The kitchen was always the heart of Mariko’s house. It was where she had first told Nori she was pregnant with Daniel. She appeared pale and tense that morning, so afraid her husband, Franklin, wouldn’t be ready, that he’d be angry with her. But he surprised them all, and was happy when he returned from a job on Maui and found out about the baby. “A boy,” he’d said, “I can feel it.” At about the same time Nori had discovered that she was pregnant with Mano. “We’re having twins,” Mariko was the first to say. Nori had never seen her so content, ever hopeful that Franklin would finally settle down.

“I know you can hear me,” she said aloud, replacing the dish towel on its hook. “Don’t worry, Mari, we’re watching over him.”

“Who are you talking to?”

Nori’s heart jumped; she turned to see her old friend Koji Sanada, muddy shoes in one hand, standing in the doorway. She hadn’t heard him come into the house. She smiled now to see him, wearing a T-shirt and baggy work pants. He’d always been like a brother to her. Nori was an only child of pineapple-picking parents who barely noticed her and had eventually drank themselves to death. They’d all grown up together in the tightly knit community, watching the rise of the sugar plantations and the growth of Hilo.

“To myself,” she said, and looked away flustered. “What are you doing here and not at the market?”

Nori knew the locals were already gathering there.

“I wanted to leave this here for Daniel,” Koji said. He placed a wrapped box on the kitchen table.

Nori smiled. She knew it was most likely another railcar—an addition to Daniel’s favorite train set that Koji had started building with him when he was a seven-year-old boy. Every year since, he had added to it.

“He’ll be happy to have it waiting for him,” she said.

“Is there anything else that needs doing before he arrives?”