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She turned to her father, her voice filled with awe. “What did he say?”
    Clanging came from the kitchen as volunteers washed the dishes. Brian moved closer to his daughter so she could hear him. “He said it would take a miracle.”
    “Good.” Gideon’s eyes lit up and she turned to look at Earl again. He had dropped his plate in the tub of dirty dishes and was making his way out into the cold, dark night. “That’s what I thought.”
    And with that, she skipped off toward another table of street people. Her energy seemed to have returned as quickly as it had left. Brian wondered why. Whatever thoughts were going through Gideon’s head, he hoped they had nothing to do with old Earl.
    A bitter man like that didn’t deserve the attention of anyone.
    Least of all his precious Gideon.
    G ideon waited until Dustin was asleep before she did it.
    When she could hear his soft breathing and she was sure he wasn’t going to wake up, she slipped out of bed and dropped to her knees. The floor felt bumpy through her worn nightgown, and her knees hurt. They’d done that ever since she got sick. But right now the hurt didn’t matter.
    She’d been planning this since they left the mission.
    The idea had come when she’d heard her father’s friend talking about Earl. What was it he’d said?
It would take a miracle to make Earl smile.
Yes, that was it. It would take a miracle. Gideon had thought about that ever since.
    At first when Earl yelled at her, she’d been sad. Like maybe she had said something to make him angry. But that wasn’t it at all.
    The old man was worse than a person who didn’t smile, and Gideon knew why: Earl didn’t believe.
    And her dad’s friend said it would take a miracle to change that.
    Gideon’s heart bumped around inside her the same way it did on the first day of school. She folded her hands and bowed her head. Sometimes she prayed quietly, in her own heart. But not tonight. This was a big prayer—one of the biggest she’d ever prayed. That’s why she’d had to wait for Dustin to fall asleep. So she could whisper the words out loud.
    “Dear God. Hi. It’s me. Gideon.”
    She waited, just in case God wanted to talk.
    “Daddy and I asked you for something so big it could only be a Christmas miracle.” The air was cold around her legs, and she began to shiver. “Well, God, I think I found something. You see, there’s a man at the mission named Earl. He’s old and mad and he doesn’t remember how to smile. Worse than that, he forgot how to believe.”
    She shifted position so her knees wouldn’t hurt. “My teacher says Christmas miracles happen to those who believe. If that’s true—if it’s really true—then please, God, please help Earl believe again. That’s something very big, but I know you can do it. And when you do, it will really be the best Christmas miracle of all.”

CHAPTER SIX
    I t was time to face reality.
    Christmas was only twelve days away and Brian Mercer had no choice but to admit the obvious: There simply wasn’t enough money to make this Christmas the perfect one Gideon dreamed of. There would be no real tree, no shiny new fire truck for Dustin, and no new doll for Gideon.
    D.J. had found a bag of donated items—a well-loved stuffed cow for Gideon, a bag full of Matchbox cars for Dustin, and a stack of books that looked barely read. And he and Tish had saved up and bought the kids new shoes and socks. It would be a more extravagant Christmas than some. But far from perfect.
    Tish had tried to comfort him about that fact. After all, Gideon was in remission. What more could they ask for? Gideon’s illness had cost them every spare dime. If she stayed well, if work at the mill picked up, then maybe they could pull off that kind of Christmas next year or the year after that.
    He made his way through the front door and slung his coat over an old chair. He felt tired and defeated. “Tish?” He dropped to the old sofa as Tish and Dustin bounded down the