“So here’s where our situation can totally change,” he said, spinning his phone on the table. “We can do one of two things. We can go home?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’d rather stay if we can.”
“Or we can go to Hiromi’s guesthouse and help out there. Her live-in staff member had to go home suddenly and care for her aging mother. That leaves her room free, but the guesthouse is booked solid, and they need help today getting ready for tonight and tomorrow.”
Hmmm. This was supposed to be a vacation for the two of us to spend time together. Working through it for someone else didn’t sound very relaxing.
But I looked across the table at his eager eyes and thought about how he wanted to spend time with me. It couldn’t be that bad. I bet we’d have fun, actually.
“Sounds like a plan!” I gathered up our bags.
“Yes, let’s head over there now. You’ll love Hiromi and Andrew and their onsen. I promise it’ll be fun.” He kissed me on my temple, and with his arm over my shoulder, I believed him.
Chapter Five
“What a beautiful place!” My breath caught in my chest as we walked in the door. Yoshitomo was a bright and happy guesthouse, a vibrant mix of traditional Japanese house and modern European architecture with a white Christmas tree sparkling in the corner of the entrance hall. The house smelled of cinnamon and clove, and quiet classical music drifted through the hallway.
“Yasa-kun!” A young woman in her early thirties burst through a door, smiling and holding out her arms for a hug. Yasahiro dropped our bags and entered her embrace easily.
“Hiromi-chan, it’s so good to see you,” he said, pulling away after a squeeze. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here in a year. I should’ve come by during the summer.”
She waved her hand and smiled. “It’s fine. The year has been busy for everyone.” She looked past him to me, so I bowed. “Is this Mei-san?”
“It is.” He smiled as a wave of comfort washed over me. I had a feeling this was not the first time he’d mentioned me to her besides the phone call earlier. “Mei Yamagawa, this is Hiromi Pierce.” We bowed to each other and she gave a very sly side-eye to Yasahiro. He cleared his throat. “I’m sure Andrew is here somewhere, right?”
His eyes widened in desperation, so she gestured behind her to a hallway. “He’s in the kitchen, of course. Where else would he be?” She reached for our bags. “Welcome to Yoshitomo. Let me take you to your room. It’s nice to meet you, Mei-san. I’ve been telling Yasa-kun to bring you here since he told us about you in October, but he’s been keeping you to himself.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too.” October? We’d only just met in October! That was a good sign. Perhaps this meant something?
She led us down the hallway past community rooms and other bedrooms in disarray. It looked like the people staying here had dressed and left in a hurry.
“I’m sorry your room is not very big, and all of Sayako’s belongings are in here. She said she was fine with you using her room, though, so don’t worry about it.”
Hiromi opened the door of a room tucked way in the back of the guesthouse next to the bathroom. It was only about three tatami mats in size, tiny compared to the five-star hotel. Sayako’s photos and posters hung on the walls, her dressing table overflowing with makeup and perfume.
“I’ve brought in a fresh futon for you. I’m sorry again.” She bowed as we swept our eyes over the room. “I know you probably booked a suite at the last place.”
Yasahiro grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “It’s fine. Really. It’s more than enough space for the two of us.”
“Thank you so much,” I said, setting my bag next to the futon closet door. “It’s nice of you to accommodate us on such short notice.”
“I’ll let you get settled in, but please come meet us in the kitchen when you’re ready.” She backed out of the room and slid the door shut behind her.
Yasahiro let out a long sigh and sank to the floor. “This is not what I expected to happen today. I’m so sorry.”
I kicked his foot. “Why are you sorry?” I dragged my bag across the room and set it against the far wall. “This was my first vacation in five years, and I ruined it. I was looking forward to that private bath.”
I looked down at him, his head against the wall, a weary grin on his face. “Me too. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
We left our bags in the room and made our way through the guesthouse. Yasahiro showed me where the bathrooms were, the exits to the outside onsen hot spring baths (also called rotenburo), and he opened the door to the outside garden.
“It’s a lovely place. I wish we could stay as guests instead of helpers.”
“Maybe some other time,” I said, slipping my arm around his waist. We spent two minutes breathing in the cold, winter air and staring out at the landscape, before heading to the kitchen.
We opened the door and were struck with the bustle of the kitchen in full swing. Special box lunches lined the stainless steel island awaiting morsels of treats for New Year’s Day lunch tomorrow. The pungent tang of seaweed hung in the air as pots boiled away on the stove. Before long, treats like bitter oranges, black soybeans, mochi rice cakes wrapped in seaweed, and grilled fish cakes would be loaded in and ready to eat after a morning trip to the temple. Everyone looked forward to osechi, traditional New Year’s Day lunch.
A Caucasian man was hunched over the stove, stirring away, while Hiromi chopped vegetables at the island. This must be Andrew, a friend of Yasahiro’s from his days studying cuisine in Paris.
“Yasahiro! My man!” Andrew called out in English. He set down his spoon and crossed the room, engulfing Yasahiro in a bear hug that lifted him off the floor. He dwarfed us both, broad-shouldered and tawny hair tucked behind his ears under a chef’s hat. “I’m so glad you came! Though I’m sorry to hear the circumstances, somehow I’m not surprised. You must be Mei. It’s nice to meet you.”
He offered a hand to shake and bowed at the same time. I did both, letting out a nervous giggle. I hoped I could remember my English.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” I stammered out, and he smacked himself upside the head.
“Sorry!” He switched to Japanese. “Yasahiro and I always spoke English in Paris. It wasn’t until I met Hiromi that I learned the language.”
Hiromi glanced up from chopping to smile. “He came here on vacation, and we fell in love.”
The two looked at each other, and my heart warmed with their obvious affection.
“So, tell us how we can help,” I reminded them, bowing again. “I’m an absolute disaster in the kitchen, but I can clean.” I pointed to the mountain of pots and pans in the sink. “Let me get started there.”
Hiromi paused for a second, no doubt her manners warring between having me relax as a guest and doing the work we promised to do by coming here and crashing their last unexpectedly open room.
“That would be a great help. Thank you.”
“Fantastic.” I got to business scrubbing and rinsing for a solid hour, humming to myself and listening to the conversation as Andrew and Yasahiro talked about old times and working in Paris.
After an hour of washing dishes and making sure everything was in order in the kitchen, I volunteered to clean up the guest rooms since it was unthinkable to go into the New Year with a house in disarray. Everyone cleaned in December to make sure their new year was full of good luck and cheer. I didn’t want Hiromi and Andrew saddled with bad luck.
I had lived with bad luck my entire life and knew what that felt like. No one else should have to be stuck with that if I could help it.
Visiting each room, I emptied the trash and sorted it, moved the guests’ bags to the walls, and vacuumed the tatami mats. Once the rooms were clean, I dusted the floors in the main hallways and wiped them down with a damp cloth.
By the time I was done, I was a sweating dirty mess, but the guest house was clean. I returned to the door to the garden, opened it to let fre
sh air in, and sat with my legs dangling over the side of the porch. I leaned against the door frame, wishing I was leaning against Yasahiro’s shoulder instead. How was this any better than being at home? Though I was happy to help out these friends of Yasahiro’s, I wished we had gone home to Chikata. This was my vacation, the first one I’d taken in five years. I glanced at the dirty rag next to me and sighed.
But maybe I was here because I was needed. Maybe this was where I was supposed to be. Maybe? I didn’t know, and I wasn’t sure of anything. Whatever the circumstances, we were here, and I needed to make the best of it.
I raised my shoulders. This was no time for self pity. Sure the last few months had been awful, but things could be worse, right?
For some reason, that didn’t make me feel any better.
Chapter Six
I carried the bags of trash and the dirty rags into the chaotic kitchen. The box lunches for tomorrow were taking shape with morsels of gorgeous looking food lining several bento boxes. Yasahiro stood at the stove cooking up a thick omelette, his face peaceful and focused on his task. Even when he goes on vacation, he can’t avoid spending time in the kitchen. I knew he didn’t mind helping, but I’d hoped he could get time off for three days. I didn’t feel three days was that much to ask for.
“I’m done cleaning the guesthouse. It’s perfect, and you’ll go into the new year ready for good luck,” I said, placing the trash bags in the cubby off the kitchen and dumping the rags in the dirty wash bin. I glanced at the clock on the far side of the room, 15:15. “I’m a sweaty mess now, though.”
Hiromi looked up from arranging pieces of food in the box lunch. “Ah, Mei-san. You’ve done so much work. I don’t know how to repay you.”
I waved my hand at her. “You don’t have to. We’re happy we have someplace to stay for New Year’s Eve. It was my pleasure to help out.” She didn’t need to know I wished we’d gone home. Hiromi and Andrew seemed like nice people, and it wasn’t their fault my vacation was more of a work holiday. I should’ve been more proactive about choosing our hotel. Maybe if I had just admitted what I thought could happen, this might have been avoided.
But there was no use dwelling on things that had already happened.
“If it’s okay, I’d like to get cleaned up and use the outdoor onsen before the guests arrive. But only if that’s okay with you, though. If you have more work for me to do, I can postpone.” I imagined the hot water soaking my aches and pains away. Hopefully, Yasahiro and I could enjoy them together later.
“Of course!” Hiromi smiled and waved towards the bathrooms. “You deserve it.” She glanced at Yasahiro who was finishing the omelette. “We’re almost done with the box lunches for tomorrow. Andrew and I can probably cover dinner between us. Yasa-kun, why don’t you join Mei-san?”
Yasahiro’s eyebrows jumped, and his face relaxed. “That sounds like an excellent idea, but I have a few more things Andrew wanted me to do. It’ll take maybe fifteen to twenty more minutes?”
“Then meet me out there,” I said, smiling in his direction. Oh, this would be heavenly, and we could pick up our vacation where we left off.
Hiromi’s phone jumped and vibrated on the stainless steel island. She dusted off her hands on a kitchen towel and bent over the phone to see who was calling. “Oh no,” she said, rushing to answer it. “Mom, I’m so sorry… Yes. I know I forgot.” She sighed, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. “I meant to send Andrew an hour ago, but we’ve been swamped since we lost two helpers today… I know it’s no excuse. I’m sorry. I’ll drop everything and come to get you… You have more errands to run?” She sighed again, and I waited, worried about how stressed she looked. “Yes, yes. I’ll be there soon.”
“Did we forget about your mother?” Andrew asked, cooking green beans in a wok at the stove.
“Yes we did. And I still have too much work to do between the box lunches and dinner tonight to go pick her up and shuttle her around.” She looked over at me. “I’m sure you’re not that big of a mess in the kitchen…”
Both Yasahiro and I laughed at the same time.
“I’m absolutely, completely, utterly incompetent in the kitchen. I can barely make rice. Isn’t that right, Yasa-kun?” I tried not to laugh too hard at myself. I should’ve been ashamed of how poor of a cook I was, but I had given up on that dream years ago. You can only set fire to the kitchen so many times before you give up.
“She’s right. I plan to teach her knife skills soon, but I have to make sure my first aid kit at home is stocked beforehand.” His smirk was one of the sexiest things I had ever seen.
“Ha ha. I’m dating such a joker.” I winked at him.
Hiromi didn’t smile, and her forehead crinkled with stress. “Okay. I’ll put this aside and handle it later, if I can.”
I had just met her a few hours ago, but I could tell by the set of her mouth, she was worried she wouldn’t get her work done. I’d been in her shoes a million times and wished someone had helped me out. No one should be this stressed for the holiday.
If I could help, I would.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, waving to the chopping board in front of her. “You stay here and take care of this. I’ll go take care of your mom.”
Both Hiromi and Andrew froze. Yasahiro, used to me doing this, returned to his omelette.
“Hmmm, Mei-san, that’s really generous of you to offer, but you don’t know my mother. She’s a bit… cantankerous and set in her ways. She would do nothing but give you a hard time. I should go.”
She got as far as unbuttoning her apron before I could react and stop her. Cantankerous and set in her ways? That sounded like a challenge I was up for.
“No, really. I’m good with older folks, and it would be my pleasure to take care of your mom. You have enough work and stress here without having to deal with your mother too. Just let me get cleaned up, and I’ll borrow Yasa-kun’s car to go meet up with her.”
Andrew’s jaw was locked open. “I don’t think you want to do that. She’s a really tough crowd.”
Maybe I was getting myself into trouble, but if Hiromi left to deal with her mom, Yasahiro would spend more time in the kitchen. Then I wouldn’t be spending time with him. There was no way I would sit around while everyone else worked.
And I loved a good challenge. I might as well spend the time with someone who needed me.
“I can handle a tough crowd. Not to worry.”
I left them and returned to our room, determined to make someone happy this holiday, and I would start with Hiromi’s mom. Picking out a new outfit, I cleaned up and changed in the bathroom, checked in with Hiromi, and left the guesthouse to find Hiromi’s mother, Nahoko Nishimura.
I drove up to the convenience store in town and parked the car. Inside the lit up window, blinking with Christmas lights, a little, old woman, her hair covered by a handkerchief and her arms weighed down with bags, stood peering out into the parking lot. Her face was set in a stern expression, and it reminded me of the day I met one of my own elderly clients for the first time. No one wanted to put trust in a complete stranger. I had to remember that.
I jumped out of the car and waved to her in the window. She didn’t acknowledge me, except to narrow her eyes. Remember to be polite, Mei. I smiled as I came through the sliding doors.
“Hello! You must be Nahoko Nishimura, Hiromi’s mother. I’m Mei Yamagawa, and I’m here to take you where you need to go.” I bowed to her, showing the proper amount of respect, and held out my hands. “Can I take your bags? They look heavy.”
“Get away from me,” she growled, and I was reminded of a tiny, vicious dog at the end of its leash. “I’m not giving my bags to a stranger. I don’t care who you are. I’m waiting here for my daughter.”
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and looked at it. No messages. If Hiromi was coming, she would’ve phoned me.
“I just came from Yoshitomo. Hiromi-san is swamped with work to do for the New Year cele
bration tonight. You’re coming, right? I’m sure you’ll enjoy all the wonderful food she and Andrew are preparing.” She didn’t answer me, her lips pressed into a thin line. “She sent me to pick you up and help you run errands. Didn’t she call you?”
She curled her hands closer to her body with her bags. “I told her to come herself. When family needs help, you come. You don’t send someone else to do your job for you.”
Did she not have any idea how stressed out her daughter was?
“Well, that’s not very fair. Everyone has jobs to do, and my job is to help other people who are too busy to do everything. And that’s why I’m here.”
She wouldn’t budge. She kept a tight grip on her bags, and she leaned to the side to make eye contact with the store employee.
I held back a smile. She was really worried I was there to rob her or something, but I couldn’t take it to heart. She didn’t know me, and I didn’t know her. There had to be a way I could get her to trust me.
I pulled Yasahiro’s car keys from my pocket. “If you’d like, I can drive you directly to Yoshitomo. Just think of me as a taxi service, and I’ll get you there.”
“But I have more errands to run, and Hiromi-chan promised me she’d drive me around today.” She looked desperate for her daughter. I had to reel her back in.
“I’m sure that was before Sayako-san had to go take care of her ailing mother, and her other employee called in sick. She’s doing the work of three people. Even I cleaned the guesthouse today, and I’m supposed to be on vacation.” I laughed, looking around the convenience store and thinking about grabbing a snack. All that hard work had made me hungry. “I’m going to grab a sandwich and a drink. Would you like something before we take off?”
She sighed, setting her bags on the floor next to her. “I’ll have cold green tea. The kind with the green label, not the white one. And a tuna rice ball.”
I paused, my hand reaching into my purse for my wallet. “Anything else?”
Ozoni and Onsens Page 3