The Daydreamer Detective Returns a Favor Read online

  Her look of concern did not abate. “Do you two need money? The harvest has been good this summer, and I can afford to lend you some if you need it.” She grabbed her long gloves from the hook by the door. “I’m sure that trip to Paris was expensive,” she mumbled.

  I tried not to sigh. I really did.

  “It wasn’t expensive, and we have plenty of money for now,” I grounded out between clenched teeth. My heart rate increased, and the baby gave me a swift punch in the stomach.

  Having conversations with my mom about money always brought out the worst in us, especially since Yasahiro and I had started talking about taking the farm over. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized our problems had a lot to do with our generation gap. Mom was smart and loving, but she was also old-fashioned. We wanted to change things, and she wanted them to stay the same.

  “I offered to help out the friend of mine who gave me all the data on Amanda. Remember Akai-san?”

  “I remember her,” she said, plopping her hat on her head. “She needs your help for something?”

  “Yeah. She wants me to help clean out Ria Fukuda’s old house.”

  Mom paused, and her eyes widened.

  “I thought that would get your attention,” I said, chuckling. “Believe it or not, Akai-san inherited the Fukuda house. Ria’s father died two weeks ago and left his estate to her.”

  “What a crazy thing to happen, Mei-chan,” Mom said, opening the door and ushering me through. “It always bugged me that they never found that poor girl.”

  “Me too. I remember playing with Ria-san when I was a kid.”

  I turned to look out across the road at Akiko’s house and the new greenhouse beyond. The land we used to run and play on as children now belonged to Midori Sankaku, the Tokyo grocery store chain, and they were making great use of it. The greenhouse, started in the spring, was ninety percent complete. They hoped to be up and running by October, almost a year after I moved back home. In the meantime, they were due to break ground on the administrative buildings closer to Akiko’s house. Trucks and men in hardhats covered the land. They must’ve been doing surveys.

  “She was such a polite young woman with a promising future ahead.” Mom shook her head and clucked her tongue, showing her displeasure over what had happened. “Well, I suppose if Akai-san needs your help, you should give it to her. Maybe you’ll find something that’ll point to why Ria disappeared.”

  “I doubt it. It happened so long ago, and I’m sure the police combed that house when she first disappeared. I’m just going to help out, and I’ll be here working with you again in a week. Two tops.”

  I remembered Yasahiro’s insistence from the car.

  “Oh, Mom?”

  She halted and turned back to me, squinting into the sun.

  “Yasa-kun was really excited the other day. He found a contractor interested in expanding the house next year. He wants you to meet him soon.”

  I kept my eyes steady on her, hoping to see acceptance.

  No such luck.

  “Mei-chan, I’m sure it can wait until after the fall harvest in a few months, right?”

  I swallowed down my guilt. Was I pushing her too hard? Did she not want to go this step? Almost everyone did this, move in with their parents late in life to make things easier for them. She definitely still cared about me as evidenced by her concern for my well-being. Even though we’d had a rocky few months, I thought our relationship was better after the wedding.

  “Of course, Mom. Whenever you’re ready.”

  But maybe I’d done something to give her pause? Maybe she didn’t want to live with Yasahiro and me?

  I didn’t know.

  I watched her walk off to the fields and not look back.

  Chapter Four

  I drank a half a bottle of water and got to work picking tomatoes in the field. This was one of the easier jobs that required little to no bending over, so it was always my job now. I had to be careful not to damage the tomatoes, gripping them firmly but not too hard. My mouth salivated looking at each one, red and ripe, and begging to be put in a salad. Yasahiro was going to lose his mind here over the next few days.

  Each tomato came loose from the vine and was added to my basket, one after another as I thought about the jobs I had in front of me. Not only did I have a tea shop to care for, but a baby on the way and a mother stuck in isolation mode. Everything was great with Yasahiro, so I was able to shift him to the back of my mind. But I had to deal with a few issues before the baby came.

  One, convince Mom we should all be living together in the same house. Originally, I didn’t like the idea because I was happy living out of Yasahiro’s apartment every day. His place was the height of luxury with a big, beautiful kitchen, spa bathroom, and access to everything downtown. But the more I thought about it, his apartment’s location was inconvenient for the rest of my life despite being right over the tea shop. We were going to have a baby. Where would the baby sleep? Where would he or she play? There was no yard at Yasahiro’s and no local playgrounds. It would be fine for the first year, but after that, not as much.

  Mom’s house was better suited for a family since I was there almost every day anyway. All of us could live on the family land together. But how to convince Mom? She loved her house and her freedom, and I doubted she wanted anything to change. I would have to persuade her somehow.

  Two, my continuing education. I had a business degree from college that had served me well, once I had a direction in life, but now, I had to make a choice. I loved helping to investigate crimes, but in a small town like Chikata, they were few and far between, and I didn’t want to attend a police academy like Goro had. But I could definitely learn more about investments and real estate like Yasahiro had. I saw how lucrative real estate was, and I knew that if we made those decisions together, we could do well for ourselves. How would I fit that in with everything else going on? I was already stretched thin, back and forth to the tea shop, the farm, the restaurant. When the baby came, I’d also have to factor in things like naps and feedings.

  Sigh. There was just so much to consider.

  When I reached the end of the row and my basket was full, I lugged the tomatoes to the cool shade of the barn.

  “Good morning, Mei-san,” Minato said, hauling a bag of white potatoes into the barn. That was my job last year, and boy was I glad I couldn’t carry heavy bags this year.

  “Morning, Minato-san,” I said, placing the last of the ripe tomatoes into the plastic bins. They’d be picked up later today, off to someone’s table by dinnertime. I clapped my hands together to rid my gloves of the morning’s dirt and pulled them off, eager to take a breather from the heat of the day. “How are you?”

  He hefted the potato bag and added it to the pile on the other side of the barn. I was really grateful that the new barn looked nothing like the old barn. I feared I would have flashbacks to the barn burning around me, but that wasn’t the case at all. I was comfortable in the space and happy my mom was back in business.

  “I’m doing well, thank you. It’s going to be another hot day today. I think your mom and I will be done by noon.” Minato smiled as he crossed the room and opened the barn refrigerator, pulling a bottle of water out and gesturing to me.

  “Great idea. Time for a water break.”

  Minato unstacked two plastic chairs, placed them in front of one of the oscillating fans, and handed me a bottle of water. We took a seat with a view of the rows of green vegetables off into the distance.

  We sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping the cold water and staring out at the fields. One thing I really liked about Minato was his ability to ease into any situation. For most of his life, he’d owned a manga store on the other side of town. Then he sold that place and worked at the library. When he became bored of the library, he worked at a local farm stand before coming here to work for Mom. Every place he’d worked, people had loved him. But he grew bored easily of being indoors.

  Farming wa
s a good fit for him, despite how interesting he was. Seriously, the man was as handsome as a movie star. He had a perfect goatee, smiling eyes behind his too-hip 1950s style glasses, and muscles on muscles. It was a crime to be that hot in your late forties. His wife was a lucky woman.

  “I wanted to let you know that Yasahiro-san will be here the rest of the week in my place. I’m sure the two of you will have loads to talk about.”

  “You don’t say? Is he itching to get his hands in the dirt?”

  “Always.” I laughed, spinning the cap back on the bottle of water. “I’m going to be helping a friend the next few days to clean out a house, and Yasahiro-san will take over my shifts while we get it done.”

  “That sounds like a lot of work. Aren’t you worried about taking on too much while you’re pregnant? When my wife was pregnant, she was in bed all the time. Granted, she had medical troubles, but still.”

  His son was in high school, so his wife’s pregnancy had been a long time ago. I waved off his concern.

  “It’s fine. It won’t be any less tiresome than this, and I think the house has air conditioning even.” I fanned myself though it did nothing to help the soup I was sitting in. I’d need another shower before heading to Oshabe-cha.

  “Oh, then, that’s different.” He smiled and winked, and I melted even more. I was a pat of mushy butter threatening to become oil. “Where’s this house?”

  I thought about his previous occupation, manga store owner. I knew him from those days, my own manga obsession now boxed up and in storage somewhere in the house if Mom hadn’t already sold it off. He probably knew Ria from that time.

  “It’s the Fukuda house on the north side of town. Do you remember Ria-san?”

  His mouth dropped open. “Do I remember her? She was in my store every day for years. Totally hooked on all the romantic manga. Her mom, before she passed away, used to complain about the money she spent on manga.” He sat back in his chair and stroked his goatee. “I always wondered what happened to her.”

  A continuing theme from everyone I spoke to about her.

  Minato leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, gazing out at the fields. “She was a quiet one. She’d sit in the aisle and read for an hour before buying anything. I liked having her in the store because she was trustworthy, unlike other kids she hung out with.”

  He drifted off in his thoughts, and I also flashed back to that time, reminiscing about my trips to the store. I didn’t remember seeing Ria at the same time I was there, but it could’ve just been my poor memory of my teenage years. My only clear memories were of my failures in painting and choosing Tama for an inappropriate boyfriend which happened later after she was gone.

  I shook my head to clear it. Those days were behind me. I found my love of painting again. I married a fantastic man, and Tama was in jail, where he belonged. I pinched my leg and smiled at the pain. Yep, this was real life.

  “Well, her father died recently, and my friend inherited his house and everything he owned. She asked me to help out for the week, so of course, I said yes.” I groaned as I got my legs under me and stood up. What I needed was a nap. I wondered if I could get one in. Another hour of work and I could probably pass out in Mom’s room until it was time to go. She had air conditioning in her room, and I loved to take advantage of the cool air.

  Minato raised his eyebrows at me as he stood too.

  “Do you think you’ll find anything? About her disappearance?”

  “Why she went missing? Doubtful. The police investigated it for years. I’m sure I’ll be in and out of there in a couple of days.” I grabbed my gloves and pulled them on, eager to return to the work so I could take a nap, something I wanted desperately since the thought entered my mind.

  “Mei-san, I hope you don’t mind, but I heard you speaking with your mom the other day about moving into the house sometime next year.”

  I paused, forgetting that I had indeed spoken with my mom about this a few days ago when Minato had been around. “Yeah, I hope we are. Mom hasn’t committed or anything. It’s just an idea right now.”

  I hoped I didn’t sound too ambivalent, but I also didn’t want to sound confident about the situation, what with all the brushing off I’d experienced.

  Minato stroked his goatee while I pulled my gloves back on again. “I think this is a good idea. I’ve noticed some inconsistencies lately, and I believe you being around more could help smooth things out.”

  “Like what?” I pulled my hat onto my head, ready to face the sun again.

  “Just small things. The tomatoes the other day were labeled wrong, and we had two extra bags of fertilizer that weren’t on the invoice. I think your mom has been working extra hard with the summer harvest and missing a few things.” He leaned against the open doorway. “It’ll be good to have more people around to handle those things.”

  He waved as he walked off toward the tractor in the next field over.

  Well, I’d be happy to help Mom out with these things. She just had to let me.

  Chapter Five

  “Wow. Look at how peaceful he is.” I leaned over the portable bassinet and stared at Kumi’s baby, Taiga. His chubby, round face was topped with a dark field of hair that Kumi liked to pull straight up into a mohawk. He didn’t know it yet, but he was the coolest baby on the block. He stopped grandmas on the street and wowed them with his sweet, pouty lips. I ogled at his long lashes and how they rested along his upper cheeks when he was sleeping like this. I wished my lashes were as long. I was jealous of a baby.

  “What’s this thing you have him in?” I whispered, being careful not to wake him.

  “You’ll want one of these. It’s a swaddle. You wrap the baby up in it, securing their arms down. It helps him sleep. Kind of like still being in the womb,” Kumi said, reaching into the bassinet and tucking a piece of the special blanket under Taiga.

  Hmmm, there was so little I knew about babies. There were a lot of decisions to make between breastfeeding or bottles, independent or co-sleeping, rocking, bouncing, carrying… The list was endless, and this was only what I gathered from Kumi who had been a mother for all of three weeks. I had no idea what else to expect in the months ahead. My mom barely remembered raising my brother and me.

  “He’s such a good baby, hardly ever cries. I spoil him, but he spoils me.” Kumi smiled down at him, and I wondered again what my baby would be like. “Aren’t you due to find out the gender soon?”

  “Late next week. It’s the big anatomy scan. I’m a little nervous,” I said, closing the door on our bedroom once Kumi had left the room.

  Back in the apartment proper, Yasahiro and Goro were setting the table for dinner. Before the baby was born, Kumi, Goro, Yasahiro, and I would often go out on double dates, but that was difficult for them now. We didn’t want to lose touch with them, though, especially when they were going through the craziness of being new parents, so we often invited them over for dinner, and sometimes Monday nights worked the best. It felt like a date night for them, and Taiga could sleep while we had adult conversations.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure everything will be easy. Let’s hope the little one doesn’t cross his or her legs.” Kumi laughed as she sat down at the table.

  “How are things going at the bathhouse without you there?” I asked, pouring red wine into everyone’s glasses.

  “Just a little,” Kumi said, pointing to a spot on her wine glass where she wanted me to stop. “Things are good, but I think I’ll go back to work next week.”

  “Why?” I pulled my hand to my heart, shocked to hear this. “Is Chiyo-san having difficulties covering for you?”

  Goro laughed as he set the giant bowl of salad on the table. “Mom keeps telling her to stay home and rest, but Kumi is too bored sitting at home with the baby.”

  “I’m losing my mind!” She grabbed her hair and rolled her eyes. “I love being a mom, and sure, I’m exhausted most days, but my brain is churning, and I want to be working. Besides,
you see him.” She waved towards Yasahiro’s bedroom where Taiga was snoozing away. “All he wants to do is sleep and eat, and he doesn’t even need to sleep on me, which I hear is usually typical of babies. I might as well take advantage of the extra time. Eventually, he’ll be awake more or crawling or walking, and my hands will be full. Besides, my mom won’t leave me alone,” she grumbled. “I’ll get more peace at Kutsuro Matsu.”

  “She can bring him to the bathhouse, and between Kumi and my mom, he’ll be doted on night and day.” Goro smiled as he raised his glass. “Let’s toast. To the good life.”

  “To the good life,” we all chimed before we said, “Kampai!”

  I sipped and hummed in surprise. This was one of the bottles we brought back from France! The good wine. Of course, I only had about three sips in my glass. I was allowed a taste but not much more. Though the women in France often drank during pregnancy, I was careful about such things. I raised my eyebrows at Yasahiro across the table.

  “Don’t worry.” He smiled as he cut into the flank steak on his plate. “I have a special bottle set aside for after the baby is born.”

  I imagined us drinking and toasting the birth of our first child, and I tried not to cry, but a tear leaked out, anyway. I dabbed at the corner of my eye, and no one called any attention to it. Everyone was used to my hormones by now. Kumi had been just as bad, if not worse, during her own pregnancy.

  “Have you been thinking of names?” Goro asked, spearing salad greens and shoveling them into his mouth. He was always an exuberant eater. “Kumi spent weeks making lists.”

  Had I been thinking of names? I scoffed in my head. Of course, I had, but everything I settled on didn’t feel right after a day or two of thinking about it.

  “Mei-chan won’t let me name the baby Godzilla, so my choices are out.”