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Back This Time Will Be Different Save as PDF
Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part I
  6. 3
  7. The History of My Beef with Brynn Foer-Preston
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part I
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part I
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part II
  20. 13
  21. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part II
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. The Complicated History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Imaginary Relationship with Her Nonexistent Dad
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part III
  33. 23
  34. 24
  35. 25
  36. A Brief, Backward History of the McAllister Family, as Paraphrased from the San Jose Mercury News
  37. 26
  38. 27
  39. 28
  40. A Quick and Eerily Relevant History of Asians in America
  41. 29
  42. 30
  43. 31
  44. 32
  45. 33
  46. 34
  47. 35
  48. 36
  49. A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part IV
  50. 37
  51. 38
  52. 39
  53. 40
  54. 41
  55. 42
  56. 43
  57. 44
  58. A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part II (Or Maybe It’s a Prequel)
  59. 45
  60. 46
  61. 47
  62. 48
  63. 49
  64. 50
  65. 51
  66. 52
  67. 53
  68. The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part III
  69. 54
  70. A Note from the Author
  71. Index of Flowers and their Meanings
  72. Acknowledgments
  73. About the Author
  74. Praise for This Time Will Be Different
  75. Books by Misa Sugiura
  76. Back Ad
  77. About the Publisher

Mom reaches for the sriracha and shakes an ocean of it onto her pad thai as she replies. “Hannah. You’re having CJ and that boy help you out at the shop because you can’t pay for an assistant. You are not going to be right back on track.”

Can’t pay? I thought I was helping out to save her trouble, not to save her money. “I didn’t know you couldn’t afford an assistant.” Oops. So much for having Hannah’s back. I look guiltily at her; she appears to be totally absorbed in picking lemongrass out of her soup. Then I see Mom giving her an accusatory frown, and I feel awful for having gotten her in trouble, even by accident. I try to give her an out. “That’s not true, right, Hannah?”

“Only until April, sweet pea,” Hannah says. “We just need to get through February, line up a few more weddings for the spring, and then we’re golden.” Her voice is calm and reassuring, but Mom has made me nervous. Maybe Owen’s dad was right and Heart’s Desire is worse off than I thought.

Mom puts down a forkful of sriracha-soaked pad thai and rolls her eyes. “Jesus Christ, Hannah, please don’t tell me you seriously think that’s possible. Even in the unlikely event that you’ll make enough to pay all your debts by April, there’s no way you’ll keep making enough to pay an assistant a living wage and make an acceptable profit.” And with that phrase, “make an acceptable profit,” I relax. Heart’s Desire isn’t in trouble. It’s just the same old thing: me and Hannah against Mom’s impossibly high standards.

“Mom, come on,” I say. “It’s like all you ever talk about: profit, profit, profit. Heart’s Desire is never going to be profitable enough for you. Just chill a little.”

“Thank you, CJ,” says Hannah. “Anyway, Meems, you know that Heart’s Desire isn’t about making money. You know it’s really about honoring Jii-chan and Baa-chan’s legacy, about how they kept growing flowers and creating beauty and connecting people through the internment. And CJ’s really showing a lot of promise. You know Mom and Dad would have loved for her to carry on the tradition. Family first, right?”

“Katsuyamas never quit,” I add, grinning at Mom.

“Actually,” Mom says drily, “running a family business is about making money, and I’m tired of you pretending that pouring my money into it is actually honoring the ‘family legacy,’ as you so grandly put it.” Then she turns to me and says gently, “CJ. I’m sorry to break this to you, kiddo, but we’re not even talking about profit. Heart’s Desire is losing money.”

I look at Hannah again, openmouthed. She’s never once even hinted that we were losing money. “Since when?”