Chapter 25
Noah
Noah went back home to beg for his parents’ assistance. It wasn’t a great position to be in, but they were the only ones who could help him.
His dad had gone off to work, but his mom was home. She was with little Hana again, scolding the baby for making a mess in her high chair. She had a twinkle in her eye as she chatted, though, which was the way you could always tell her scolding was meant as praise.
But there was no twinkle in Noah’s eye. He was furious. “Why did you let Mrs. Irving take over? You might as well put a loaded cannon in charge.”
“I’m sorry, son.” The “son” was usually a pretty good indicator that she was not sincere. She didn’t tend to use that word affectionately, which might have told the casual observer something about her feelings for both her children.
“Well, I’m sorrier. I have no idea why she’s making trouble about it now. Again, the festival has been in the works forever.”
“Yes, but you only just moved it from the state fairgrounds,” said Mrs. Kato. Her eyes, which had been warm as she cleaned her granddaughter’s sticky fingers, cooled as she regarded Noah. “So neither Aya nor Mrs. Irving had a great deal of time to adjust to this new reality.”
Noah sighed. “I don’t know what I was supposed to have done, Mom. The festival’s sold out, and there was such a bad rockslide at the fairgrounds we never would have been able to get that area cleaned up.”
His mother set aside the miso soup and rice she had been giving little Hana, slipping the tray and the baby out of the device in one smooth series of movements. “You didn’t have time to find a solution,” she said evenly. “You’re going to have to find one now. That’s not so unreasonable.”
“It is when I can’t even talk to Aya,” he said. “We need to sit down, look at maps, and go over things face-to-face. But apparently, we can’t meet anywhere without it becoming some kind of scandal.”
For the first time, his mother gave a genuine smile. “You were a teenager once,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
Nothing was more embarrassing than hearing one’s parent allude to anything sexual.
At least, that was how Noah had always felt.
But his mother did have a point. Parking a car in a secluded spot was not safe for a celebrity, and the A-Wing theater tech booth was definitely out, but only one more private location came to mind.
“I guess we can meet at the cabin,” he said. “But I’m going to need some help getting there.”
His mother nodded. “How about this,” she said. “I’ll call your sister. She and I can go there with Hana and get it ready. Nobu can help, too, since he’s still preparing it for the engagement party. You set up a meeting with Aya later. We’ll make sure it’s not a mess anymore.”
He frowned. “How much of a mess can it be?”
His family’s cabin was a homey place, but it was never untidy.
“You’d be surprised what Nobu has managed to accomplish,” she said. “Unlike your father, he doesn’t seem to feel a need to work constantly during these summer days.”
“He took time off, Mom.”
She shrugged. “I’m sure he did, but he needn’t spend all of it at the cabin.”
“What exactly has he been doing to that place?”
She shook her head. “You’ll see soon enough.”