When Mom Meets Dad Read Free Page A

for Career Day, including the e-mails and phone calls that would be necessary, emphasizing the expediency of starting the planning now to get everything accomplished on time.
    She was explaining the necessity of meetings to keep everyone on the committee up to date when a siren blared and a rescue van drove into the parking lot.
    "Oh, that makes me feel a lot better," Amanda muttered under her breath.
    With his arm still around her, filled with a protectiveness he'd never experienced for anyone other than Kristy, he gently rubbed her arm.  "We'll be all right."
    "Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" she returned, her blue eyes worried.
    "Both of us."
    The world seemed to stop.  The moment stretched beyond real time.  This was closer than he'd been to a woman in years, and the heating of his blood had nothing to do with the danger of being stranded on an amusement ride and everything to do with the woman encircled by his arm.  When her lips parted, he wanted to taste them.
    But someone shouted up from below and all at once, they were involved in a rescue operation instead of simply being stranded.  Within the next half hour, firefighters, ladders, and the fire truck with a mechanical arm and bucket seemed to be everywhere at once.
    "They're not going to fix it," Amanda murmured, watching everybody do their job.
    "No.  They're going to get us off any way they can."
    "My gosh, Alex.  How are we going to climb out of here with the seat swinging?"
    Her trembling became a noticeable sign of her fear as she gazed down at the rescue equipment.
    "Amanda, look at me," he ordered.
    The firm tone of his voice brought her gaze to his.
    "They know what they're doing.  Don't get ahead of yourself.  They'll tell us exactly what to do."
    His words seemed to register.  Finally, she took a deep breath and said, "Calm.  We're going to stay calm."
    "Yes, we are.  Just focus on the fact that you'll be home in your bed sleeping in a few hours."
    She closed her eyes and he knew she was imagining exactly that.  And he was imagining...
    Hot thoughts do not help in a crisis, he told himself.  But his baser half responded, No, but they're a great distraction.
    Dusk fell and the parking lot became lit with brightly colored lights from the concession stands as well as emergency beams set up on the ground.  Rescue workers tied ropes to Amanda and Alex's seat to hold it steady.  The firefighter in the bucket of the mechanical arm held two harnesses in his hands as the device stopped directly in front of their seat.
    He was a young man in his mid-twenties with a soothing voice.  Handing a harness to Amanda, he said, "First slip that on.  Then we'll go from there."
    Alex aided Amanda with the nylon harness with its many straps as she slipped it on like a jacket.  Her fingers fumbled with the buckles, and he latched them himself, trying to ignore the soft roundness of her breasts, the perfume she wore that was sweetly tempting.  It was a bit more awkward and difficult for him to help her with the straps that started at her back waist and had to come through her legs to the front.  Her cheeks became rosy as he caught one of the straps for her.
    She mumbled, "I can get it," and avoided his gaze.
    As he worked with the second harness, she moved over slightly to give him more room.  When he thought of her hands as close to his body as his hands had been to hers, he made sure he didn't need her help.
    After they were both secure, with safety lines attached, the firefighter unlatched the safety bar and beckoned to Amanda first.  He directed, "Stand up slowly.  Then just step over here.  They're holding the seat steady from the ground."
    She seemed frozen where she was.
    Alex took her hand and held it.  It was as cold as ice.  "Amanda, all you have to do is stand up and take a step.  Then you'll be safe.  C'mon.  Heather and Kristy are waiting for us on the ground.  They're watching us right over there."
    He pointed and Amanda