Over the next day, Quinn kept to herself, spending the mornings answering work emails and pushing already-delayed meetings even further out. Some of her coworkers were getting impatient with her, but they were just going to have to wait. There was too much happening now for her to leave Maui. She’d submitted her request for a leave of absence. She hated to drain her banked vacation hours, but she could think of nothing more important that would come up.

Her request had caused a chain reaction, and Quinn’s boss had sent an email asking for a call. That sent a shiver of fear through Quinn, but she wasn’t even going to answer that one yet.

She simply wasn’t ready to face her job again, and she sure as Hades wasn’t ready to face Ethan, especially not when she was getting ready to finally meet another biological relative for the first time.

Even the thought made her heart skip around in a crazy way. One thing at a time, though.

First, Maggie.

Being the spur-of-the-moment fireball she was, Maggie had arranged for her mother to keep her son, then booked a flight that would have her in Maui less than eighteen hours after their call, insisting she needed a day to acclimate before the big meeting.

Quinn couldn’t be more grateful. Having Maggie there would help keep her from taking a call from Ethan before she was ready.

By midmorning Quinn was dressed and anxious to head to the airport early. One bad accident on the road could leave her sitting in traffic for hours, and there was no way she as going to leave Maggie waiting for her.

Her phone rang, and it was Auntie Wang.

“Quinn, I just want to check in with you and tell you I’ve found a Carmen Crowe on the island.”

Quinn sat down on the bed, feeling suddenly breathless. “Do you think it’s the right one?”

“I don’t know. She’s around the same age, though. I’m meeting with her this afternoon. She wasn’t really interested, but I talked her into it.”

“Does she know what you want?”

“No,” said Auntie Wang. “I told her I wanted to talk to her about being on the board for a new organization that promotes Hawaiian history. I appealed to her pride in being asked. I’ll ask her about your mother face-to-face so I can gauge her reaction.”

“Jeez, Auntie Wang. When she finds out you’re lying, she’s going to be really upset.”