Page 78 of Surprised By Love

“You’re right, okay.” Sam takes a few deep breaths. “So what do we do?”

I cup her face in her hands. “I know you’re freaking out, and I know it’s hard for you to have to rely on others when you are so used to dealing with situations by yourself, but you need to let us do our jobs. Mac and the guys are at the creek bend. They’re watching her, but out of sight. We’ll go meet them there and set up the safest way to get to Amelia.”

She nods and I kiss her forehead before taking her hand.

We make our way through the rows of trees and enter a small clearing where we see Mac, Sloan, and Dave. The three men all stand behind some enormous tree trunks, peeking around the sides at Amelia. The sun hidden behind the trees giving out only small bursts of light between them.

“Mac,” I say, with a hard whisper.

Mac turns towards me, as did Sloan and Dave. I signal the men to join us.

“How is she doing?” I ask as the men arrive.

“The same. She’s sitting there on the ice playing with the cat,” Mac says.

“Any idea how she got out there with the cat?” I ask. They all shake their heads. “Okay, here is what we are going to do.”

Just then, I hear Sam. “Ameliaaa.”

We turn to see Sam running towards her daughter.

“Shit!” I yell and take off after her again.

“Momma?” Amelia stands up, looking around, holding onto the tabby cat.

“Baby, I’m coming. Stay there, don’t move,” Sam yells to her daughter.

I grab her wrist and spin her around.

“What did I tell you? You’re going to make things worse. Let us do this Sam. If you run onto the ice, we are going to need to save you both because the ice will break and you’ll both end up in the pond,” I say, my voice sharp.

“But I’m scared Josh.” Her voice trembles. “I can’t just stand here and listen to you guys talk, even if it has only been a minute. I don’t want to waste time. I have to get my girl.” A tear slides down her cheek. I wipe it away with my thumb. I know she’s scared, but she needs to listen to me.

“I know. But if she moves around, it could get worse. Please. Let us do our job,” I say, more forceful than I meant to, but she needs to know this is serious.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stand back, but I’m going over there with you.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Mac asks as the three men arrive beside us.

“We’re going to need Ethan and the guys,” I say.

Mac gets on his handheld and tells Ethan and the other firefighters to come to the creek bend.

“Dave, do you still have the sled in the back of your truck?” I ask.

“Yes, Why? What are you thinking?”

“If we could get someone on it and glide it over the ice, we can get Amelia and the cat on it and pull them back in. We also need lots of rope.”

“Alright, I’ll go get the sled,” Dave replies.

“I got the rope,” Sloan says and runs towards the parking lot with Dave.

“Let’s head down and talk to Amelia while we wait for the guys.” I put my arm around Sam’s waist. “We’re going to get her,” I say, reassuring her.

A minute later, we’re at the side of the pond across from Amelia, who’s standing there holding the cat.

“Amelia, stay right where you are, okay, kiddo,” I holler.

---