A Texas Holiday Miracle (17 page)

As they walked out into the cold night air, Angie said, “Please come for dinner tomorrow. We’ll have tons of food and we’d love to have you.”

“Thank you,” Lacey replied. “That’s very nice, but I have dinner already planned for us.” She’d told Angie about Gabe leaving, so Angie knew she was feeling lonely.

“If you change your mind, just come,” Angie told her.

Lacey walked away feeling good about the friends she’d made in Horseshoe. She and Emma weren’t really alone, so she couldn’t explain why she felt otherwise.

Back at the house they changed into their Christmas pajamas: red-and-black-plaid ones with feet and Santa Claus hats. Emma looked adorable. Lacey looked ridiculous. But it was fun.

“We have to watch Ralphie,” Emma said. “Daddy and me always watched it on Christmas Eve.”

“I know, sweetie, but let’s have a snack first.”

Emma climbed onto a bar stool. “What kind of snack?”

“A sandwich.”

“Peanut butter and jelly.”

“Grilled cheese,” Lacey shot back.

“No, Lacey. PB&J.”

“Okay, since it’s Christmas.”

Neither of them ate very much, and soon Emma was running into the living room to turn on the TV. Lacey sat in her dad’s chair and Emma squeezed in beside her as
A Christmas Story
began.

Emma giggled every time Ralphie or Randy did something silly. Her laughter was what Lacey wanted to hear. Her sister was happy. Maybe this Christmas wouldn’t be too bad after all.

Lacey was almost asleep when Emma sat up. “Lacey, our tree is not decorated. Why haven’t you decorated our tree?”

Lacey blinked like a deer caught in a hunter’s crosshairs. “Really? Seriously?”

“Daddy always decorated it after Thanksgiving. What’s taking you so long?”

Lacey sat up. “Are you kidding me? Aren’t you the kid who said you didn’t believe in Santa anymore and you didn’t want to decorate the tree?”

Emma shrugged. “I’m a kid. What do I know?”

Lacey grabbed her and tickled her rib cage. “I’m gonna tickle you senseless.”

Emma wiggled and screamed, “No, Lacey, no!”

After a few minutes of roughhousing, Lacey got to her feet. “Let’s decorate this tree. It’s long overdue.”

Emma had relented. That in itself was a miracle. Lacey got the decorations out of the attic. It was past midnight when they finished putting the last ornament on the tree. Lacey turned it on and the bright lights glowed, welcoming Christmas into the Carroll house. Finally.

“It’s beautiful, Lacey.”

She picked up her sister as if she was two years old. “Now let’s go to bed and wait for Santa.” Lacey didn’t have to say it twice. Emma was already half-asleep on her shoulder. Lacey tucked her in and sat for a moment with her.

She gazed out the window at the cold night and wondered where Gabe was. Was he in a hotel room all alone? Was he thinking of them? Was he hurting?

Getting up, she sighed and tucked the blanket tighter around Emma.
S-l-o-w.
How she wished she could tell Gabe that Emma had decorated the tree. His advice had worked.

Lacey slipped into bed and clutched her pillow a little tighter. “Merry Christmas, Gabe. Wherever you are.”

Chapter Seventeen

Lacey woke to a light touch on her cheek. She didn’t freak out or scream. She knew it was Emma. Her sister had done this a lot since their father passed away. She’d wake up and sneak into Lacey’s bed.

“What’s up, snuggle bunny?”

“There’s no Santa, Lacey.”

Lacey opened one eye and stared at the clock on her nightstand. It wasn’t even 5:00 a.m. “Did you look in the living room?” She’d spent over an hour putting out toys and gifts.

“I did and I saw my bicycle and lots of other stuff. I like my bicycle. I sat on it and everything.”

Lacey scooted up in bed. “How long have you been up?”

“I don’t know.”

Lacey was trying to figure this out, but her brain was still in sleep mode. “Why are you saying there’s no Santa Claus? We decorated the tree and you were happy. What has you so down this morning?”

“There’s no Santa Claus, Lacey.” Her sister’s voice rose as if Lacey was hard of hearing.

“Okay, I hear you, but you’ll have to explain because I’m still half-asleep.”

“I didn’t get what I asked Santa for at the mall.”

Oh, good heavens. She’d forgotten about that with everything that had happened with Gabe. “What did you ask Santa for?”

“I asked for a puppy and there’s not one in the living room.”

Lacey wanted to smack herself on the forehead. A puppy! That was so easy. How could that have escaped her?

“I asked for two other things and I didn’t get them, either. There’s no Santa Claus. He’s not real.” Emma curled up beside her, a sad, forlorn little figure.

Lacey gathered her sister close. “What else did you ask for?”

“I...I asked for Daddy to come back one more time so I could tell him I loved him.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Lacey hugged Emma tight. “Santa can’t grant those kinds of requests. He deals with toys. You asked him for something very personal and difficult.”

“I don’t care. If he was real, he could make it happen. You told me if I believed strong enough, it would happen. And I believed right here—” she jabbed a finger into her chest “—real hard and I didn’t get what I asked for.”

Lacey was wildly flipping the pages of the book in her head for an answer to soothe her sister’s wounded heart. But she feared there was no answer for this. No answer for the dreams or wishes of a six-year-old girl.

Lacey glanced at the window. It was still dark outside, but moonlight streamed in with bright promises. Lacey was trying to figure out how to find a puppy on Christmas Day. If she called around, perhaps someone would know and maybe she could get a puppy before the day was over. And Emma would still believe. That might be wrong, but Lacey was determined to make this day as special as possible.

“I didn’t get the other thing I asked for, either.”

Lacey looked down at her sister. “How many things did you ask for?”

Emma held up three fingers. “I asked that Gabe would be with us forever.”

Lacey was lost for a response. It was all tangled up with her own emotions of having to let Gabe go. How could this day be happy when they were so miserable?

In that moment Lacey decided she wasn’t going to do this. She wasn’t going to sink into a well of despair. It was Christmas and they would have Christmas.

With her thumb and forefinger she touched the corners of Emma’s mouth. “Smile, snuggle bunny. We’re going to have Christmas, and we’re going to laugh and be happy and open our gifts and be grateful for what we have. Daddy would want us to do that.”

“Yeah.” Emma rose to her knees. “Let’s open gifts. We don’t need no Santa Claus.”

“You got it.” Lacey crawled from the bed. “I’ll make coffee and hot chocolate and we can eat some of our delicious cookies.”

“Just don’t make any toast, Lacey. We don’t want to burn the house down today.” Emma laughed and ran into the living room.

Lacey kept forgetting to buy a new toaster. Oh, well, maybe one day she would remember. She made the coffee and hot chocolate and carried it to the coffee table in the living room.

She sat cross-legged on the sofa, sipping coffee, hoping it would wake her up. She’d only had a few hours of sleep.

“I have to get our hats.” Emma dashed off again and came back with their red-and-white Santa hats. Lacey slipped hers on, as did Emma.

Emma clapped her hands. “Now we have to open presents.”

“Drink some of your hot chocolate. The marshmallows are melting.”

Emma lifted the mug to her lips and drank, leaving a marshmallow ring over her upper lip, which she licked off with her tongue.

“What gift do you want to open first?” Lacey asked.

“You have to open yours first. I’ll go get it.” Once again, Emma charged off and came back with a wad of wrapping paper around something. Every inch of the red and green paper had tape on it. “I wrapped it myself.”

“I see.”

“You’re gonna love it. Open it! Open it!” Emma’s eyes flashed like a Fourth of July sparkler.

“You’re excited.”

“Yeah.”

“Remember, I told you that sometimes giving is better than receiving. You’re excited and can’t wait for me to see your gift.” She reached over and touched Emma’s chest. “That feeling in there is what Christmas is all about.”

“It feels like jumping beans are in there.”

Lacey smiled, placing her cup on the coffee table. “Well, then, I better open this before you explode.”

She could hardly tear the paper away for Emma’s little face being in the way and the tape that constantly stuck to her fingers. Emma had probably used a whole roll of tape. As she peeled the last piece of paper away, she saw a piece of Emma’s artwork in a frame.

Emma pointed to the picture. “That’s me and you in front of our house.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Mrs. Fillmore said it was really good.”

“It is, sweetie. I love it.”

The colors were really bright and pretty. A big yellow star hung in the blue sky and they stood on green grass. To the left was a shadowy figure that Lacey couldn’t make out.

“Who’s that?” she asked Emma.

“That’s Gabe at his house.”

“Oh.” Of course. Why hadn’t Lacey figured that out? Gabe had been a big part of their lives. But not anymore. She wondered how long it would be before they stopped missing him.

Emma pointed to the star. “And that’s Daddy, because he watches over us.”

“It’s beautiful and you did a wonderful job. I’m so proud of you.” Lacey ran her fingers over the dark wood frame. “Where did you get the frame?”

“Gabe gave it to me. He took down all the pictures of his son. I told him I needed a frame for your gift and he gave me one.”

Lacey wasn’t going to scold her for asking for things because now wasn’t the time.

“I’ll hang it in my room so I can see it all the time.”

Emma clapped her hands again. “Oh, boy!”

“You have a lot of gifts to open—you better get started.”

Emma grabbed a package and ripped off the bow that Lacey had carefully made. A noise sounded on the roof and Emma jumped onto the sofa and curled into her.

“What’s that, Lacey?”

“It must be the wind. Go ahead and finish opening your gift.”

A loud stomping sounded from the roof, and Emma stayed glued to her.

That wasn’t the wind. Lacey wasn’t sure what to think. Weird things were happening. She waited for the sound to stop, but it only got louder. Someone was walking on the roof.

“I’ll go see what’s going on.” She got up, and Emma held on to the back of Lacey’s Christmas pajamas, not willing to let her get too far away. Lacey opened the front door and the wind blew it back, almost knocking her down. The pinecone wreath clattered against the door.

“What is it, Lacey?” Emma whispered into Lacey’s back.

“I don’t...” Her words trailed off as she spotted a kennel at her feet. Someone had left it at their front door. A small dog was inside. The porch light and Christmas lights were on, but Lacey couldn’t see anyone.

Emma spotted the dog. “Look, Lacey. It’s a puppy. A puppy!” Emma knelt down by the kennel. “There’s a note on it. What does it say? I see my name.”

Lacey bent down to investigate. What was going on?

“Read it, Lacey.”

She tried to focus on the paper while keeping an eye on their front yard. “It says, ‘To Emma from Santa...Claus.’” She read slowly because she wasn’t believing what she was reading. “At the bottom it says the dog’s name is Merry Christmas.”

“That’s what I would’ve named her, too. Can we get her out? She’s so pretty.”

“Let’s see what’s on the roof first.”

Lacey stepped over the kennel and almost kicked an unwrapped box with a bow on it. Looking down, she saw it was a toaster.
A toaster!

Emma saw it then. “Lacey, Santa left you a toaster. He knew what you needed. Santa knows everything.”

Did he? She walked out into the yard to look around. Emma was right behind her. It was still pretty dark out and Lacey couldn’t see much but a dark sky with the sun lazily rising to the east.

“Lacey, Lacey, look!” Emma pointed to the sky. “It’s Santa. He was here. Daddy sent him.” Emma waved with both arms. “Daddy, I love you. Bye, Santa.”

Lacey looked down at her sister. “Sweetie...” She was going to say something, but for the life of her she couldn’t find words to disappoint her sister. Maybe there were miracles in a child’s imagination.

“It was Daddy, Lacey. He knew I was sad and he sent Santa so I would believe and be happy. I saw him.”

“You saw Daddy?”

“Yeah, weren’t you looking? He was right there on the roof and he went back to heaven.”

Lacey knew she should say something, but she’d encouraged Emma to believe, and she had to go with what she had told her. She didn’t have much time to analyze the situation as the Wilson family came running up her walk.

“What’s going on, Lacey?” Sharon asked, huddled in her housecoat. “The boys say they saw Santa outside your house and on your roof.”

“We did,” Brad said. “He left something at your door and then he was on the roof and just disappeared.”

“You saw Santa?” Lacey asked, thinking she had to be dreaming.

“Yes. Jimmy and I were looking out the window, waiting, and suddenly there he was.”

Emma got in Brad’s face. “Santa is real. You lied. You don’t know nothin’.”

Lacey placed her hands on Emma shoulders just in case she was planning to throw a punch.

Instead of answering Emma, Brad said, “Come on, Jimmy. We have to go home and wait for Santa to come to our house.”

Sharon hurried after her boys, but her husband hung behind. “Did you pay for a Santa?”

“No. I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Weird.” He took one long look at her in her Christmas pajamas and then he walked off, shaking his head.

“Come on, Lacey.” Emma took her hand. “We have to tell Gabe.”

“Emma, no.” But Emma ran across the yard to Gabe’s front door and pounded on it with her fist.

“Gabe, it’s Emma. Open the door.”

“Sweetie, Gabe went back to Austin. Remember?”

“No, he’s here,” Emma insisted, pounding harder on the door. “Gabe, open the door. It’s me. Open the door! Open the door!”

Lacey took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around her waist. It was cold and they needed to go back to their house, but how was she going to make Emma understand?

“Sweetie, stop beating on the door. We have to go back to our house. You have a new puppy and we have to take care of her.”

“No.” Emma defied her and Lacey was at a loss for what to do next.

She squatted and turned Emma to face her. “We have to go to our house. It’s cold and Gabe’s not here.”

“He has to be. I got everything I asked Santa for, so Gabe has to be here. I believed, Lacey, just like you told me. Right here.” She poked at her chest. “Gabe has to be here.”

“Sweetie—”

“No!” Emma turned back to the door and resumed pounding. She beat on the blasted door until Lacey thought she would scream. Finally, Emma sank to her knees, heartfelt sobs racking her little body, “Gabe, it’s me.”

Lacey couldn’t stand it any longer. She gathered Emma into her arms and stood. Emma sobbed onto her shoulder. “No, Lacey.”

“Sometimes we don’t get everything we ask for. You got two amazing gifts. Let’s go home and be grateful and take care of Merry Christmas.”

Emma sobbed into Lacey’s neck. Lacey turned and carefully made her way from the door. Since it was dark, she was careful where she stepped. A clicking sound stopped her. She swung around and saw Gabe standing in the doorway; a light behind him showcased him clearly in jeans and a black T-shirt. His hair was tousled and he wore his cowboy boots. She blinked. She was dreaming. She had to wake up.

Emma had heard the sound, too, and lifted her head. She jumped out of Lacey’s arms and flew to Gabe. “You’re here. I knew you were. Why didn’t you open the door?”

Gabe squatted. “What’s up, kiddo?”

Lacey could see and hear Gabe. This wasn’t a dream. He was here...in his house. How long had he been here? And why had he been hiding from them?

Emma took Gabe’s hand. “Come on, you have to see what Santa brought. He was here. I saw him on our roof. Can you believe that?”

“No.”

“Come see.” Emma tugged him farther into the yard, giving him no choice but to follow. Lacey trailed after them, her mind a jumbled mess of confusion.

Gabe picked up the kennel and the toaster, and they went inside to the warm house. He helped Emma get the small dog out. It was a brown-and-white Jack Russell terrier mix. The dog ran around the living room, into the kitchen and down the hall to the bedrooms. Emma was right behind it, giggling.

Lacey encouraged Emma to come open her presents. Total pandemonium ensued as the little girl tore into the gifts. Now that Gabe was there she was all sparkly and happy. Lacey felt a little sparkle herself.

Gabe sat on the sofa and Lacey curled up beside him. There was a scratch on his face and several on his hands. A suspicion formed in her mind. It didn’t take a Mensa member to figure out that Gabe had created a little magic of his own this Christmas.

After Emma had oohed and aahed over everything, she went over to Gabe. “Why did you come back?”

Lacey scooted a little closer. She definitely wanted to hear his answer.