“Yes, of course. And seeing the kittens.” Resting a palm on his youngest boy’s shoulder, he said, “Let’s go let them in, Will.”
When they disappeared from view, Ben winked at Mark, who was grinning broadly.
“What is going on here?” Tricia’s mother whispered in her ear.
“Jay has recently started seeing a nice lady in Pinecraft. Her name is Emma. He likes her a lot.”
“But—”
“They’re both widows. They have a lot in common, and all the kids are kind of excited about what is happening.”
Tricia didn’t have time to say another word because Annie rushed in to say hello, followed by Lena, Mandy, and William, and at last, Jay and Emma. Jay and Emma looked a little bit awkward about being on display, but also happy to be by each other’s side. Tricia’s mamm walked over and introduced herself. When Emma smiled and greeted Tricia’s daed, then formally introduced her girls, Ben nudged Tricia.
“It’s going okay,” he whispered. “Look, your parents don’t even care about us now, they are so focused on my daed and Emma.”
Tricia thought that might be true. Her mother seemed enchanted by the idea of two people who had lost so much finding love again. They also seemed to enjoy how Jay’s boys were already looking after Emma’s girls. Somehow, everyone was becoming one, big, happy group in spite of a somewhat rocky beginning.
LATER THAT NIGHT, WHEN they were on the last shuttle back to the inn, Tricia’s mother said, “Tricia, I’m starting to think there must be something special about Pinecraft.”
“There might be. All I know for sure is that I’m starting to think that maybe I’m special, too.” She smiled. “I know I’ve always been special to you and Daed and God. But now I’m starting to realize that I have value, too.”
“You’ve always had value, dear.”
“I know. But when those girls back in Walnut Creek were making me so miserable, I starting believing everything they said. I started thinking that I wasn’t ever going to be good enough. I started thinking that no man was ever going to fall in love with me. That I was always going to feel a little out of place. That I wasn’t capable of keeping friendships.”
“They were wrong, Trish. If you had trusted me more and talked to me, I could have told you that.”
“Mamm, I love you, but that wasn’t what I needed.” Her voice cracked as she continued. “For some reason, I needed to do something on my own. I needed to grow up and become a little more independent. And it’s done wonders for me. Now I am working at the inn and I’ve become friends with Emma and her girls and have even been able to help them from time to time.”
“And you fell in love with Ben.”
“Jah. Once I loved myself again, I fell in love with Ben.” As her mother smiled softly, Tricia added, “And he fell in love with me.”
Chapter 22
I don’t quite understand why you are making so many place mats, Emma,” her mother said a week later. As she slid her scissors through another layer of checkered fabric, she frowned. “Twelve seems excessive.”
Glad she was facing her treadle sewing machine, Emma rolled her eyes. Her mother knew exactly why Emma wanted to have such a large set of place mats. She simply didn’t want to think of Emma, Jay, and all their kinner sharing a meal together.
“Muder, we’ve discussed this already.”
“No, we haven’t. Not really. Daed and I told you that we thought you were jumping into a relationship far too quickly. You refused to listen.”
Thinking again about how much her mother’s lack of faith in her had hurt, and how she hadn’t even tried to temper her words before Emma’s date with Jay, Emma knew that as far as her parents were concerned this would always be moving too fast. She hadn’t even bothered to tell them about the two other dates she’d been on with Jay in the last week. There had been no need, since Ben and Tricia had volunteered to babysit at the farm.
“I listened, Mamm. I simply didn’t agree.”
“So you’ve decided to make place mats to prove me wrong.”
“Nee, Mamm. I decided to make a set of place mats because I want to make place mats. If I want to serve a meal on them to Jay and his boys, I’ll do that, too.”
“Why are you making twelve?”
Emma was just irritated enough to give her mother a little jab. “I had hoped that maybe you and Daed would one day want to join us. Maybe even Tricia. Maybe even all sorts of people.”
“Perhaps you would like me to leave?”
“I would love for you to stay if you are ready to apologize. If not, then jah, it might be best if you went on your way.”