Nori paused when she heard movement from upstairs and glanced at the clock to see it was nearly 6:00 a.m. Samuel would still be in a deep sleep for another hour, catching up for all the years he’d awakened at 3:00 a.m. to fish. It must be Koji. He’d driven down from Puli the day before yesterday, his rucksack slung across his shoulder when he walked into the market smiling and asked, “Is the room still available?” She and Samuel were more than happy to have him finally come down to stay with them after the harvest.

In the two years since Mariko passed, Koji had kept mostly to himself up at the plantation. Nori wondered if she would have seen him at all if he didn’t run the sugar train down to Hilo every day. Still now, Nori could tell he wasn’t himself. He looked thin, tired, as if something were weighing on him, an air of sadness sitting on his shoulders, in the spray of lines around his eyes. She hadn’t seen him like this since Mariko died. She placed the sweetbread in the oven and hoped Daniel’s return would help to bring the change Koji needed.

Moments later, she heard his heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, stopping at the kitchen doorway.

“You’re up early,” she said. She scooped some mango jam into a bowl.

“Never needed much sleep.”

“Coffee?”

Koji nodded. “That I need, yeah.”

Nori poured him a cup of coffee and gestured for him to sit down at the battered kitchen table. She cut some papaya. From the icebox she pulled out a slab of butter and cut a quarter onto a plate, putting it on the table along with the bowl of jam. The warm air of the kitchen quickly filled with the sweet aroma of the baking bread.

Nori poured herself a cup of coffee and took the chair across from him. They sat quietly for a moment before she asked, “You look tired. Everything all right?”

Koji took a sip of coffee. “Daniel knows about Franklin,” he said.

It took Nori a moment to understand what he was talking about, before the clouds in her head cleared. Daniel had found out about Franklin’s return.

“Did you tell him?”

“Mama thought Daniel was Franklin when he gave her the exam, told him to go home where he belonged.”

Nori shook her head. It sounded just like Mama. “How’s he holding up?”

“He wasn’t happy to hear some of the truth. Ran out, yeah, before I could tell him everything.”

“Part of growing up, eh.”

“Not sure who needs to grow up,” he said. “Should have told him long ago.”

“It was a decision you made with Mariko,” she reminded.

“It feels like a part of her has returned with him.”