Come on!” Michael tugged his hand away from Glynnis’s grip.
Glynnis looked down at her unhappy son. His dark eyes, another reminder of his father, were accusatory. “Honey,” she began.
“I wanna go. You promised.”
“You pomised,” Olivia echoed, her tongue not able to navigate her Rs very well. She, too, started trying to release herself.
Glynnis hefted Olivia into her arms. “Isabel, I’m sorry. I can’t talk. I’ve got to get one of those sweaters and get out of here or my kids are going to have a meltdown.”
Isabel nodded. Lowering her voice, she said, “See why I have no desire for the little darlings?”
Glynnis grinned. Isabel’s dry humor and fearlessness about expressing an unpopular opinion never failed to amuse her. “Have a wonderful Christmas,” she said as Isabel waved goodbye.
“You, too.”
Turning to the table with the sweaters, Glynnis began a one-handed search for a mossy-green one in a size small. Olivia, held in the other arm, began sucking her thumb. On another day, Glynnis would have tried to distract her and gently pull the thumb out of her mouth, but right now she was too frazzled. If the thumb gave Livvy some comfort and allowed Glynnis to get her sweater and get out of there quickly, so be it. She’d deal with her daughter’s insecurities some other time.
Just when Glynnis found the size she was looking for, there was a huge crash as one of the nearby circular racks holding leather jackets collapsed onto the floor. Glancing over, she spied the unmistakable red sneakers of her son protruding from underneath the fallen rack.
“Michael!” Putting Olivia down, Glynnis rushed over to help one of the sales clerks right the rack. A dazed-looking Michael stared up at her. There was a bloody cut on his cheek. “Oh, Michael, honey,” Glynnis said, reaching down to help him up. “Are you okay?”
“Uh-huh.”
Glynnis took a deep breath. Her heart was racing. She gathered Michael into a hug. “I’m so sorry,” she said to the clerk.
The sales clerk just rolled her eyes. “Hey, he’s a kid. We’re used to it.”
Glynnis smiled thankfully. Reaching into her pocket, she extracted a tissue and gently wiped away the blood from Michael’s cheek. Grateful to see the injury was only a surface scratch, she mentally dismissed the green sweater and said, “C’mon, honey, let’s go.”
“Okay,” he said.
“Livvy, sweetie, we’re going home.” Glynnis turned, then frowned as she realized Olivia wasn’t behind her. Remembering that she’d put Olivia down when the rack fell, she called out, “Livvy? Livvy, honey, where are you?” She made a quick sweep of the store, but she didn’t see her daughter or the bright yellow jacket she was wearing anywhere. “Livvy!” she called louder, the first small seeds of panic beginning to take hold. “Stop hiding. This isn’t funny.”
“What is it?” the clerk who’d helped her with Michael said.
“My little girl. I can’t see her. She…oh, God.” Fear caused her voice to shake. “I—I had her in my arms, and I put her down when I saw Michael under the rack.” Glynnis was practically crying now. “She’s gone! I don’t see her anywhere.”
Holding on to Michael tightly, Glynnis raced through the store. Livvy had to be here somewhere! Maybe she was hiding under one of the racks. The kids loved to do that. Once, Michael had scared her half to death by hiding and not answering when she called. When she’d finally found him, he giggled, completely unaware of the fact he’d taken a few years off her life expectancy.
By now, many of the customers and all the clerks realized what had happened and they were clustered in worried-looking groups.
“Ma’am, ma’am, slow down. Tell me what your daughter looks like,” the clerk said.
“She…she’s only three. Th-three and a half. She’s small with reddish-gold hair like mine, hazel eyes, dimples, sh-she’s wearing a bright yellow down jacket with a hood. Um, navy blue corduroy pants and white sneakers.” Glynnis fought her fear, telling herself Olivia was tired, and she’d probably just curled up somewhere.
“Anything else, ma’am?”
“Sh-she was sucking her thumb.” The mention of the thumb caused something inside Glynnis to splinter. “She’s probably just hiding somewhere.” Please, God, let her just be playing hide-and-seek.
“I’ll get security,” the clerk said. Calling to a coworker, she added, “Help her look.”
The other clerk organized the staff and remaining customers, all of whom seemed to have stopped whatever they’d been doing to commiserate. Systematically, they began searching under and behind racks and counters.
Soon they’d exhausted all possibilities, and Livvy was nowhere to be seen.
Glynnis, holding on to Michael as if her life depended upon it, raced to the door and out into the mall. Her gaze darted around. Livvy, Livvy, Livvy, where are you? But no matter how hard she looked, she saw no yellow jacket. She saw no Olivia. Biting her lip to keep from crying, Glynnis stood numbly. She had never felt so helpless in her life.
“Mommy? Where’s Livvy?” Michael’s voice trembled.
Looking down into his worried eyes, Glynnis could see he was on the verge of tears. She tried to make her own voice reassuring. “We’ll find her, honey. Don’t worry. We’ll find her. M-maybe she just wanted to get some french fries.” But even as Glynnis said the words, the fear she’d been trying to keep tamped down erupted, threatening to totally overwhelm her.
A few seconds later, two black-uniformed security guards—one an older man, the other, a plump young woman—converged on the store.
The sales clerk who had been so helpful took Glynnis by the arm. “Come back inside,” she said. “We’ve got a security camera. Let’s look at the tape and see if your daughter wandered outside.”
“What happened, ma’am?” the female guard said.
By now, Glynnis was so panicked, she could hardly talk, so the clerk hastily filled in. As soon as the vital information was imparted, the male guard got out his walkie-talkie. Within minutes, the background music that was so much a part of the mall went silent and the public address system blared into life.
“Don’t worry, ma’am,” the male guard said. “We’re closing off every exit. If your little girl wandered off by herself, she won’t be able to get out. We’ll find her.”
“Lucy,” called one of the clerks.
The clerk, who had been so helpful from the beginning, turned.
“We’ve got the security tape rewound.”
“Let’s go look at that tape, ma’am,” the female guard said.
In the store’s office, Glynnis, with Michael, the store manager, the two guards and Lucy, the helpful clerk, stood and watched the security tape.
“Oh,
