Love story: Danielle and Rick Bisca, Smithtown

Danielle and Rick Bisca of Smithtown met while brokering a deal to refinance her house. Danielle tells their story. In April 2006 I was complaining to my friend Ginger about the interest rate on my home equity line. She suggested that I refinance my house in Melville and gave me the number of a mortgage company she had used. I called them and got a call back from Rick Bisca, a broker there. Our conversation was brief. Two weeks after that first call I dropped some papers off to Rick. We talked for a half-hour. I didn't want to leave. I found myself very attracted to this man.

As the weeks went by, our telephone conversations became longer and more involved. We talked about ourselves, and Rick talked about his son. I looked forward to hearing from him and became giddy whenever he called. It was a feeling I had never felt before. The day of the closing, April 25, I woke up early, curled my hair, put on a nice outfit and felt sick with nerves. I knew this was going to be the last time I would see him - but after the closing, Rick asked me out.

A week later we went to dinner at Kohaku, a sushi restaurant in Huntington. I was nervous and drank three glasses of wine that night, which is 21/2 glasses too many for me.

Rick didn't call me for three days and I was worried that he wasn't interested, but he confessed that he didn't want to seem too eager.

There are certain moments in a relationship when you know you've met the right one. After three weeks of dating, I knew this was the man I had been waiting for my whole life. Rick knew I loved country music and although he had never listened to country music, he researched popular country music stars and bought tickets to see Martina McBride. I had an amazing time at the concert. Rick didn't know one song she sang, but he knew it made me happy.

On Thanksgiving Day 2007, Rick and I were engaged. We married May 25, 2008, at The Inn at East Wind in Wading River. It was truly the best day of our lives. At age 39, I married the man of my dreams, I now have a wonderful 17-year-old stepson, and after two years of marriage, it just keeps getting better and better.

Even though we have busy lives - Rick is a senior mortgage banker at M&T Bank, and I am a cardiac surgery nurse practitioner at North Shore University Hospital - we make sure to make time for each other.