When Mom Meets Dad (2 page)

Cool?  Not exactly the word Amanda would use.  She gave her daughter a hug.  "He seems very...nice.  Now, why don't you and I take those cookies and iced tea outside and get cooled off?  I really think we might have to invest in an air conditioner for my bedroom.  On hot nights like this, you could sleep with me."

"You know, Mom, Kristy's house has central air."

Of course, it would.  Amanda would not think about Alex on hot nights or in his air-conditioned bedroom.  She would not think of him at all.

***

The fire company's week-long carnival was a big event in Cedar Grove.  Bingo and stand after stand selling food or chances filled the asphalt parking lot beside the social hall.  Rides for small children as well as a large carousel and Ferris wheel lined the perimeter of the lot at the edge of the street.

Kristy strolled along next to Alex on Saturday evening, sometimes running ahead, sometimes straying to a nearby stand to check out what was going on.  "Maybe we'll see Heather and her mom."

Alex had thought about Amanda and her request the past two days.  In fact, Amanda had invaded his thoughts more than he wanted to admit.  "What do you want to be when you grow up?" he asked his daughter, seemingly out of the blue.

Kristy shrugged.  "I don't know.  A lawyer like you.  A teacher like Mrs. Carson.  Or maybe..."  Another shrug.  "I don't know, Dad.  Why?"

Perhaps Amanda was right.  Career Day was something the children needed to broaden their outlook.  Even if the project took up his time, he should be active in educating his daughter instead of just giving it lip service.  "Mrs. Carson asked me to head up the committee at your school for Career Day in the fall.  What do you think?"

"Cool!  Then it won't be lame."

Sometimes his daughter's language baffled him, but he knew first-hand she hated being bored.

Just as they rounded a row of stands, he spotted Amanda and Heather at the cotton candy concession.

Heather saw them and waved, then pulled her mother their way.  "Hey, this is great.  Mr. Woodsides, could you ride the Ferris wheel with my mom?  She wants to, and I don't.  Please?"

"Heather," Amanda protested.  "I don't have to ride it."

"Dad loves the Ferris wheel, don't you, Dad?" Kristy chimed in.

The Ferris wheel was not high on his priority list, but he couldn't insult Amanda by refusing to ride with her.  Not when she'd graciously decided to tutor his daughter for free.  Not when the thought of sitting close to her made his heart beat faster.

"I definitely like the Ferris wheel.  I just happen to have a few tickets.  We could take advantage of the opportunity to see the sights from a birds' eye view.  The thing is–I don't want the girls wandering around by themselves."

"I know what you mean," Amanda said, seeming to appreciate his concern for their daughters.

Heather solved the problem for them.  "I see Susan Groft and her mom at the merry-go-round.  We'll ride and stick with them.  Is that okay?"  She looked up at Alex for her answer.

He and Amanda exchanged a look. 

Amanda said, "I know Susan's mom.  She'll look after them."

Five minutes later, the girls were climbing on the carousel.  Alex offered Amanda his arm and she took it blushing a little.  Soon they were strolling toward the Ferris wheel.

As Amanda glanced over her shoulder at their daughters, she said, "You don't have to do this, you know."

He looked down into her blue eyes, his gaze drawn to her lips, and realized something as he said it.  "I want to."

As they walked toward the ride, Amanda's hand lying gently on his arm, Alex irrationally wished they were walking down some tree-lined path far away from crowds.  It was crazy.  He didn't even know this woman, though his body was giving him signals that he would like to know her in more than a casual way.

A grisly bearded older man took their tickets and seated them, latching the bar in place.  Their seat swung as the wheel turned and stopped to load more passengers.  Alex's knee bumped Amanda's, his bare leg rubbing against hers.  They both wore shorts and Alex would have been perfectly content to let her leg rest against his, but she moved it away until a few inches separated them from hips to toes.

Resting her hands on the safety bar, she commented, "You were right about the spark plug.  I replaced it.  The mower works fine now."

"You replaced it?" Alex asked, unable to hide his surprise.

"The man at the hardware store told me exactly what to do.  I might not be a mechanical genius, but I can follow directions."

The Ferris wheel turned again and Alex realized he'd offended her.  "I didn't mean to suggest you couldn't.  I'm just surprised you even tried."

"Haven't you heard that women don't rely on men for their well being any more?"

It was said so softly and so nicely he didn't realize till the last moment that it was a slam.  "Ouch.  Is my traditional background showing?"

Her frown disappeared into a small smile.  "Maybe.  But so are my insecurities."

"What insecurities?  A woman who can manage a classroom full of third graders, raise a daughter, and change her own spark plug shouldn't have any insecurities."

Her blue eyes went all soft and wide.  "What a nice thing to say!"

He saw the pulse at her throat beating faster and noticed the white piping on her blue knit top made her skin look creamy and delicate.  "I'm not being nice.  I'm being honest."

This time when the wheel turned, they ended up at the top.  Then, without warning, the ride lurched hard and stopped, their seat swinging hard.

Alex instinctively curved his arm around Amanda's shoulders.  "Are you all right?"

Her hands gripped the bar.  "I think so."

Alex tried to see what was happening on the ground.  The man at the control was bent over the gears, examining them.  "I don't want to alarm you, Amanda, but we could be stuck up here for a while."

"You are kidding."  Her face went pale.

"I wish I were.  But from the crowd gathering down there–"

"The girls.  They're going to worry if they think we're in danger."

Even at a moment like this, she was thinking of their kids.  "They'll be able to see us.  We'll wave.  They'll be okay.  Trust me."

The look in Amanda's eyes was a combination of defiance and sadness, giving Alex the impression she might never trust a man again.  Had her ex-husband done that to her?

His arm felt right around her and he gave her a gentle squeeze as he had the irrational desire to convince her to trust him.  "It will be all right.  Talk to me.  Tell me about this project you want me to handle."

She tried to look down but when she did, their car tilted and she went very still.  "You said it would take up too much of your time."

"I'm reconsidering."

That got her attention.  At least for the time being.  She looked up at him.  "Why?"

"Because I thought about what you said.  And I do want to be involved in broadening Kristy's view of the world.  So tell me what I'd have to do."

Amanda tried to peer over the side of the seat again, but the swing of their car made her sit still and straight.  Composing herself, she gave him a weak smile.  "I never thought I'd be pitching you the idea in mid-air."

"Hey.  You've got a captive audience.  What more could you want?"

"To be safely on the ground?" she asked rhetorically.

"Pitch, Amanda Carson, and distract us both, or I might come up with something that will do the job in a different way."  Kissing her might make them both forget they were hanging thirty feet off the ground.

Her mouth rounded slightly, making kissing her even more tempting.  He leaned a little closer.

Amanda sat back against the seat, cleared her throat and quickly launched into a plan of action 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 searched for the girls.  She found them.  Slowly, she stood.  A moment later, she was standing next to the firefighter safely in the metal bucket.

Alex followed her.  It was a tight squeeze for the three of them.  The only place for his arm was around her waist, his body lodged tight against hers as the bucket lowered.  Another firefighter stood on the bed of the truck, ready to help Amanda down the ladder.

Only a few minutes later, they stood on solid ground with their daughters giving them each a huge hug.

"Mom, are you okay?" Heather asked.  "You're awful white."

"Hey, Dad.  Was it way cool up there?" Kristy asked.

"Honey, it was way high up there," he answered, then took Amanda's arm and led her to a bench sitting alongside a hot dog stand.  Flipping a few bills out of his pocket, he asked Heather, "Would you get your mom a soda?"

Amanda protested.  "I'm fine.  I just feel a little shaky."

Heather took a good look at her mom, then Alex, and said, "I'll get lemonade."  Then she scampered off with Kristy at her side, the two of them whispering back and forth.

"I'm fine," Amanda repeated and stood to prove it.  Meeting Alex's eyes, she said, "I'm sorry I froze.  I'm not usually such a pansy."

He shook his head.  "Amanda Carson, you are anything but a pansy."

As she gazed at him, impulse and what they'd just experienced together nudged him to curve his arm around her, bend his head, and let his lips graze hers.  He was about to do a lot more when Amanda suddenly pushed away.

The expression on her face told him he'd made a monumental mistake.

Chapter Two

When Alex's secretary buzzed him, he jabbed the button on the console.  "Yes, Georgia."

"A Mrs. Carson on line two.  About Career Day."

Instantly, he pictured Amanda's face after he'd kissed her and felt again the awkwardness of her pushing away.  Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how he wanted to look at it, Kristy and Heather had come running back with Amanda's lemonade along with Susan Groft and her mother.  Making conversation about the experience had helped for a few minutes.

Then...after an it-was-nice-to-see-you-again good-bye, Amanda had quickly shepherded Heather toward their car.  Despite attempts to concentrate on everything but her, he couldn't get the picture of Amanda on the Ferris wheel with her wide blue eyes, blond hair and beautifully curved lips out of his head.