“Hi,” Quinn said.

“What’s up?” he answered, his voice already hurrying her along. He was always running behind. “You headed for the gym?”

“No, I’m not. Listen, I need to talk to you.” She felt her stomach clenching.

“Can it wait? I have a meeting in ten.”

“No, it can’t. I need to tell you now.” While I’ve got the courage, she almost added.

“Hold on,” he said. “Let me shut the door.”

She could hear him bumping around, not sure what he was doing, but when he returned, her resolve weakened. Then she thought of her mother. A woman who deserved more than her daughter doing a quick dump of her ashes and then living it up around the island.

“I’m going to Maui alone,” she blurted out.

“What do you mean?” He sounded confused.

“Ethan, I appreciate that you want to go and support me, but I need to do this by myself. I’m not looking forward to saying goodbye to the last of my mother. I want this to be a quiet and reflective time. A time to honor her in my own way.”

“And you don’t want me with you?” he said, his tone turning petulant.

“It’s not that I don’t want you with me. This just isn’t the time to try to enjoy a vacation.” And I am hoping to find my real father. That was another detail she wasn’t ready to tell him.

“Quinn, I know you are still in a bad place, but you aren’t thinking straight. We’ll talk about this when I get home this weekend.”

“No, we won’t, Ethan. I’ve already canceled your flight. I’m serious about this. I’m sorry if it hurts you, but we’ll plan to go again together after I’ve done what I need to do.”

He sighed, long and frustrated.

“Sounds like I don’t have a choice,” he said. “I need to run.”

He broke the connection, and she was left holding the phone to her ear, grasping it so tightly it made her fingers ache. When she lowered it, she was shaking.

Quinn liked routine and avoided drama at all costs. She felt safest in the cocoon she’d built around herself. But all that was about to be undone. Starting with a nondescript white box and a plane ticket, there was a secret with her name on it that Quinn meant to unravel.

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Four weeks later, Quinn arrived in Maui and stood looking out the glass doors that led to a small balcony. Her hotel room was on the highest floor, and the sound of silence engulfed her, unsettling with its hushed roar of reprimand.