Weddings and Wasabi

by Camy Tang

  Jenn shivered. It was too much for her to even comprehend. God was so much bigger than she’d ever imagined.

  Jenn noticed movement next to her. Trish was standing with everyone else for the final song and the benediction.

  Jenn hastily slammed back the grape juice and scrambled to her feet.

  As soon as the worship leader dismissed them, Jenn shot out of her seat and zeroed in on Grandma. “Hi, Grandma!”

  Unfortunately, her exuberance made her spit a little on Grandma’s linen suit. She winced as heat crept up her neck to engulf her ears. “Sorry about that.”

  Her three cousins had followed and stood around her now, making her feel a little less like a dork as they greeted Grandma.

  She eyed them all, face looking exactly like normal. “You’re blocking the aisle.”

  The ordinariness of it all made Jenn wonder if she mistook what had happened. She exchanged a puzzled look with Lex, but they stood aside so she and Mrs. Matsumoto could exit the pew.

  The cousins followed them into the Social Hall, where tea and coffee were set out on a table. “Lex,” Grandma said, “could you please get me some tea?”

  “Sure, Grandma.”

  As soon as she was gone, Grandma turned to Trish. “Oh, I forgot. Could you get Mrs. Matsumoto some tea, too?”

  Trish’s face registered surprise, but she went.

  “And Venus—”

  “I’m disappearing, Grandma.” Venus turned to Mrs. Matsumoto. “I think Mrs. Cathcart brought in a box of doughnuts to serve with the coffee. Do you want to come with me to the kitchen to help me cut them up?”

  When the two of them were gone, Grandma turned to Jenn, who was a bit alarmed at this impromptu meeting. “Um … I guess you wanted to talk to me alone?”

  “Mrs. Matsumoto suggested I talk to you.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “She’s fine.” Grandma waved the question away, but then paused, as if gathering her thoughts. “I was talking to her last week, right after we found out about your mom. I told her something that she suggested you might like to hear from me.”

  Jenn was completely perplexed. This was not Grandma. This was someone who looked like Grandma but who had gone all touchy-feely-emo on her.

  “Jenn, I have always thought of you as the good girl. Everyone in the family took advantage of you, but you were always helpful, you were always gentle, you were always nurturing. And you always mentioned Jesus and pointed to your faith.”

  Really? Jenn didn’t think she talked as much about her faith as Trish did (well, except for those few months Trish was dating that weird artist guy, not going to church, and getting into all kinds of trouble, including conceiving Elyssa). Jenn had always thought she was singularly quiet about her faith.

  “I was very glad when you quit your job to start your catering business,” Grandma said.

  “You were?” Jenn chewed her lip. “At the time, I thought you might be upset at me, like Mom and all the aunties.”

  “No, I was very pleased. Because for once in your life, you were showing some backbone.”

  That made sense. Jenn had once told Venus that Grandma actually got along best with her because of their similar determined personalities, which would explain why Grandma was pleased about Jenn’s bid for independence.

  “But when I saw that you were willing to give up your dreams to work for Aunty for your mom’s sake, when I saw what you were willing to do, it suddenly made sense to me why you’d been such a doormat before.”

  “Gee. Thanks, Grandma.”

  Grandma ignored her sarcasm and reached up to touch her cheek. “You helped your family members without complaining because of your faith. You were willing to work for Aunty Aikiko because of your love for your mom and because of your faith. Your faith made you a better person.”

  Jenn squirmed. “I don’t think I’m a better person, Grandma.”

  She pinched Jenn’s cheek lightly. “Don’t argue with me. You are. I had been going to church with Mrs. Matsumoto for a few weeks, so I knew what that ‘something’ in you was.”

  Jenn had “something” in her? She’d always felt so un-something. So ordinary. So … Jenn.

  “Jenn, you are the reason I went to see the pastor to become a Christian. I wanted you to know that.” Her hand fell away from Jenn’s face, and there was a serenity in the intelligent eyes that she hadn’t seen before.

  Grandma was still Grandma. She hadn’t suddenly turned into another Mrs. Matsumoto with her fervent, out-loud prayers every time she felt the Spirit move, her computer-like memory for Bible verses, and her favorite quote, “Praise God!”

  No, Grandma was still reserved, sharp as a whip, and the reigning matriarch of the Sakai family. But she had a softer understanding in her eyes that Jenn recognized on a deep, almost subconscious level.

  God had put that there. God had used Jenn, and she hadn’t even known it.

  She exhaled long and deep. She was humbled and honored.

  Jenn’s cell phone vibrated against her body where her purse, slung over her shoulder, rested against her ribcage. At the same moment, Trish approached with Grandma’s tea. Lex had apparently seen that Grandma wanted to talk to Jenn and was trying to detain Trish, but Trish swatted aside her grasping hand and said, “No, Grandma said she wanted tea, lemme go, what are you doing?”

  “Thank you, Trish.” Grandma took the tea and ended her conversation with Jenn. So Jenn dug out her phone and checked the caller ID.

  Edward.

  Grandma was in good hands with Trish and Lex, right? “Hello?”

  “Hi, gorgeous.”

  There was that melty chocolate lava cake feeling in her ribcage again. “H-hi.”

  “I need to talk to you. I have a, um … business proposition for you.”

  “Oh.” How dare he call her gorgeous and then want to talk about business?

  “And, uh … I’ve missed you.” His voice hit a low note that vibrated in the pit of her stomach.

  He was forgiven. “I’m cooking lunch for my family today. Want to join us?”

  “Sure. I’ll even bring a present for Pookie.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  His present was a real feeding trough, which he’d dug out of his family’s storage barn. “It’s an old one of Aunty Lorena’s.” He presented it to the goat like Vanna White.

  Jenn giggled. “I fed her this morning, so I’ll use it when I feed her tonight.” She made to move back into the house and thought she saw movement at the edge of the back door into the house.

  But then Edward detained her with a hand on her arm. “Wait. I need to talk to you.”

  “I need to start making lunch.”

  Through the open kitchen window, someone shouted, “No, she doesn’t!” It sounded suspiciously like Trish. Or Lex. They sounded alike.

  Jenn closed her eyes and set her teeth, but she still felt the sunburn firing up her neck to her ears. She whirled around to put her back to the prying eyes inside the house and sighed as she looked up at Edward. “Sorry.”

  His eyes had crinkled. “You’ve met my family. They wouldn’t be trying to hide behind the edge of the door. They’d be pushing each other for front row seating.”

  She would be willing to bet Venus was in the upstairs bedroom with a pair of binoculars and some high-tech microphone she got from work. Jenn cleared her throat. “You needed to tell me something?”

  “I know you were going to give up your catering business because of your mom’s treatments. But what about your own restaurant?”

  Her breath caught. That would be a dream, but … “I don’t have the money for something like that.”

  “Well, it wouldn’t quite be your own restaurant … yet. But Castillo Winery has a bed and breakfast that’s been doing very well for the past several years. My uncle has tossed around the idea of opening a restaurant there since we already have a large dining area and the kitchen all set up, but none of the family wants to undertake it. So I mentioned you.”
>
  Jenn’s heartbeat ramped up. Did he really mean it? Her own restaurant? “You talked to your uncle about me?”

  “You’d technically be hired by the winery, so you’d have a salary and insurance—which I thought you might not mind because of your mom.”

  She absolutely didn’t mind at all.

  “But my uncle is willing to give you free rein in the kitchen, so it would almost be like having your own restaurant.”

  Her own restaurant. “I can make anything?”

  “Anything.”

  “I can bring my own staff?” They’d be ecstatic to work with her in a restaurant.

  “Sure.”

  Her joy zapped out of her arms like electricity and she flung them around Edward’s neck. “Oh, yes! Thank you thank you thank you!”

  “Did he propose?” came a shocked whisper from behind her. It sounded like Mrs. Matsumoto.

  “No!” Jenn and Edward both yelled for the benefit of their eavesdroppers.

  “I wish he’d kiss her,” came from the house. That sounded like Grandma.

  And so he did.

  His mouth moved over hers with the freshness of spring, the promise of new beginnings, not just for her restaurant, but also for them. His scent of verbena and thyme swirled around her, and his hands tightened at the base of her spine, drawing her closer to him.

  She leaned into his body, tightening her arms around his neck, and he deepened the kiss. Her skin felt alive and vibrant, because this was Edward, and he wasn’t just her friend.

  He drew his head back, looking down at her with dark eyes a little glazed, like the glossy shell of a chocolate truffle.

  “I liked that,” she breathed. “I’d like some more.”

  But as his head descended again, his face suddenly lurched forward, knocking her in the nose. “What—?” He twisted around to look behind him.

  Pookie stood there staring up at them.

  “Pookie! You poked him! Bad Pookie!” Jenn said.

  Edward turned back to her, his arms wrapping around her again as he murmured in her ear, “I really think you need to rename that goat.”

  Author’s Note

  For most of my books, I have a particular album that I listen to that inspires me. For this book, when I wrote it back in 2010, it was Every Time I Breathe by Big Daddy Weave.

  I hope the song “Let It Rise” (that Trish and Jenn listened to in the car) inspires you to worship with abandon the way it does for Trish and for me.

  The song Trish sings in the park is “Every Time I Breathe.” The lyrics always speak to my heart and help me focus on Jesus and feel His presence.

  Jenn and Trish’s cellphone ringtones are also songs that inspire me:

  “Fool For You” by Nichole Nordeman (Trish’s ringtone) reminds me to give my all for Jesus without worrying about what other people think of me, which is pretty accurate for Trish’s personality after what she went through in Only Uni.

  “Not Gonna Let You Down” by Building 429 (Jenn’s ringtone) reminds me how passionately God loves me—no matter what I’ve done, no matter where I’ve been, He will never leave me and I am not alone.

  The Malaysian basil is completely fictional, although some of you will recognize it—and the dermatologist researcher—from my romantic suspense novel, Formula for Danger.

  Camy

  P.S. If any errors got past me and my proofreaders, please do email me through my website or Facebook page to let me know.

  Sushi series contemporary romance:

  #1: Sushi for One?

  #2: Only Uni

  #3: Single Sashimi

  #4: Weddings and Wasabi (novella)

  #4.1: White Soup (short story in the anthology, Recipe for Romance)