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She looked up at me, her gaze firm. “Say sorry to the lady,” she whispered, her lips barely moving.
I let out a breathy chuckle and turned back to the cashier. “I’m sorry. Holidays are hard for us,” I admitted, my voice quieter now.
“They’re hard for a lot of people,” she replied gently. “I should have been more sensitive to that. Thank you for the reminder.”
“Glad to help,” I grunted, grabbing our bags and loading them into the cart.
As we finished, the cashier turned to the family behind us and started ringing up their items.
“Oh, you can stop there,” a woman in the family said. “I miscalculated, I guess. We can’t afford any more than that.”
Corinne nudged me, her eyes wide and expectant. I laughed, knowing exactly what she was thinking.
Turning to the family, I said, “How about I get it for you?”
The woman smiled tentatively. “Oh, that’s okay. I couldn’t do that. I know everyone is holding onto their money this time of year.”
I smiled gently. “I’m not,” I said simply.
Corinne grinned. “He’s loaded,” she added, earning a playful glare from me as I pressed a finger to my lips.
“What’s your name?” I asked the woman.
“Melissa,” she replied hesitantly.
“Well, Melissa, I’m not holding onto anything. How about I help you with those?” I nodded at the cashier. “Keep ringing them up. I’ll get it all.”
Melissa shook her head. “No, I can pay for the part I was going to buy anyway, at least. Please, you don’t have to do that.”
“Melissa,” I said with a small chuckle, “I’m going to buy them either way. I can either take it all home, or you can.”
Her shoulders sagged slightly as she relented. “Okay. Thank you.”
“Actually…” I said, looking behind her at the group of families in line. Reaching into my wallet, I pulled out all the cash I had on hand—about $1,000.
I went around, handing each family behind us $200, including the cashier.
One woman started crying and wrapped her arms around me, her tears dampening the shoulder of my shirt.
When I looked at Corinne from behind the woman’s head, she was grinning.
She was the only way I could still see good in people. She reminded me all the time of all the good things about humanity.
I wanted to protect her so badly, but even when people hurt her, she still loved them and wanted good things for them.
Just like her mother. It had gotten her mother hurt. I needed to make sure that never happened to Corinne, that she stayed good but didn’t let people take it too far. It was a lot of pressure. Pressure that I took seriously.
When I finally released myself from the grasp of the woman, I got our bags and took Corinne’s hand, saying, “Let’s get out of here before you make me buy everyone in the grocery store a turkey.”
“You could…” she trailed off, and I picked her up under my arm like a sack of potatoes.
“That’s enough from you!” I yelled into the busy parking lot, carrying my daughter squealing and kicking while laughing all the way to the car.
nineteen
Delia
Two days before Thanksgiving, I went to the grocery store, regretting all the choices that brought me here.