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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

Owen says, “No, I’m not kidding. Sorry. The invoice only said pine branches.” Hannah and I follow him to the file cabinet, where he pulls out an invoice. He shows it to Hannah, who takes one look and groans. “But I need those pine cones! Monterey pine . . . I’m sure I said it! I specifically called it out on the order because they met when the groom was hit on the head by an unripened Monterey cone!” She wrings her hands and mutters to herself, her mouth pulled into a tragic frown. “It was going to undo the ill effects of the larkspur.”

“Can’t we just use some of the ones we have in stock?” I suggest. We have a big box of pine cones left over from the December events.

“CJ, you know we can’t use substitutes. Otherwise the magic is completely lost!” She paces, and Owen kicks at the floor in silence. I feel torn. Wasn’t I just marveling last night about my newfound connection to flower magic? But Hannah’s dogmatic attachment to the rules of the magic is so irritating. We don’t have time for this, I want to tell her. Just use the other pine cones. I wonder if Owen would back me up. I bet he would if he knew just how desperate things have become.

I’m about to speak up when Hannah stands still and holds out her hands: Stop the presses! “I’ve got it.” She turns to me and Owen. “You two need to go and collect some. There’s a few groves of Monterey pines at the Los Altos Country Club golf course. You can sneak in there and pick up what I need. You’ll have to climb a little, so make sure to bring a ladder.”

What.

“You’re kidding, right? What if we get caught?” I say.

“It’s dark. No one will see you.”

“Can’t we just call and ask?”

“They won’t have grounds staff at this hour. And there’s no way they’d let you do it yourselves. They don’t want to risk getting sued.”

“So we should risk getting arrested instead?” This is ludicrous.

“I’m telling you, sweet pea. You won’t get caught.”

“What if we do?” I ask.

Hannah sighs. “Do you remember Lewis?”

“Loathsome Lewis? The asshole with the Maserati?” That was about two boyfriends ago.

“He’s on the board of the country club. If you get caught, I can promise you they won’t press charges. But I’d rather not have to call in that favor ahead of time.”

“What if they call the police and the police call Mom?”