Liam grabbed a beach towel off the line as they walked through the back courtyard to the beach path. Quinn followed, staying close to him since he knew the trail and it was dark.

Five minutes before, she’d felt absolutely physically and emotionally exhausted, but now she felt a burst of energy. Since Maggie had arrived, she hadn’t seen much of Liam, and she had to admit she missed him.

They settled close to a dune, adjusting the towel so they could recline and either look at the waves or the stars. At first they were quiet, and that was something she appreciated about him. He never wanted to miss the beautiful things. Sitting there with the breeze coming off the ocean and the moon shining down on them definitely qualified as a special moment.

“So where do we start?” he finally said.

“It’s probably going to be the craziest story you’ve ever heard.”

“It’ll do you good to repeat it, then. Get it out of your system before it begins to poison you.”

“I agree, but first, I’m dying to know about Jaime. Where’s he been? Why’d he leave?” Quinn knew it was none of her business, but she felt such a fondness for Maria that she just had to know. “Or did he tell you anything?”

“He did. We had some time alone together after we got Pali situated. Remember I told you Jaime worked at the lumberyard for decades?”

She nodded.

“Well, it was sold last year when it started losing business to the big-box stores. First it was just Lowes, but when Home Depot came in, the lumberyard owners jumped ship and sold to a family that owns a lot of stuff on this island and could afford to bring it up to scale to compete.”

“Jaime didn’t want to work for the new owners?” Quinn asked.

“He tried. They installed some high-tech computer system that everyone had to learn to use. Jaime had problems catching on, and they put him on probation because he made some mistakes. Computers aren’t his thing. He tried, but they eventually let him go and refused to give him his pension due to some legality he didn’t understand.”

“They fired him because he can’t understand the technology?” Quinn thought that was beyond unfair. From what she’d seen in the photos, Jaime was about the same age as her mother, who also had trouble figuring out technology. Quinn had spent a lot of time convincing her to switch to a smartphone but didn’t even try to talk her into letting go of her mistrust of the internet. Jaime probably just needed more training. Better training, even. She felt guilty considering she’d mentally branded Jaime as a loser who’d abandoned his family.

“Yep. Jaime heard they filled his position with two college kids who alternate shifts. They can pay them cheaper and can skip paying benefits.”