“Absolutely. But where are your parents?”
Maggie turned around. The excitement drained from her face almost instantly when she realized they were nowhere to be seen.
Callum saw the exact moment panic crept into her eyes.
Alejandra noticed it too. She moved immediately, rounding the stand and crouching in front of the little girl, lowering herself to the girl’s level.
“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll help. Why don’t you stay here with us while we figure out where they are?”
Maggie looked like she was about to cry.
Callum watched Alejandra. Her voice had changed. Softer. Grounding. Then she pointed toward him.
“See him?”
Maggie turned toward Callum, sniffling. He gave her a small wave. She smiled instantly.
Good.
“He’s very tall, isn’t he?”
Maggie nodded.
“Well, if he picks you up, I’m sure your parents will spot you in no time.”
Maggie snorted a small laugh through her sniffles and nodded again.
“Give me a hug, Maggie. Come on,” Alejandra said, wrapping her good arm around her.
Callum felt something twist in his chest watching that.
The sling was still there. The injury still obvious. And yet she moved around it so naturally, like it was just a minor inconvenience.
When Alejandra stood up again, Maggie’s small hand wrapped tightly in hers, Callum pushed himself off the stall and stepped forward.
“Alright, Maggie. Let’s go find your parents,” he said.
He knelt down so she could climb up onto his shoulders.
Maggie squealed happily as he lifted her.
Callum steadied her legs with his hands while she sat on his shoulders, giggling above him like she had just been given the best seat in the world.
Alejandra walked beside them.
She kept talking to Maggie the whole time, asking questions about surfing, her favorite beaches, her best wipeouts.
Every now and then, Maggie leaned down from Callum’s shoulders to smile at a selfie Alejandra was snapping for her.
“I’m showing these to my parents when they find me,” Maggie announced confidently.
It didn’t take long before they spotted them.
A couple came hurrying, weaving frantically through the crowd with the kind of panic that made people instinctively move out of their way. The woman’s eyes darted everywhere at once while the man scanned each face they passed with growing desperation.
Then the woman froze.
“Maggie!”
