Monday morning dawned bright and hot, another scorcher in Japan. Earlier in the year, I’d spent my mornings with Murata, but my whole schedule changed once I opened Oshabe-cha. I shifted a lot of my clients who just needed companionship to the tea shop and sandwiched things like trips to the physical therapist, doctors for my clients or even for me, and other errands into Thursday and Friday mornings. The rest of the week was meant for Mom, and I took Sundays off from everything.
I peeled my sweaty body off the bed in Yasahiro’s apartment, changed and ate breakfast, and he drove me out to the family house and farm. I found it funny that even after being married to him for two months, I still thought of the apartment as “his” and not “ours.” I supposed that mindset took time to shift.
From my passenger’s seat, I watched the town go by, everyone slowed in the late summer heat, fanning themselves and hobbling along in the shade of the buildings. The road out to the house was desolate, shimmering in the early morning sun. Akiko’s car was gone from the driveway, and Daichi Senahara, the man who helped save me from burning to death in the barn, waved from his front porch as he directed a battery-powered fan at himself. I waved back and made a mental note to bring him something cool later.
Yasahiro pulled into the driveway, parked, and I lingered inside the car, letting the air conditioning keep me cool for an extra few minutes.
“I hope you can handle all of these chores in the coming weeks. If you get too tired or the pregnancy is bothering you, you have to let me know, okay?”
Yasahiro reached over and squeezed my hand, tugging me to him. My chest fluttered with happiness as I looked across the car at my husband. My husband. I still occasionally called him my boyfriend and then laughed.
I leaned over the center divider and let my lips meet his, enjoying this moment of peace. He drew in a sharp breath, bringing a hand to my cheek and sighing through our kiss. I never grew tired of this, how our love strengthened through every difficult situation of the past year. In the beginning, our love was dependent on so many things. I had insecurities to get past and murders to solve. Yasahiro had his own success to foster, and Amanda’s constant interference was a drain on his creative energy. I felt it in our kiss that we had conquered the mountains between us, and it was sweet, sweet victory.
I pulled away gently, resting my forehead on his chin. “Don’t worry,” I said, feeling confident about our situation. “The doctors all say I’m in great health, and I shouldn’t change a thing. I love summer, and I love being outside. I’ll be careful.”
“Be sure to drink lots of water and take plenty of breaks.”
I mock saluted him, and he laughed, which was the reaction I wanted. I didn’t want him to worry, but I also knew how much I meant to him, how much our baby meant to him. I had to be independent, but I also had to be careful.
“Tell your mom I’ll be here tomorrow to take your place.”
Not only was he going to help at Oshabe-cha for the next two weeks, but he would also take my shifts at the farm. His eyes sparkled as he gazed out at the produce surrounding mom’s house, and I suppressed a giggle. He was looking forward to taking my shifts so he could nab the freshest ingredients for Sawayaka. There was no disguising how much he coveted this rare opportunity.
“I’ll see you at lunchtime,” I said, grabbing my bag and leaning to him again for a quick kiss. I’d take as many of those as I could.
“Oh, and don’t forget to talk to her about our plans for next year. The more we talk about it, the more real this will be.”
I sighed as I squeezed the strap on my bag. “You know Mom doesn’t want to give up her freedom. It was hard enough when I lived with her.”
Yasahiro shook his head. “Who would say no to this? We’re offering a lot. Just… Just talk it over with her again.”
“Okay.”
Yasahiro was hell-bent on our newest plan, to take over the farm, renovate the house and live at home as one big happy family. His apartment was too small for us unless we co-slept with the baby, and we would all be much more comfortable at the family house. I was here almost every day anyway, helping Mom with the farm.
But each time I mentioned the idea to her, she told me to wait. “It’s too soon to be making such decisions, Mei-chan. You’ll jinx the pregnancy.” Since when had she been so superstitious about such things?
As I exited Yasahiro’s car, the air was a heat and humidity tsunami. Getting to the front door was like swimming in soup, but I wasn’t going to complain. Anything was better than freezing temperatures and snow. I left my shoes next to Mom’s and found Mimoji-chan stretched out on the cool wood of the dining room table.
“You must be baking in here,” I said, scratching him on his head. He meowed and glanced at the fan on the other side of the room. “Got it. One fan on high coming up.” I switched on the fan and aimed it straight at him. He lengthened himself into the breeze and promptly fell asleep.
“You spoil him too much, Mei-chan,” Mom said, passing by the room with her arms full of dirty potato sacks. “I can’t believe you’re wasting electricity on keeping him cool.”
“Mom, it’s only fair! He’s wearing a fur coat in thirty-five-degree heat.” I left my bag on Mom’s desk next to the computer. The security system cameras showed on her monitor, the front door, back door, barn, and both fields. The setup had been running since earlier in the year when we caught that family from Kumamoto camping on our land.
Mom’s new employee, Minato Ohno, came into view on the barn camera. He was already on site, gassing up the tractor and attaching the cultivator. With him on staff, Mom spent less time bent over in the fields doing the hard work. It was nice to have the tractor back in operation.
I grabbed my wide-brimmed hat from the hook next to the door and pulled it onto my head before grabbing my elbow-length gloves too. I had to protect my head, shoulders, and arms from the sun exposure. All the extra layers made me feel even hotter, but as long as I wasn’t burning in the sun, I didn’t care.
“So, Mom, Yasa-kun will be here the next couple of mornings instead of me.”
“What’s going on, Mei-chan?” Mom rushed to me, her eyes wide with fear. “Are you sick? Is everything with the pregnancy okay? Do you need to lie down?”
Her questions were frantic and concerned, and honestly, I was pleased things were almost back to normal between us. I remembered how she kicked me out of the house when I was sick during my first trimester, and her behavior had come a long way since then. I knew she was trying to make up for what happened, and I was glad she was acting like my mom again.
“I’m perfectly fine. Really. Everything with the pregnancy is great, and no, I don’t need to lie down.” I finished pulling my gloves up and tucking them under my sleeve. “I’ve taken on another job for the next couple of days, so Yasa-kun will cover for me here and at the tea shop.”
Her look of concern did not abate. “Do you two need money? The harvest has been good this summer, and I can afford to lend you some if you need it.” She grabbed her long gloves from the hook by the door. “I’m sure that trip to Paris was expensive,” she mumbled.
I tried not to sigh. I really did.
“It wasn’t expensive, and we have plenty of money for now,” I grounded out between clenched teeth. My heart rate increased, and the baby gave me a swift punch in the stomach.
Having conversations with my mom about money always brought out the worst in us, especially since Yasahiro and I had started talking about taking the farm over. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized our problems had a lot to do with our generation gap. Mom was smart and loving, but she was also old-fashioned. We wanted to change things, and she wanted them to stay the same.
“I offered to help out the friend of mine who gave me all the data on Amanda. Remember Akai-san?”
“I remember her,” she said, plopping her hat on her head. “She needs your help for something?”
“Yeah. She wants me to help clean out Ria Fukuda’s old house.”
Mom paused, and her eyes widened.
“I thought that would get your attention,” I said, chuckling. “Believe it or not, Akai-san inherited the Fukuda house. Ria’s father died two weeks ago and left his estate to her.”
“What a crazy thing to happen, Mei-chan,” Mom said, opening the door and ushering me through. “It always bugged me that they never found that poor girl.”
“Me too. I remember playing with Ria-san when I was a kid.”
I turned to look out across the road at Akiko’s house and the new greenhouse beyond. The land we used to run and play on as children now belonged to Midori Sankaku, the Tokyo grocery store chain, and they were making great use of it. The greenhouse, started in the spring, was ninety percent complete. They hoped to be up and running by October, almost a year after I moved back home. In the meantime, they were due to break ground on the administrative buildings closer to Akiko’s house. Trucks and men in hardhats covered the land. They must’ve been doing surveys.
“She was such a polite young woman with a promising future ahead.” Mom shook her head and clucked her tongue, showing her displeasure over what had happened. “Well, I suppose if Akai-san needs your help, you should give it to her. Maybe you’ll find something that’ll point to why Ria disappeared.”
“I doubt it. It happened so long ago, and I’m sure the police combed that house when she first disappeared. I’m just going to help out, and I’ll be here working with you again in a week. Two tops.”
I remembered Yasahiro’s insistence from the car.
“Oh, Mom?”
She halted and turned back to me, squinting into the sun.
“Yasa-kun was really excited the other day. He found a contractor interested in expanding the house next year. He wants you to meet him soon.”
I kept my eyes steady on her, hoping to see acceptance.
No such luck.
“Mei-chan, I’m sure it can wait until after the fall harvest in a few months, right?”
I swallowed down my guilt. Was I pushing her too hard? Did she not want to go this step? Almost everyone did this, move in with their parents late in life to make things easier for them. She definitely still cared about me as evidenced by her concern for my well-being. Even though we’d had a rocky few months, I thought our relationship was better after the wedding.
“Of course, Mom. Whenever you’re ready.”
But maybe I’d done something to give her pause? Maybe she didn’t want to live with Yasahiro and me?
I didn’t know.
I watched her walk off to the fields and not look back.