I take a quick sip of the tea. It’s great, made with real lemon, not the cheap imitation goop you often find in Osaka supermarkets. I pull out my phone and text Ray and Darcy.
I’m coming back home soon, probably this week. Don’t know exactly when yet. Will let you know. Miss you. Give Mia my love.
A couple minutes later, I get a call. “Ray! I didn’t know you were still up.”
“Mia’s been a little fussy today. Darcy was with her, and I told her to get some sleep.”
I wince. “Sorry she’s such a difficult child.” The apology slips out before I can stop myself. Every time she gets sick or acts in a manner that makes her less than perfect, I feel responsible.
“Ah, she’s an angel. Even princesses have bad days.” He chuckles. “Listen, I just wanted to make sure you’re all right. Darcy said something about asking you to come home for Thanksgiving. But your vacation probably isn’t gonna be long enough to make it worth your while to fly all the way out here, right? So what’s going on?”
“Kind of a long story, but I think I’m moving back home. Permanently.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “You are? Did you resign?”
“Something like that.”
“Okay. Well… Do you have a place to stay?”
Probably Lucas’s place in Charlottesville, but… “Yes, I think so.”
“It’s a man, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“You hesitated, and there’s no way you just quit your job like that. The Japanese are bad about quitting.”
It was Ray’s expertise in Japanese history and culture that got me interested in working in the country in the first place. “Yes.”
“He must be something special.”
“He is.” I turn away from the receptionist checking the computer and lower my voice. “It’s Lucas.”
“The Lucas from two years ago?” Ray asks sharply.
“Yes.”
“Well… I suppose I should say I’m glad you’re getting back together.”
My hand clenches and unclenches around the phone. “Ray.”
“Does he know?”
“No.”
In the silence, I can see Ray pinching his steel-gray eyebrows together. “So. You aren’t one hundred percent certain about him, but somehow you quit your job to be with him.”
Put that way, it does sound pretty crazy.
“Darcy’s going to worry,” he says.
“I know.”
Ray sighs. “Can you send me your flight information as soon as you know? I’ll pick you up from the airport.”
“You don’t need to—”
“I insist. So will Darcy. We’ve missed you, and Darcy’s going to want to keep you under our roof and spoil you for a while.”