There was too much on those slender shoulders. Too much on the shoulders of everyone in the O’Connor family. They all carried more than their share of burdens in hopes they could make it easier for those they loved. The weight completely disproportionate because of all that had been leveled on them at such a young age.

“Come on.” I motioned for Will to follow me. He set his brush down and headed after me as I wound my way through the halls and upstairs. There were two guest rooms at the far end of the house that I wanted to make into a single room. It would make for a perfect rec room. Space for a large television with overstuffed couches. And more than enough room for whatever games the kids wanted to play. Somewhere along the line, I’d started making plans for the house that revolved around each of them.

We came to a stop in the first room, and Will looked around. “We haven’t worked in here yet.”

“Nope.”

“What are you thinking?”

I motioned to a wall. “That’s coming down.”

Will’s eyes widened. “The wall?”

“Yep.”

“When?”

“I think now’s a good time.” An idea was forming in my mind, circling around a memory. When I’d gotten in trouble mixing it up at school, my father had taken me to cut firewood. We hadn’t even had a wood-burning fireplace in our house in Marin, but he’d known that I needed to let off some steam. A pressure release so I could finally talk things through with him.

I picked up one of the two sledgehammers and a pair of goggles and handed them to Will. I’d already checked the farmhouse’s plans, and there were no pipes or wires we would disturb. “Have at it.”

“You want me to swing this at the wall?”

I chuckled. Will looked as if I were trying to trick him into something. I picked up the other hammer. After putting the goggles in place, I heaved the hammer over my head and sent it flying into the wall.

“Holy shit,” Will said.

I inclined my head towards the wall. “Have at it.”

It took him a moment, but he finally took a swing, sending the end of the hammer into the wall. Plaster and bits of drywall went flying. “Whoa.” He turned to face me. “That’s awesome.”

I grinned. “Let’s do this.” We let it fly for the next fifteen minutes, and when I thought he’d begun to work some of the energy out of his system, I paused in my destruction. “You ready to talk?”

Will launched his sledgehammer at the wall again. “About what?”

“Your mom, Drew, take your pick.”

He yanked the hammer free of the wall. “She’s not my mom.”

I froze. “What do you mean?”