When she let go, she nodded forcefully. “Oh, he’ll want to work. Jaime is not the type of man to let grass grow under his feet. Liam has talked to him. I just wish Jaime had gone to Liam before all this happened. His pride—that’s something that has always gotten in the way.”

“It’s all going to work out,” Quinn said.

“I think so too,” Maria replied. “And Alani is thrilled she doesn’t have to leave her best friend.”

Liam joined them again, glancing from one to the other. “Did you hug it out?”

“Of course we did,” Maria said, laughing. “Did you expect anything else? We’re just talking about how, all at once, everything has changed.”

“So fast it’s making my head spin,” he said. “I’m not complaining, though. I’m coming out ahead too. I guarantee I’ll have the best site foreman on the island.”

Maria turned and hugged him too.

Quinn loved seeing how affectionate they were with one another. Yes, they would be just fine. Maria was getting shortbread cookie orders faster than she could fill them and had hired Pali’s girlfriend to help her. Of course, the girl wouldn’t know the secret recipe, at least not until—or if—she became a permanent fixture of the family. For now, she was in charge of cutting out the dough and seeing the cookies through the packing process.

Even Pali had turned over a new leaf, actually becoming quite a nice kid. He’d simply needed his family back together. And Quinn was starting to understand just why that mattered so much.

“I’ll see you two soon,” Maria said, stepping away. “I’d better go corral the troops.”

Liam turned to her. “There’s a lot happening right now. People changing places, switching jobs, and building new relationships.”

She nodded. “I just hope I don’t screw anything up.”

“You won’t. But do you think your brother can handle the responsibilities you’re giving him? Could it be too much too soon?”

She hesitated. Quinn’s brother was a tender subject. She felt responsible for Jonah. For his troubles. She’d also found out that he was the lone survivor of an IED attack that had killed everyone else on his truck in Iraq. The trauma he carried had to be more than one man could bear. It had gnawed at her every day since she’d met him, especially after Jules had told her more of his story.