Ben was far from satisfied with just her name and no explanation of what had happened to get her so shaken, but he also recognized that if she didn't want to tell him there was very little he could do to persuade her. He didn't know her, and had very little shared history with her except that one incident in the shop. He could have asked her outright what was going on, but he also didn't particularly want to cause a scene. For one thing, he could not possibly be more conspicuous, wearing a Santa suit in the middle of a Christmas Festival, and so someone was bound to notice and recognize him if something were to happen. Second, he still hadn't entirely gotten over the idea that Melody might be lurking in the background somewhere, watching him and making her own assumptions about what was going on.

"Well, if you're feeling better," he said vaguely, wondering if he should linger until she actually seemed to be recovered or whether he'd fulfilled his obligation by seeing her and the child safely to the bench and getting an assurance that she was fine (however mechanic and not-fine the response seemed).