Lily had spent almost two hours inside that office. Two hours while my mother continued shopping. Two hours while strangers comforted my little girl with crackers and apple juice.

Two hours before Brenda either realized — or cared enough to realize — that Lily had vanished.

I hugged my daughter closer. “Mom… where were you?”

Only then did Brenda meet my eyes. “I already told you. I was buying coats for the boys.”

“For two hours?”

“The stores were packed.”

“You never heard the announcements?”

“I was trying things on and checking out.”

“You never noticed Lily was missing?”

Her expression hardened. “Amelia, she was beside us one minute and gone the next. I can’t keep children attached to me.”

“You were supposed to be watching her.”

“I was watching three children.”