“I’m sorry. We’ve checked several times.”

No, no.

“So who is this for?”

“Thomas Brandt. Can you check again?”

She was getting stares from the people behind her but Lynn didn’t care.

“Ma’am, if you call our office tomorrow, we can try to see what happened to it.”

Lynn stood there, not about to budge an inch, not about to worry about the long line of people behind her. She was here to pick up her children’s presents, the ones she’d registered for with the good old Salvation Army, the ones that were supposed to be picked up a week before Christmas.

Thomas was right. He’d said that they probably wouldn’t end up having any gifts for him.

“If I don’t get them today, will I get them by Christmas?”

They might tell her that they would get the presents, but with her luck, if they ever showed up it’d probably be around Easter time.

The woman in the uniform gave Lynn an apologetic smile. But they had already checked the warehouse twice. To find a missing bag of presents would be almost impossible.

“Sometimes a name isn’t chosen. But because of so many people’s generosity, we have gifts for our Forgotten Angels.”

Lynn felt insulted and humiliated and angry.

Sorry, Thomas, your presents didn’t arrive. You’re now an honorary Forgotten Angel. Would you like your T-shirt that confirms this?

“If you come by tomorrow, we can make sure that you get some presents for your other child,” the woman said in a patient tone.

“Some presents?” Lynn felt enraged. “I don’t want some presents. I want the ones he asked for. That’s how it works, right? I mean—that’s how it’s supposed to work! Isn’t it?”

She could see the faces staring back at her, people behind her annoyed that she was causing a commotion and a delay, the faces of the twenty-something workers staring at her with that irritating look of compassion.

They’re gifts, Lynn. You didn’t earn them. You didn’t pay for them.

But they didn’t know what it took for her to simply sign up for this program. When she told Thomas and Sara about the program, it broke her heart.

A parent should be able to buy her children presents for Christmas.

Lynn wanted to keep fighting but she couldn’t. She knew it was a lost cause.

“I’m sorry,” the woman said to her.

“Yeah, I am too.”

She sighed and lifted the red plastic bag full of presents for Sara. God, why? Why Thomas? Why now?

She left the warehouse and felt the bitter cold outside. Her hands felt as numb as her heart.

She didn’t know what to do or where to go. All of Daryl’s money had gone to bills. She couldn’t afford to buy Thomas much of anything.

As she sat in her car, she realized she was thirty minutes late for the job interview.

Lynn let out a scream of anger and frustration.

I hate this life of want. I hate it.