Auntie Wang nodded. “They are. Bless their grief-stricken souls. The Makena uncles are going to paddle out on their boards.”

Quinn looked around and saw her brother, Jonah, perched on a log, alone as he stared out to sea. Then she saw Noah and Jules sitting together in fold-up chairs, and she waved. They knew that today was more about Quinn and the Makenas. They would let her set the pace and come to them when she was ready.

“There’s Maria’s car,” Liam said, leaving Quinn with her sisters. He went to the car to help Kupuna out and over to a chair. Jaime and Maria followed closely behind.

Alani burst out next and ran over, throwing her arms around Quinn’s waist.

“I’m going to miss you, Quinn!” she said. “You promise you’ll visit?”

“Of course, Alani. I can’t just forget about my little mermaid, can I? Now run over and help your mom while I get things going.”

Alani gave her one more squeeze, then took off. Quinn was really going to miss her. She took a deep breath, then sighed loudly.

“I can’t believe everyone showed up,” she said.

Her sisters both leaned in and put their leis over Quinn’s head before enveloping her in their arms.

“You made this happen,” Kira said.

It felt so good to have sisters, though Jonah had already warned her that not too much time would go by before she got pulled into a sisterly spat. It was human nature, he kidded her, then warned her that his sisters had sharp tongues and even sharper claws when they needed to use them. Quinn had all but memorized a dozen or more stories about her siblings when they were growing up. She wanted to know everything, even if sometimes it hurt her deeply that she’d missed it.

Kira was the youngest of them all at twenty-four, and also the most spiritual. She was soft and thoughtful and very concerned about how Quinn’s sudden reunion would affect her psyche or upset her recovering aura. She was a natural caretaker, always fluttering around her family to see where she was needed. It amazed Quinn that she had married so young and immediately produced a family, but everything told her that her sister was a good mother.

Lani was the energetic, fun-loving one with a wicked sense of humor and a streak of orneriness. According to Kira and Jonah, it was always Lani who got them into trouble growing up. She was daring and full of mischief, dragging them in when she could. And Noah said nothing had changed just because she was older now, other than that her drama had far greater consequences than when she was a child.