Page 77 of Surprised By Love

We head towards the park, and Sam’s leg bounces up and down. I can tell she’s getting more nervous by the minute. Every time someone’s voice comes through the handheld with an update, she holds her breath.

I put my hand gently on her thigh. “Honey, it’s been less than ten minutes since we left.”

“Is that all?” She looks at me. “It feels like hours.”

“I know,” I squeeze her thigh lightly, “We will find her.”

I don’t know what else I can do for her. All I want to do is take her in my arms and hold her tight for a long while. I hate seeing her so upset. But I know I have a job to do, and I will not stop until Amelia is safe in her mother’s arms.

The sun is making its descent, and I look at the time on the dashboard. It’s been forty-five minutes since Sam noticed Amelia missing.

I look over at Sam, who’s leaning forward in the car, her head swinging back and forth, looking out the passenger door window, then to the front window, then the driver’s side window and back again. It looks like she was watching a tennis match.

Her eyebrows slanted inward, small creases on her forehead, her eyes red, wet and puffy from crying. A complete look of worry appears on her beautiful face. I reach over and place my hand over hers, squeezing it gently. “Hey,” Sam looks at me. “We’re going to find her.”

“It’s been almost an hour. How can you be sure?” Sam says, her voice trembling.

“You need to stay positive baby, Amelia is a smart girl she will know to—”

The phone rings.

I look at the phone caller ID, then to Sam. “It’s Mac.”

“Hey Mac, did ya find her?” I say, holding the phone to my ear.

“Yeah, we’re at the creek,” Mac says. I can hear a little nervousness in his voice.

“Well?” Sam whispers, leaning towards me.

I gaze over at Sam and nod.

“But,” Mac continued. “We have a situation. She is sitting on the ice in the middle of the pond playing with a cat. The ice… it doesn’t look good. It seems okay for a forty-pound kid and a cat, but not so sure it will hold a grown man. We’re at the creek bend behind the clearing. She hasn’t seen us yet. If she sees us and tries to run either towards us or farther away, the ice could crack.”

“Alright, stay where you are. Keep an eye on her, but don’t let her see you. We’ll be there in two minutes.”

I hang up and drive quickly towards the pond.

“She’s fine,” I say, glancing at Sam.

“Then why do you sound worried?” Sam asks. “And why did you tell them not to let her see them? Josh, I’m scared.”

I take a deep breath. “She’s on the ice in the middle of the pond.”

“What?” Sam looks confused.

“It appears she is playing on the ice with a cat.”

“Oh my God, the cat!” Her eyes are wide, as if a lightbulb went off. “There has been a little tabby cat wandering around the house for a few weeks now. Amelia is obsessed with it. She wanted to bring it in, but I told her no, it probably belongs to someone. Is she alright though? Why can’t Mac get her?”

“It’s the ice, it hasn’t gotten quite cold enough to—”

Sam gasps, “It’s going to crack! Josh, hurry, please. Oh God, what if she falls in?”

Seeing a tear slide down Sam’s cheek, I place a hand on her thigh. “Listen to me. We’re going to get her before that happens.”

We pull into the small parking lot in front of the tree line that surrounds the pond. Sam unbuckles her seat belt and opens the door before the car has fully stopped. “Sam, wait!” I shout, as Sam jumps out of the car and starts running across the lot.

I park the SUV, jump out of the car, and run after Sam. “Sam, please stop!” I yell. Catching up to her, I grab her around the waist, turning her around. “You need to think first. If you go running in there and she sees you, she might jump up and if the ice cracks, it will make things worse.”

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