She stared at Grandma.
Then at the photograph.
Her cheeks reddened.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered.
Grandma barely seemed to hear.
The woman looked down.
“I’m sorry about what I said.”
Grandma gave her a small nod.
The woman glanced at the old photograph.
Then at Grandma’s worn coat.
Then she lowered her eyes.
“I’m truly sorry.”
Grandma nodded.
The woman picked up her shopping bags and quietly walked away.
The manager turned back to Grandma.
“Would you like us to sew that back on?”
Grandma touched the empty place on her coat.
“Please.”
While Daniel fetched a sewing kit, the manager brought out an envelope.
“Thomas left these with us,” he explained.
“He wanted the woman who saved him to see the life he’d lived, if we ever found her.”
It contained photographs.
A young man at graduation.
The same man on his wedding day.
