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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

“No,” I say, letting my anger lend power to my voice. “I mean the store. It’s not nothing. It’s practically the symbol of our family. I mean, I know Hannah’s all weird about magical connections and stuff, but, like . . . it’s not nothing. It’s real. Or it’s important, anyway. I feel it, too.”

Finally, I have her attention. Mom’s eyebrows shoot up, and she blinks, twice, like she can’t believe what I’m saying. Welcome to the club, I think. This is a big night for disbelief. Though, honestly? I kind of can’t believe what I just said, either. I don’t believe in flower magic. I think Hannah’s full of shit about romance and love and all of that. But what I’m saying is true.

“I like being at Heart’s Desire. I like the way I feel when I’m working there. I’m—I think I’m good at it, too.” A sort of understanding takes root inside me and pushes itself into the light. After a lifetime of being shepherded from one “learning opportunity” to the next, I think I may finally have found something I really care about, a place where I really belong, and I don’t want it to go away.

“We can’t sell the store, Mom.”

Silence like wood. Mom’s face is unreadable. I imagine my words settling like seeds in her heart. Small and quiet, but undeniable. Full of beauty and strength. Please, Mom, I beg her silently. Please.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep, cleansing breath. When she speaks, her face is like stone, her voice tight, controlled. “CJ, life is bigger than your newfound hobby and your emotional attachment to a failing family business. You and Hannah need to get your heads out of the sand and face reality.”

“But, Mom!”

“Don’t ‘but, Mom’ me. I’m not in the mood for another argument. I just came in to apologize for fighting and to tell you not to let any of this leave the house.” She withdraws and shuts the door, and I hear the treadmill start up again.

The History of the Katsuyama Family, Part II

November 1945

Toshio, Mary, and sixteen-year-old Frank (my granddad) are released from the Heart Mountain internment camp with travel fare and twenty-five dollars each because the US government is generous like that. Back in San Jose, Toshio tries to buy back the flower shop that he sold to Robert McAllister three years earlier. But McAllister is a shitty person, so he refuses to sell it back unless Toshio pays market value, which is twenty times more than what he sold it for in 1942.

June 1973

After twenty-eight years of hard work, Toshio Katsuyama and his son Frank finally scrape together enough money to buy the building back from the McAllisters. Because Katsuyamas never quit.

Spring 2000