“It isn’t that David’s religious,” Eva said. “Quite the contrary, he isn’t religious at all. Neither are his parents. David never grew up with any kind of religious training. And from the start, he’s had no objection to me raising the kids as Christians. They’ve been baptized and confirmed. The kids and I attend church regularly. David doesn’t care. But for some stubborn reason, he refuses to convert! Jews are very stubborn peo—”

“Eva,” Bram chided.

“Bram, you can’t deny that it says right in the Bible that they’re stiff-necked—”

“Eva, enough.”

“It doesn’t say that in the Bible?”

“You’re quoting Bible to me?”

Eva stood up from the couch, fire in her eyes. “I’m telling you what it says right in the holy book.” She picked up the Bible from the coffee table. “Would you like me to find the passage?”

“Exodus thirty-two, nine,” he said wearily. “You’re being literal—”

“And you’re being condescending.”

“Eva, can we save the biblical exegesis—”

“You know, Bram, maybe I don’t know Hebrew like you do. But I do know Jews—”

“Fine, Eva, you’re a mavin on contemporary Jewish Zeitgeist. Can we move on?”

“What in the world is a Zeitgeist?” Paul asked. “Sounds like something from a fifties horror flick.”

“Honestly, Bram, I think you pull these words out of a hat!” Eva exclaimed.

“Isn’t it a sociology term?” Maggie said.

Bram said, “It’s the intellectual, moral, and cultural state of a people in a given era.”

“Sure, I knew that,” Luke said.

“What’s a mavin?” Paul asked.

“Expert,” Bram said. “Comes from the Hebrew word lehaveen—to understand.”

“So why didn’t you just say ‘so you’re an expert on Jews.’” Eva crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “You’re just infuriating sometimes. Always complicating everything. Just like David. He couldn’t make things easy on me and the family and just convert. No, he had to be spiteful—”

“Maybe the poor guy was just trying to assert himself,” Paul said. “Dad can be very intimidating.”

“The word is bossy,” Luke said.

“How can you talk about him like that after what happened to him!” Eva yelled out.

“You know, Eva, you don’t have a monopoly on grief,” Luke said. “I’m just as devastated as you are.”

Eva went on. “If David really cared about his family, he could have converted. Of course, now it’s too late!”

“Cold nights ahead for David,” Luke muttered.

Paul stifled a smile. A beeper went off. The priest looked at his belt, checked the number, then stood up. “Excuse me for a moment.”

After Bram left the room, Eva turned her ire to Paul. “You know when Spencer was sick, David sure didn’t mind Dad handling all the surgeries and the medical expenses. Suddenly, Dad’s take-charge attitude didn’t bother him a bit!”

“What was wrong with Spencer?” Decker asked.