Now, with the sound of the cartoon blaring and the boy giving his mom all the reasons she should let him use her car, Quinn let herself think about what motherhood would’ve been like. She wanted to believe she’d have been a good mom, but the truth was that taking care of herself and Ethan while juggling a high-paced career was exhausting, and she’d never really thought she’d be able to take on a child too. Even if she had wanted to, Ethan had made it clear in the first year they’d been together that he had no intention of ever procreating. He took it as a personal affront that so many children were being born in a world that was already overcrowded and facing an inevitable lack of resources one day. Yet, when she’d brought up adoption, he wasn’t interested in that either.

Quinn’s own childhood had been just fine, but if she were being honest, it had also been lonely at home. If—and it was a moot point now—she had gone the route of being a mother, she would’ve never had just one. Her imaginary child would have siblings, something that Quinn had always longed for.

The front door slammed, and other than the cartoon, the house was silent. At least the little girl wasn’t trying to give her mother a nervous breakdown.

Maria returned, her face red and sweaty. She took the seat across from Quinn. “I’m so sorry. He’s going through quite a bit right now. He’s not usually like this.”

He’s going through quite a bit? Quinn had just spent a fortune on a house that someone else was living in! She stared at Maria, wondering how to phrase all that without sounding like a completely unfeeling robot. She decided to just cut to the chase—put it out there like pulling a Band-Aid off.

“Look,” she began, keeping her tone neutral and as kind as possible, “I don’t know what’s going on in your personal life, and you have my sympathies, but I’ve got closing documents to prove that this is my property now. I’m sorry, but I’m confused as to why you haven’t moved out yet.”

“Have you ever been to Hawaii before?” Maria asked.

“Well, sort of. When I was a baby.”

“I can tell. You’re a bit shell-shocked. People come to Maui expecting to find nothing but paradise. If they ever run into the real Maui, far from the grounds of the fancy resorts, golf courses, and restaurants, they see where real people are struggling to lead real lives, and they are shocked. Because of people like you, the prices of homes and rent have risen astronomically. Believe me when I tell you that finding a new place to live isn’t going to be easy. I can’t afford the rent most are charging out there now.”