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Mari almost jumped at the touch on her arm, but she smiled as she turned toward Missus Tamura.

“I… I’m okay.”

The older woman raised a brow at her words.

“No. No, really,” Mari’s voice rose a little in pitch and volume. “I’m fine.”

Missus Tamura’s hand gave her arm a few gentle pats. “You come and bring Ebi here to visit and make us feel better. You should find something that brings you a little joy, hmm?”

Mari wanted to laugh a little.

It wasn’t that she would laugh at Missus Tamura.

She felt like laughing at herself.

Since she’d lost her parents, she’d been taking Ebi on these visits for just that reason, to help others, but also because she was chasing some of that for herself.

“I’m fine. Really.”

The older woman sighed and shook her head. “You can’t fool me, Mari. You’re too young to be this… this lost.”

Lost.

The word rang true.

There were days when she walked around in a daze looking for… something.

Taking Ebi to the rehabilitation center was the only concrete thing in her schedule.

Nani, one of the nurses at the center popped her head in and looked around the room, her gaze landing on Missus Tamura. “Your son is here to pick you up.”

Missus Tamura sat up and beamed. “Oh good.”

Mari reached out and took the older woman’s arm and helped her up. Once she was on her feet, Mari reached out her other arm and pulled her walker closer. “You want me to walk you out?”

Missus Tamura looked up at her and shook her head, almost imperceptibly. “You stay.” She lifted a chin, in the direction of the man who Ebi was shamelessly purring for. “Get his name.”

Mari lowered her chin to give the other woman a quizzical look.

“Then, get a date.”

Missus Tamara left her frozen in place, wheeling her walker around Mari and out of the door.

Mari only turned when she saw the nurse gesture in the doorway.

Mari looked over at her and Nani mouthed a few words at her. “HE’S SO HOT.”

Mari gave her a tight-lipped smile before slowly turning around to look at the man in question.

The man was easy to look at.

And apparently, he was also a very comfortable perch for the cat.

Ebi was purring so loudly she could almost be mistaken for a large diesel engine.

“Uh,” she started speaking before she’d made the conscious decision to do it, “are you in the market for a cat?”

It took a long moment before he turned to look at her and Mari had to reach out and put her hand on the back of the empty chair to keep herself from swaying.