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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

“Aw, thanks, Em. You could’ve just texted. It would’ve been totally fine.”

“It’s no big deal. The doula’s already at the house, and I guess they’re not expecting the midwife for another couple of hours. So tell me about this plan you’re so fired up about, and then I’ll go.”

I look at Hannah again. I love this right now, me and Emily back to normal, supporting each other, sharing everything. I want it to keep going. So I tell her.

Em is appropriately shocked and offended. “I still can’t believe he got away with it all. I mean, he basically stole your family’s entire livelihood. I’ve always hated that they named our school after him.”

“Racist McAsshole High School, you mean?”

Em laughs mirthlessly. “Yeah, exactly. I love-slash-hate when you call it that.”

“Yeah, me too.” You gotta love a perfect nickname, after all. But I shouldn’t have had to make it up.

“So what’s the plan? How are we gonna keep this place out of their clutches?” asks Emily.

Hannah shakes her head. “I don’t know yet. The anniversary sale might be enough to help us scrape by, but I have a feeling we’ll actually have to beat MVC’s offer in order to keep the store.”

I think about losing the store, losing my apprenticeship, and my heart constricts with a pang of . . . I don’t know, premature regret, I guess, if there is such a thing. Anyway, it hurts. If we let Mom sell Heart’s Desire to the McAllisters, this pain will be here in my heart forever. We have to think of something.

15

JUST AFTER EMILY LEAVES TO BABYSIT, OWEN returns from his deliveries. He’s hanging up his jacket when Hannah says, “Owen, where did you put the Monterey pine cones?”

Owen stares at her. “Monterey . . . ?”

“Pine cones. The ones that were delivered earlier, with the eucalyptus branches. For the wedding reception. They’re going to go on the cake table. Where did you put them?”

Owen rubs the back of his head and waits until Hannah is standing with her arms crossed, drumming her fingers on her elbows to say, “Um . . . I didn’t see any pine cones.”

“What? You’re—you’re kidding, right? Please tell me you’re kidding.” Here we go: flower-magic crisis alert. It feels so tiny in comparison to the real crisis at hand that I can’t help feeling a needle of impatience.