Mark frowned. “What’s wrong with Will?”
Jay had a pretty good idea but he didn’t want to risk hurting his middle boy’s feelings. “I’m not sure, but I’ll check on him in a minute.” Holding up his toolbox, he said, “I’ve got a bed to put together anyway.”
“I’ll go with you, Daed,” Ben said.
“What about me?” Mark asked. “What should I do?”
Ben folded his arms over his chest. “If you can’t figure out something to do right now, you’re hopeless.”
“Hey!” Mark sputtered.
Jay grinned at his eldest as they walked into William’s room. “You should try to have more patience with your bruder.”
“He needs to stop saying dumb things,” Ben said as they stepped over two folded cardboard boxes.
“Looks like you’re making good progress, Will,” Jay said. “You’ve got a lot put away already.”
“And I like the color of your walls. I thought it might be too bright, but it’s a gut color,” Ben added.
William didn’t answer, simply shrugged.
Sharing a concerned look with Ben, Jay grabbed two of the metal bed frames and started fastening the bolts into place. “So, Will . . . You okay?”
“Jah.”
“Sure? Mark didn’t mean to upset you, you know. He always simply says what is on his mind.”
“I know.”
Though it was obvious Will was still upset, Jay decided not to prod any further. Each of his boys responded better when they had some time to think about things. Instead, he concentrated on the task at hand. “Grab a side, wouldja Ben?”
“Sure, Daed,” Ben replied and knelt on the floor to help. Less than thirty minutes later, the frame was fastened securely and the mattresses were placed on it.
After sending Ben to go help Mark with his bed frame, Jay picked up the sheets and motioned his youngest over. “Take a side, Will.” Together, they slipped on the bottom sheet. Next, Jay pulled on the top sheet.
“Hey, Daed?” William mumbled as he tucked one side of his sheets underneath the mattress.
“Jah?”
“Can I ask ya something?”
“Of course.”
“Um . . . what did Mark mean about Emma being so different from Mamm? He weren’t just talking about when she was sick, was he?”
Though it would have been easier to pretend that Mark and Ben had only been referring to Evelyn’s illness, Jay couldn’t bring himself to lie. “Mark simply meant that all women do things differently. Just as each of us are different, different mothers have favorite ways of doing things, too.” The conversation was making Jay uncomfortable. It brought up things that he hadn’t wanted to admit, even to himself. Emma was different from Evelyn. And once again, Jay had noticed that in no time at all.
William shook his head. “I don’t think that’s what he meant. Ben agreed with him.”
“They didn’t mean anything. No one wanted to hurt your feelings, either.”
William glared. “Daed, I know Mark meant something other than Mamm being sick.”
Jay didn’t want to talk about Evelyn. But, he supposed, the Lord and Will had decided it needed to happen whether he was ready for it or not. Now that he had the blue, white, and yellow building-block quilt over William’s sheets and blankets, Jay figured there was no time like the present. He patted the mattress. “Let’s sit down.”
After Will was settled next to him, Jay said, “Your mother was a wonderful woman. She was a wonderful mother and I loved her.” He sighed, navigating his way through the conversation with as much care as he could. He didn’t want to upset Evelyn’s memory for Will or accidentally be disrespectful to the woman currently organizing his kitchen, either. “But Mamm wasn’t the type of woman to be so forthright or, um, capable.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your mother wasn’t much of a self-starter.”
“But didn’t she cook?”
“She did. Of course she did. But she wasn’t necessarily the type of woman to cook for other people, bring it by, and then offer to organize their kitchen. All Mark did was point that out.”
“Do you wish she had been like that?”
Secretly, he wished for a lot of things. But those would always remain his secrets. “I loved your mother for who she was. We’re all special in our own ways, William. Your mamm was so very sweet and had a giving heart, too. She was special.”
“Even when she was sick, she read me stories,” William said quietly.
The lump that had been lodged in Jay’s throat the whole time Evelyn had been dying from cancer returned suddenly. It took some effort to say the words his youngest needed to hear. “She loved to read to you. She loved books.”