Free A Gift to Last by Debbie Macomber Page A

persisted.
    Elise took her time answering. “Your daddy was embarrassed.”
    “Embarrassed?”
    “He felt bad.”
    “About what?”
    “Being late helping to pay the bills. He didn’t come see you because…well, because I don’t think he could afford to buy you anything for Christmas, and he didn’t want you to be disappointed in him because he didn’t have a gift.”
    Kate mulled that over for a while, nibbling her bottom lip. “I love him and I didn’t have a gift for him, either.”
    “Your daddy loves you, Kate, that much I know.”
    “Can I talk to him myself?”
    Elise took a deep breath. “You can phone him when we reach Grandma’s house, and you can tell him about spending the night in the train depot. He’ll want to hear about all your adventures on Christmas Eve.”
    Matt considered what would happen to his relationship with his children if he and Pam went their separate ways. The love he felt for Rachel and Jimmy ran deep, and the idea of Pam having to make excuses for him…
    His thoughts tumbled to an abrupt halt. That was exactly what Pam had been forced to do the afternoon he’d left for Maine. Jimmy had been counting on him to attend the school Christmas program and, instead, he’d raced off to the airport. Matt’s stomach knotted, and he sat back, wiping a hand down his face.
    A whispered discussion broke out between the widow and the elderly couple who’d supplied the oranges. Matt had no idea what was going on and, caught up in his own musing, didn’t much care.
    Not long afterward, he discovered that a few of the senior crowd had decided to take this matter of Christmas for the two children into their own hands.
    Cathy walked by Kate, paused suddenly and held one hand to her ear. “Did you hear something?” she asked the youngster.
    “Not me,” Kate answered.
    “I think it’s bells.”
    Elise cupped her ear. “Reindeer feet?”
    “Bells,” Cathy returned pointedly.
    “Yes,” Louise piped up. “It’s definitely the sound of bells. What could it be?”
    They weren’t going to get any Academy Award nominations, but they did manage to convince the children.
    “I hear bells!” the other child called. “I do, I do.” It was the first time the little boy had spoken all day.
    Kate sat up straight on her mother’s lap. “I hear them, too.”
    Matt had to admit the two old ladies really had him going; he could almost hear them himself. Then he realized he really could hear the jingle of bells.
    A knock sounded loudly on the station door. “I’ll get it.” Sam eagerly stepped to the door. He opened it a couple of inches, nodded a few times and looked over his shoulder. “Do we have a little girl named Kate here and a boy…Charlie?”
    “Charles,” his mother corrected.
    “Kate and Charles,” Sam informed the mysterious visitor no one was allowed to see. “As a matter of fact, Kate and Charles are here,” Sam said loudly. “You do…of course. I’ll see to it personally. Now don’t you worry, you have plenty of other deliveries to make tonight. You’d best be on your way.”
    Matt glanced around and noticed that Nick Berry was missing…and he seemed to remember that their baby had a rattle with bells inside.
    The room went quiet as Sam closed the door, and the jingling receded. He had a pillowcase in one hand, with a couple of wrapped gifts inside. “That was Santa Claus,” he announced. “He heard that Kate and Charles were stuck here on Christmas Eve. Santa wanted them to know he hadn’t forgotten them.”
    “Did he bring my presents?” Kate sprang off her mother’s lap and ran toward Sam, still standing near the door.
    Charles joined her, gazing up at the man with hopeful eyes.
    “Santa wanted me to tell you he left plenty of gifts at your Grandma Gibson’s house, Kate, but he didn’t want you to worry that he’d missed you, so he dropped this off.” He thrust his arm into the pillowcase and produced a wrapped box.
    Matt recognized it right away as