His face went completely pale.
“They’re looking.”
I followed his gaze.
Grandpa Joe stood beside our cart near the end of the aisle.
A store employee was next to him.
And someone small was standing close to Grandpa’s side.
The same little girl from aisle nine.
I followed his gaze.
She had one hand wrapped around the handle of Grandpa’s cart.
The other was holding his hand.
Her father started running.
I moved toward them too.
He reached Grandpa seconds before I did.
“What did you do, old man?”
Her father started running.
The accusation echoed across the aisle.
Grandpa turned calmly toward his voice.
And for the first time since we’d entered the store, I had absolutely no idea what had happened while I was gone.
Grandpa didn’t flinch.
“I didn’t do anything.”
The man’s chest heaved.
“Then why is my daughter holding your hand?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Grandpa tilted his head.
“Because she gave it to me.”
I looked down.
The little girl was trembling.
Before I could say anything, she released Grandpa’s hand and ran.
“Daddy!”
The man’s anger vanished.
The little girl was trembling.
He dropped to his knees and caught her against his chest.
“Oh, God.” He buried his face in her hair. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
His wife reached them seconds later and wrapped both arms around their daughter.
For several moments, nobody cared that half the aisle was watching.
Finally, the little girl pulled back.
“Daddy, Grandpa Joe found me.”
“I’m so sorry.”
The man looked toward Grandpa.
“Grandpa?”
“Apparently I’ve been promoted,” Grandpa said.
I almost laughed.
The little girl pointed at him, then looked at her father.
“I couldn’t find you, Daddy.”
“I couldn’t find you, Daddy.”
Her father’s face crumpled.
“I know, sweetheart.”
“You walked too fast, Daddy.”
That landed differently.
The man lowered his eyes.
“I thought you were beside Mom.”
That landed differently.
His wife shook her head.
“I thought she was with you, John.”
The store employee explained what had happened.
While I was getting butter, Grandpa had heard a child calling for her father near the endcap display.
Other shoppers had glanced over but kept moving.
Grandpa hadn’t.
Other shoppers had glanced over but kept moving.
He’d heard the fear growing in her voice.
So he’d tapped his cane toward the sound.
“You sound like somebody who misplaced a grown-up,” he’d told her.
Apparently, that had made her stop crying long enough to answer.
