“Who is this man, Rock?” Shig asked. Worry etched more lines on his face.
Rock met the older man’s gaze. “He introduced himself as Norman Ness.”
Air hissed between Shig’s teeth as he released a frustrated breath. “He is a despicable, detestable…” The old man snapped his mouth shut and inhaled a deep breath. “Under no circumstance do I want Norman Ness to get his hands on our land. He stopped by the farm a few days before we reported here, ranting about logging the place. If he took it over, he’d strip every tree from it and then sell the land without a thought to preserving the true heritage of the place.”
Rock smiled. “I’ve seen a little of the hilltop. It’s quite impressive, but I agree with you, Mr. Yamada. Ness would destroy everything that has taken decades to build.” Rock removed a second envelope from his pocket and extracted a sheaf of papers, handing them to Shig.
“I hope you don’t find me too presumptuous, but I stopped by my attorney’s office and had him draft this document. What I propose is to purchase your land, the buildings, and all their contents for the amount stipulated there.” Rock pointed to a number printed on the page Shig held. “If the price is agreeable, I would make an annual payment for four years, splitting twenty-five percent of the purchase price into those four payments. Another twenty-five percent, I’ll put into war bonds for you, purchasing those monthly and giving them to our friend Kami Jane for safekeeping. The remaining fifty percent of the purchase price I will pay in full on this date in five years. If, at any time, you’d like to resume ownership of the farm, you may pay me back half of what I’ve paid and we’ll call it square. Does that sound like a fair deal?”
“What’s in it for you?” Jack asked, taking the papers from Shig and reading each line.
“Well, if I get to keep the profits from the produce stand, that seems more than fair, doesn’t it?”
“It’s hardly fair for you, but I’m not in a position to argue,” Shig said, patting Rock on the back. “Are you sure, Rock? It’s a lot of work and you don’t look like you’re quite up to the job.”
Rock grinned. “Oh, I’m getting there, sir. You should have seen me a week ago. In another month, I’ll be like a new man.”
Jack laid the legal documents on the table and nodded to his father-in-law. “The paperwork all seems to be in good order. For the sake of preserving the farm and keeping all that is there safe, all that is there, I think it would be a good idea to sell it to Captain Laroux. Kami Jane seems to think he is a good, honorable man, and his presence here would confirm her thoughts.”
Rock was more than a little curious what Miko had written in her letter to her family. Apparently, whatever she’d shared about him was enough to convince them he had no evil intentions concerning the farm.
“Kami Jane sent the deed.” Rock took it from his pocket and handed it to Shig. “If you’re sure you are comfortable with this, you can sign it over to me, and sign this document agreeing to the terms of the sale. There are two copies of it, so you may keep one.”
“No. Take the second copy to Kami Jane,” Shig said, accepting the pen Rock handed him and signing the deed, then the other paperwork. “Now, you must tell me about the garden. Have the peas set on yet? How do the potatoes look?”
Rock talked about the garden, what he and Miko had accomplished in the orchard, and his plans for the place.
“Read the horticulture books in the library, Rock, if you have questions. You’ll find many answers there,” Shig said. He appeared at ease with his decision to sell the farm to the son of a man he admired. “You’ll need help during harvest times. I can give you a list of boys in the area I have hired in the past. They are always eager for work.”
“Have you met Petey?” Aiko asked, shyly smiling at Rock.
“I have, ma’am. He is some boy.”
Everyone around the table nodded in agreement. “His parents are fine, fine folks,” Shig said. “If you ever need something, don’t be afraid to ask John.”
“I will, sir.” Rock’s gaze lifted to the large building behind them. “Do you think I could have a tour of the place?”
“You’ll have to ask one of the guards,” Jack said, casting a glance at the nearby sentry.
Rock rose and walked over to him. “Would it be possible to have a tour?”
“You some kind of reporter or something?” the man asked.
“No. Just a friend of the family.”
“We don’t typically do that sort of thing. It…” The sentry snapped his mouth shut as the center administrator approached them.
“Are you paying a visit to a family?” the man asked, offering Rock a friendly handshake.
“I am, sir.” Rock motioned to the table where Miko’s family waited. “I wondered if I might have a tour of the facility.”
“Well, generally we don’t do such things, but I don’t suppose it would hurt if you accompanied them back to their rooms. I’ll give you fifteen minutes, before Private Johnson here escorts you back to the gate.”
Rock tipped his head to the man. “Thank you, sir. Your kindness is appreciated.”
“My pleasure,” the administrator said. He walked with Rock to the table and helped himself to a few of the strawberries. “Those are delicious. Hope you folks enjoy them.”
Jack nodded while the rest of them kept their eyes cast downward until the administrator left.
“I have fifteen minutes to walk you back to your rooms. Shall we go?” Rock asked, holding out his right arm in a gesture that encompassed the whole family.
As he watched them hurry toward the door, he wondered where in the world Miko had gotten her height. Tommy was the tallest of the bunch and he couldn’t have been more than five-seven. Perhaps Miko was a throwback to a samurai ancestor from a previous century.
He followed as Shig led the way to their living quarters. With the need to provide a place for the Japanese detainees on short notice, the assembly center had been constructed by covering the floor of the livestock pavilion with wood planks. Plywood walls went up, forming cubicles with no ceiling and a canvas flap to cover the open doorway of each “apartment.” The smells of manure drifted up in the heat of the day, permeating every inch of space in the eleven-acre building.
At least a different building was used to prepare and serve the food. Rock hoped it smelled better than this one.
Shig stopped in front of a canvas flap and turned to Rock with a grin. “Home, sweet home.”
Miko’s mother, Margaret, had barely said anything since Rock’s arrival, but she turned on her father with a cool glare. “Don’t be ridiculous, Father. This disgusting place will never be home.” She turned to Rock with a look in her eyes he recognized well from having seen it in Miko’s many times. “Promise you’ll do whatever you can to keep Mi—” She caught herself before she spoke Miko’s name. “To keep my father’s farm and the beloved treasures there safe.”
Solemnly, Rock nodded. “I promise.”
Jack stepped close to Rock and dropped his voice to the barest hint of a whisper. “Under no circumstance should you allow our friend Kami Jane to come here. None. Understood?”
“Yes, sir, I understand.” The moment he’d pulled up at the assembly center, Rock had decided he’d do everything in his power to keep Miko away from it. Armed guards with guns, barbed-wire fencing, and a living area that was nothing more than a walled-in feedlot assured him he’d done the right thing, insisting Miko wait before turning herself in. If he had to keep her hidden until the war ended, so be it, but he was not allowing her to set foot in such a place. Not while one breath remained in his body.
Rock peeked into the living quarters. A few crudely constructed shelves, narrow beds with thin mattresses, and their belongings neatly stacked against one wall filled the cramped space.
“I’m so sorry,” Rock said. He contemplated how anyone in their right mind could condemn more than a hundred thousand people to spend the sweltering summer months living like animals, especially wh
en many of those people were Americans by birth and by right.
He studied the little group. “Is there anything I can do to help, to make things better?”
Shig turned to Jack, exchanging some unspoken message. Jack took a step closer to Rock. “Send us food, crackers, things that are packaged. If they are in a tin to keep the flies out, that would be even better.”
Rock glanced up at a strip of flypaper, black from the carcasses attached to it. Flies were everywhere. He could only imagine the infestation grew worse near the food and restrooms.
Fighting back a shudder, he smiled at the family studying him with alert gazes. “Before I’m forced to leave, I’m supposed to ask two questions: The first is how your daughter Ellen is faring and if you know where she’s been detained. The second is if you’ve heard from Pastor Clark. If you do make contact with him, Kami Jane would be most pleased to see him.”
“We’ll send him to the farm if we hear from him. I expect he hasn’t returned from his trip to London to help his sister and niece. We believe Ellen’s family is in an assembly center in Sacramento, but we have not heard from her,” Jack said, watching the sentry head in their direction. “We appreciate the berries and all you’re doing for us, Captain Laroux.”
“Please, call me Rock. If there is anything else I can do, send word to the farm.” He extended his hand to Shig and nodded respectfully. “Thank you for entrusting your land and all that is there into my care, sir.”
“You’ll do well, Rock. If you are anything like your father, you’ll do exceedingly well.” Shig gave him a warm smile. “Be sure to read the book about fruit trees.”
“I will, sir, and thank you again.” Rock settled the hat he’d removed back on his head and followed the sentry to the front gate. He tipped his head to the guard. “Thank you for allowing me to visit my friends. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, Captain,” the guard said, offering him a salute.
“Do you know how long they plan to keep the detainees here?” Rock stepped outside the gate but held the guard’s gaze.
“Word is most of them will ship out in a few months.”
“To where?” Rock asked, wondering if the place they’d be shipped to would be better than the current accommodations. For the sake of Miko’s family, he hoped it would be an improvement.
“Camps are being constructed as we speak in California, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Arkansas. Word hasn’t come down yet where they’re sending them.” The guard motioned behind him toward the living area. “Could be any of those places.”
“Thank you for the information,” Rock said. He tipped his head again, then hastened to the car.
He made several stops before he finally turned into the driveway at the Yamada farm — a farm that was now legally his.
Although he’d planned to have a long, decorated career in the military, he supposed there were worse things than building a life in such a beautiful place.
He parked the car near the gate by the backyard fence, but before he could step out, Miko bounded down the steps and rushed out to him.
Without hesitation, he opened his arms to her and she stepped into his embrace, holding him tightly.
“I was worried about you,” she said, stepping away from him. Suddenly self-conscious, she twined her fingers together behind her back and waited for him to lift a cardboard box full of groceries. “What did you get?”
He grinned and motioned for her to precede him into the kitchen. “I’ve been craving peanut butter. Do you know Mr. Ross? He has a grocery store over off Fifth Street.”
“I’ve gone with Grandma to his store a few times. He seems like a nice man.” Miko watched as he set crackers, flour, sugar, and a box of assorted candy bars on the counter, along with the few items she’d requested.
He took four bottles of soda pop from the box and grinned as he handed her a bottle of Dr Pepper. “I wasn’t sure what flavor was your favorite, so I brought home a few choices.”
“I like most all of them, although root beer is my favorite.” She set aside the bottle and began to put things away, but Rock placed a hand on her arm, drawing her attention.
He wrapped her in his arms again and kissed her right cheek. “That is from your grandparents.” He kissed her left cheek. “That’s from your folks.” He leaned back and tugged on the end of the hair she’d fastened into a long ponytail. “That’s from Tommy.” Before he could change his mind, he brushed his lips over hers in the softest, lightest kiss. “And that’s from me.”
Her eyes glistened with emotion as she looked up at him. “Thank you, Rock.” She pulled away from him and motioned to the table, set for two. “Go wash up. Dinner’s ready. I roasted a chicken.”
“You better stop killing off those birds, Miko.” Rock grinned and took her hand, placing the money the grocer paid him for the butter and eggs into her palm. “That’s what your butter, eggs, and buttermilk brought. Mr. Ross will take as much as we want to sell.”
She gaped at the money in her hand, then back at Rock. “You better enjoy this bird. It might be the last one you eat for a while. Now we can purchase pork and beef.”
Rock laughed and hurried to change his clothes before joining Miko at the table. As they ate, he told her about seeing her family, her grandfather selling him the place, and how they thought Ellen and her family were in an assembly center in Sacramento.
“They haven’t heard from Pastor Clark, but suggested you write to Sally. If they see him, they said they’d have him get in touch.” He spread a thick layer of strawberry jam over a steaming biscuit.
Miko played with the green beans on her plate. “But how were they, Rock? How were they really?”
The truth would do more harm than good. He couldn’t bear to tell her the detainees lived in primitive conditions without a speck of privacy. That the food often spoiled from lack of proper equipment and made them sick. That the smells were enough to turn his stomach, and Rock had been in some awful places during his career in the military.
No, Miko didn’t need to know how unpleasant life had become for her family. They went from being respected individuals to nameless faces in a mass of thousands treated as though they were the enemy. It would break her heart to hear the harsh reality of the situation.
Nevertheless, he wouldn’t lie to her. “They’re doing the best they can in their current circumstances, Miko. The men in your family seem in good spirits.”
“But what of Mother and Grandma? I can’t imagine my mother easily adjusting to such a change.”
“It is harder on the women. Several of the men are working, doing a variety of things from maintenance to publishing a newspaper. It helps them to keep busy.”
When she’d asked him to describe the facility, he told her each family had a cubicle in a large building where the ventilation was subpar.
“And every single member of your family begged me to keep you right where you are. They don’t want you to leave the farm.”
“But I should be with them,” she said, setting down her fork and staring at Rock.
“Honestly, Miko, you’re helping them most by staying here. If you were there, your folks would have to crowd one more body into an already small space. That is, if you were allowed to join them. From the information I gathered, you’d be arrested and possibly sent away. That certainly won’t help your family through an already challenging time.”
Her shoulders drooped and she sighed. “I suppose you’re right. It’s just hard not being able to see them or talk to them.” She lifted her gaze back to his, drawn by the warmth in his bright eyes. “You did say I could write to them, didn’t you?”
“Yes, you may. There wasn’t any problem giving them the letter you wrote today.” Rock offered her a thoughtful glance. “I’m half-curious what you wrote about me because they went from being wary of a stranger to practically calling me part of the family.”
Miko grinned. “I only said that you’ve saved the farm and quite possib
ly my life, and that they owe you a hundred debts.”
Rock choked on his drink of milk and coughed to clear his throat. “You did not!”
“Maybe not in those exact words…” A saucy smile floated his way. “Besides, if Grandma didn’t like you, she’d never have said a word to you. She can be shy around people she doesn’t know well.”
“I remember that from visiting the produce stand. She preferred to stay in back and let someone else take the money and talk to customers.”
Miko nodded in agreement. “That was usually Ellen or me, or one of the kids they hired in the summers to help. I’m sure I must have seen you at the produce stand when we were younger, but I can’t place you.”
“Well, I wasn’t always this handsome, you know.” Rock leaned back and ran a hand over his short-cropped hair. One of the stops he’d made that day was to a barber for a much-needed trim. It felt good to have his hair neatly cut in the military style he’d grown so accustomed to wearing.
She laughed and gave him an exasperated look. “I suppose you wore glasses, had bad teeth, and sported a hunch on your back.”
Rock laughed. “See, you do remember me.”
“Do you have a photograph from when you were younger?” she asked, fighting the urge to get lost in his smile.
“There are several in one of those trunks I brought from the farm.” Immediately, he rose and disappeared. She finished eating the last few bites of her dinner before he returned to the kitchen with a framed photograph in his right hand.
“This is my dad and me. I was probably fifteen or so at the time. My dad, um… well, he…” Rock hesitated to give her the photo.
Miko held out her hand and took it, studying the photograph.
A tall, brawny man stood with an arm looped around Rock’s shoulders, both of them wearing big smiles. One side of the man’s face bore a jagged scar that started above his left eyebrow and traveled straight down, along his cheek, and ended at his jaw. Obviously blind in his left eye from the wound, the man so closely resembled Rock, she would have known him anywhere. In fact, she remembered seeing him with a boy who’d thoroughly enchanted her girlish heart when they visited the produce stand.
Garden of Her Heart (Hearts of the War Book 1) Page 11