the time,” they replied in unison.

  Lauren frowned and countered, “That’s not true. I just give her loving sisterly advice.”

  “I’d be happy to get some of your advice,” a deep voice boomed from across the room.

  Lauren turned her gaze to see a tall guy with wavy brown hair and a five o’clock shadow holding a glass of water as he entered the room. His wide s
houlders tapered to a trim waist. He wore dark-washed jeans and a graphic tee just tight enough to show of the definition of his chest. Her heart skipped a beat as she noted his intense blue eyes, then she began to blush as she realized he had been watching her and wondered how much of the sisters’ conversation he had heard.

  Megan looked up quickly. “Oh! Lauren, this is Andrew Fisher, my friend visiting for two weeks from Virginia.”

  Lauren and Andrew briefly exchanged greetings. Then Lauren tilted her head. “And how could you trust my advice? You don’t even know me.” She gave the young man a grin, trying to keep the sparkle in her light shamrock green eyes to a minimum and failing.

  “I’ll trust the advice of any Bradley sister,” Andrew smiled and replied. “Megan did such a fantastic job helping me decorate my home. I’m sure you’re all a talented family.”

  “Megan does have a gift with colors. But I think that gene skipped me.” Lauren laughed. “So what brings you to California?”

  “Andrew came here for the holidays and for some business,” Megan explained.

  “Oh really? What kind of business?” Lauren’s curiosity was piqued.

  “I’m looking into starting something in the food industry.” Andrew took a sip of his water.

  “Really? What a coincidence! I’m looking to do the same thing.” Lauren brushed a piece of hair behind her ears.

  “I’ve always been passionate about cooking and it’s been a childhood dream of mine for years to open my own restaurant.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Lauren’s eyes widened with interest. She took a tentative step closer to Andrew. The smell of his musky cologne penetrated her senses. It wasn’t often she came across a guy so passionate about food, especially one who was so good-looking.

  “Looks like the two of you have something in common.” Megan smiled and winked at Lauren. She turned to Tiffany. “C’mon, Sis, I need some help with the tortilla dip.”

  Tiffany raised her eyebrows. “But I thought you bought the ready-made one?”