An hour later, as the repairman put his tools away and washed his hands, Lynn could see the look on his face as he surveyed the small trailer. It was sad when stove repairman looked with pity at the place where she and her kids lived.

Sometimes life forces you into places you don’t want to be.

Lynn was realizing that every day.

“That should do it,” the man said.

She thanked him and hoped that no more repairmen would have to enter this house, at least not for another few months. She didn’t want Mr. Sinclair to change his mind about letting them stay in this run-down trailer. She had told him they wouldn’t be any problem, yet it seemed like she was constantly going over to his house to complain about something else.

As she watched the man start to head out the door, Lynn saw him pause and glance at her living room.

Does he have to keep judging me like this? Go on and get back home to your nice little house with the 2.5 bathrooms and the pretty backyard.

“Excuse me for asking, ma’am, but do y’all have a Christmas tree?”

She was going to say it was none of his business, but the manner in which he asked was friendly enough. “No, we haven’t gotten one just yet.”

We found some decent ones until I realized how expensive they were.

He nodded, thought for a moment. “You know—I got a Christmas tree in the back of my truck.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine, thanks. We’ll probably find one at the last minute.”

This wasn’t really true because she doubted they’d go looking for one again after the disappointment the first time.

“Well, what I meant is y’all can have it if you want it. My wife—she’s kinda particular about things and she didn’t like it. Not that it’s a bad tree. I mean—I don’t want you thinkin’ I’m giving you a bad tree. It’s a really good tree but she wanted a bigger one. I don’t even know if the place is gonna take it back. You can take a look at it if you want.”

Lynn didn’t see this coming.

He wants to give me a tree. That’s why he was looking at me like that. That’s why he was checking out my place and my living room.

She wanted to apologize for thinking poorly of him.

“Yeah, sure,” she said. “Thank you.”

A voice whispered in her ear as she followed the man to his truck.

Sometimes you don’t even have to ask for help, Lynn. Sometimes it’s there right in front of your eyes.

She thought about that Christmas dinner at the soup kitchen again. She kept telling herself that they didn’t need to go, that the Angel Tree had been a onetime thing before things got better, that she could do it on her own.

But nobody can do it on their own. You know this but deep down you’re running.