Grandmother Left Half the Onsen Inn to the Chef novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Special Delivery

The parcel came on a Thursday afternoon, and the head maid carried it to Sakura.

"It's for the chef," she said. "From Kyoto. The label says handle with care, keep dry, do not shake."

"Thank you," Sakura said.

The head maid bowed and left.

At the door she paused.

"Okami-san," she said, without turning, "the walls in the staff wing are thin."

She went out.

Sakura's ears burned.

She carried the box to the attendant room, because she could not think what else to do with it.

It was the size of a loaf of bread, taped in brown paper, and it did not rattle.

She set it on the low table and stared at it.

She was twenty-eight years old and the okami in training of the finest inn in Tsukiyu Onsen.

She did not open other people's mail.

She opened the box.

Inside, in a nest of tissue, lay a smooth white object with a long handle and a round soft head.

A card was tucked beside it.

It said, in Yuzu's blocky writing, Waterproof. For the bath. Don't open until I'm home.

Sakura read it twice.

Then she put her hand over her mouth.

The door slid open.

"You opened it," Yuzu said.

She stood in the doorway in her whites with a streak of flour on her cheek.

Her arms were full of a fresh bundle of leeks.

Her eyes went to the box, then to Sakura's face.

"I didn't," Sakura said. "I mean. I did. The maid said it was fragile."

"Did she look at you?"

"She said the walls are thin."

Yuzu started to laugh.

She put the leeks down on the floor, slid the door shut, and laughed until she had to lean on it.

"Okay," she said, wiping her eyes. "Okay, that's fair. Come here."

"I'm still furious."

"You are not."

"A little."

"Take your kimono off, Okami-san."

Sakura's stomach flipped over.

"It's four in the afternoon."

"Dinner is at six. The guests are at the market. You have two hours." Yuzu locked the door with the little hook. "Take it off."

Sakura untied her obi with fingers that were not steady.

She hung the navy kimono over the screen and stood on the tatami in her thin under-robe.

"All of it."

She let it fall.

Yuzu picked up the white object and turned it over in her hands, then pressed the base.

It hummed, low and strong.

Sakura's breath caught.

"Don't be scared," Yuzu said. "It's only a tool. Like a whisk. You've never used one?"

"Never."

"Then it's my pleasure." Yuzu's smile was bright and a little wicked. "Sit against the pillar."

There was a thick wooden post in the corner of the room, black with age.

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