Liam met her on the porch, and they sat down on the now-familiar steps.

“You look beautiful today,” he said.

She laughed. He was making a point to compliment her now every time he saw her out and about without full makeup and the resort-style clothes she’d come with. Today, other than sunscreen, she was keeping it simple. Just a tad of mascara and a layer of lip gloss. Her recent tan gave her just the right amount of color. Not to mention, she’d finally become comfortable in her own skin. Comfortable with herself.

The self beneath the facade.

It started a week or so after she’d met Noah and Jules. Their family had accepted her wholeheartedly, and being with them—especially her somewhat overly demonstrative sisters—had finally given Quinn somewhere to belong without fighting for her place or pretending to be something she wasn’t.

Maggie had been helpful too. Through back-and-forth phone calls, she’d encouraged Quinn to figure out who she was without someone telling her who she should be.

Quinn had to really think about it. Then she decided to take it one step at a time. First step: buy the Jeep she’d always wanted. The sense of empowerment she felt when she drove out of that dealership behind the wheel of her dream car would stay with her forever.

Then a few days later, she and her sisters went shopping, and Quinn bought her first bikini since she was in college. No more hiding the curves that God gave her. And for sure no more spin class and salads. From now on, she was going to be healthy but not fanatical. She was going to learn to love her body.

Life was short. She’d gone half of hers without knowing her people, her roots, or her land. Without knowing herself.

She was ready to make up for it now.

“You okay?” Liam asked, reaching out and taking a strand of her hair, then twirling it around his finger before letting it go. He didn’t say he preferred it down, loose and free, but she knew he did.

“Yep. More than okay. I even told Ethan everything this morning.”

“How did he take it?”

She chuckled. “As expected.”

“What did he say about your new job?”

“That it wasn’t a good career move to leave a big-brand hotel chain to renovate and manage an inn with only nine rooms.”