He did have a way about him, she had to admit. He could go from tough guy to silly in a matter of seconds. She supposed sharing a little with him wouldn’t hurt.

“I bought this house with money from my mother,” she said.

He raised his eyebrows. “Now that’s a good mom.”

“The only problem is, I don’t know where she got the money. She’s native Hawaiian. She left here when she was pregnant with me, and we’ve always lived a simple life.”

“So ask her?” he said.

“She passed away a few months ago. It was an inheritance.”

His eyes turned sad. “I’m sorry.”

Quinn nodded.

“What about a relative? Maybe someone recently left it to her, and she didn’t have time to spend it before leaving it to you?” he asked.

“We never came back to visit, and I don’t know any of my relatives.” She closed her eyes for a second, frustrated at herself for revealing too much. He sure had a way about him.

He looked taken aback. “None of your relatives?”

“None,” Quinn said, her voice so low it was almost a whisper. She opened her eyes and looked at him, smiling to hide her pain. “My mother cut off communication with her family when I was too young to remember. I’m pretty much an orphan. Unless there’s some long-lost kin here waiting to embrace me with open arms, and believe me—that’s a long shot. Especially seeing how I don’t know how to find any of them.”

Liam shook his head. “Wow. I can’t imagine that. Here in Hawaii, ohana is everything. Not knowing your family must’ve been unbearable.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” she lied.

His expression turned serious. “You know that coconut wireless I mentioned? Maui isn’t very big. I’m sure I could ask around about your family. If you want me to, I mean.”

Quinn weighed the possibility. Did she really want to know? She thought about the lineage company she’d sent her DNA off to. Was a part of her relieved that nothing had shown up? Life had been simple with only her mother to feel officially attached to. Later, when she and Ethan became official, it would get more complicated. How crazy would it get if she found a grandmother? Or cousins? Or, God forbid, unearthed her wayward father?

The thought made her feel a nervous flutter in her stomach.

“Thanks. I’ll think about it,” she said.

He started to say something else but was interrupted by Maria poking her head out the back door of the main house.

“You two planning to help out?” she called.

Liam tilted his head toward Quinn, a silent challenge.

“So . . . you want to learn how to feed a bunch of hungry Hawaiians?”