This was a first. His anger was morphing into pleading. He looked like a disappointed boy, ordered to take his toys and go home.

“Listen, Ethan, I don’t want to hurt you like you hurt me,” she said. “But I’m not the same person I was before I left. Being here in Maui has let me do some reflection. Some growing. I’ve finally had time to think about who I am, or who I want to be. I’ve still not totally figured it all out, but what I do know is being your wife isn’t the dream anymore. We’ve grown apart, and it didn’t just happen. You know as well as I do that the romance was over years ago.”

“What do you want from me?” he said. “Do you want to set a wedding date? I’m ready now. We can do it before the year is out. Will that satisfy you?”

“That’s just it, Ethan. I don’t want anything from you. It’s time for me to figure things out on my own. I’m not sure who I am right now, but I’m sure who I no longer want to be.”

Quinn felt an ache deep inside. She’d spent so many years becoming what she thought Ethan wanted her to be that she’d lost herself. She knew that now.

She tugged at the ring on her finger, twisting it until it released her and came free. She put it in his hand and closed his fingers over it.

“You’re making a huge mistake that you won’t be able to undo,” he said, giving her one last warning, his tone angry again.

She wanted to ask him to relax and let them be civil about the breakup, the division of their combined assets, and the removal of her things. But he gave her one more bewildered look and turned his back on her, walking away.

He expected her to follow him.

They’d played this game before. She always gave in.

But this time Quinn stayed where she was.

Sad. But no longer committed.

She thought of the man running on the beach with his dog and realized she might be feeling a sliver of what he felt, and she savored her first taste of freedom.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

Nothing was easy anymore. Quinn wondered if it ever would be again. After Ethan left, she took a few days to recover from his sneak attack and the demise of a decade-long relationship. Then it was time to put it aside and think about how to proceed with her current predicament.

The thought of setting up a formal meeting with her birth family made her sick with anxiety.

It was Maggie who came up with a brilliant idea, and they were going to pull it off before she left. Unfortunately, her weeklong reunion with Quinn was about to come to an end.