Chapters (77)
- Cover
- Dedication
- 1
- 2
- A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part I
- 3
- The History of My Beef with Brynn Foer-Preston
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part I
- 8
- 9
- A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part I
- 10
- 11
- 12
- A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part II
- 13
- The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part II
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- The Complicated History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Imaginary Relationship with Her Nonexistent Dad
- 20
- 21
- 22
- A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part III
- 23
- 24
- 25
- A Brief, Backward History of the McAllister Family, as Paraphrased from the San Jose Mercury News
- 26
- 27
- 28
- A Quick and Eerily Relevant History of Asians in America
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- A Brief History of Chisaki Joan Katsuyama’s Romantic Learning Opportunities, Part IV
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- A Series of Screw-ups: The Chisaki Joan Katsuyama Story, Part II (Or Maybe It’s a Prequel)
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part III
- 54
- A Note from the Author
- Index of Flowers and their Meanings
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Praise for This Time Will Be Different
- Books by Misa Sugiura
- Back Ad
- About the Publisher
Em winks at me, and I try to kill her with my eyes on her way out.
“Sorry,” I say to Owen once they’re gone. “My friends are weird sometimes.”
“No worries,” he says. He comes over to the table and examines my handiwork. “Hey, this is really nice.”
“Thank you.” I swallow the urge to show him how the mistletoe cactus isn’t at quite the right angle, and then peek to see if he noticed how graciously I’ve accepted his compliment. He catches me looking and smiles at me. And I blush, which, ugh. Why.
To redirect his attention, I tell him about the order and the ideas behind my arrangement. I slide a bit of juniper in. “This one means ‘hope in adversity.’”
He nods.
Hope in adversity. Ha. We could use a little of that around here, I think, and then I remember my idea about the jade plant. “Hey, do you guys—I mean, the nursery—do you carry jade plants?”
“Yeah, lots of them. Hannah ordered five this morning, in fact.”
I should have figured. I wonder if she told him why.
“They’re supposed to bring money and good luck, right?” He gives me a smug little grin, and I know that she has.
I will not react. I will not give him the satisfaction of—
“Right?” he repeats, and I lose my resolve.
“Yes, Owen, they’re supposed to bring money and good luck, and Hannah ordered them for the store because we need a lot of both. You were right, I was wrong; we’re in debt and losing money, so you can just wipe that gloaty little I told you so look off your—”
“Hey! Hey! That’s not what I meant at all!” He waves his hands in front of him. “I was— I mean, I may have been gloating, but I was just proud of myself for knowing a little plant symbolism. I swear, I wasn’t making fun of you or anything.”
Oh. Well. This is awkward. “Really?” I narrow my eyes at him.
“I swear.” He crosses his heart and holds his hand up.
I sigh. “Fine.”
“I’m sorry you guys are having trouble,” he says.
“Yeah, well. So am I.”
“Do you know what you’re going to do?”
“Buy jade plants?” I scoff. Owen remains silent, so I keep talking. “Apparently my mom’s going to pull the plug if we’re not back on our feet by April. I guess I can’t blame her. But this store’s been in our family since like, the 1930s. How do you just throw that away?”
“I don’t know,” he says.
I pause to consider my own question for a moment. “I think I wouldn’t be so upset if I thought she was sad about it,” I say. “Or at least, like, conflicted. But I don’t think she is.”
“She might be, though,” says Owen.