Noah was stone silent. Quinn wondered if he was going to call her a liar, a charlatan, and try to run her off his beach. But he did none of that. Instead, he spoke to Jules, though his eyes never left Quinn. His words were laced with tears.

“Jules, I think this is real. She looks just like the girls. And you. That’s Nama’s birthmark too. But listen, there are ways to make sure. Scientific stuff.”

She ignored him, her eyes still locked on Quinn’s, finally recognizing what her heart already had: she was looking at her child. One silent tear seeped out of her eye and ran down a line in her face, dropping onto the table. “Where were you?” she finally asked, her voice weak. “What happened? We looked and looked. You weren’t out there. I swear, we looked for what felt like forever. Tell me. Where were you?”

Quinn gave her a sympathetic smile. “That’s a really long story and one that will bring you both a lot of pain. It’s going to stir up a lot of chaos that I’m not ready for, and I’d guess that you aren’t either. I think we’ve had enough of that, don’t you? Let’s ease into this one step at a time.”

“I need to know,” Jules said, nodding. “But I’ll give you time. You can tell us when you’re ready.”

Quinn smiled at her. “I’d like to get to know you a bit first.”

Noah still looked shell-shocked, but Jules stood up and made her way around the table. Quinn met her halfway. They fell into each other’s arms, and Quinn felt the tears begin to roll. But this time it was okay because they were happy tears, and they mingled with those of her first mother, a woman she didn’t even know she’d missed until they were flesh upon flesh. Blood—it wasn’t needed to be a family, but it sure had a strong magnetic draw when it was there.

Epilogue

Epilogue

Three weeks from the day that Quinn had stepped foot on Maui, she put the last box in the back of her brand-spanking-new white Jeep and then went up to the house. She’d spent the day packing and tying up loose ends. She was moving out of the cottage today, giving it back to Pali, who needed it now more than ever. The weeks he’d been nearly incapacitated had put him in the close company of his family for far too long, and though for the most part he’d kept his horns hidden, he needed his privacy.

Maggie was gone now, and Quinn missed her desperately. She was already working on getting her to come join them in Maui. She just wished Maggie could’ve been there today, but she knew Charlie needed her more.