Liam knocked and stood aside, shoulder to shoulder with Quinn. She felt hesitant, still unsure about unloading her biggest secrets onto a stranger. And what if the woman held information that was useful? Was Quinn really ready to hear something that might change her life forever?

She wasn’t sure, and that made her heart pound all the harder.

Auntie Wang pulled open the door and smiled, clasping her hands to her chest. “Liam, how nice of you to visit,” she exclaimed.

Liam leaned in and kissed her wrinkled cheek, making her blush like a schoolgirl before she turned her attention to Quinn, examining her from head to toe. “Well, hello. I remember you.”

“Auntie Wang, we’ve come calling to ask your advice on an important matter,” Liam said. He reached out and took the old woman’s hands in his, where they disappeared into the cave of his huge grasp.

Auntie Wang straightened to her full height, her expression turning to one of pride.

“Well, come in, dear. I’ll be happy to help if I can.” She stood to the side and allowed them to pass.

Now they sat waiting in the front room—the parlor, as the woman called it—while Auntie Wang bumped around in the kitchen preparing tea.

Auntie Wang had answered the door looking very eclectic in a loose, billowy, Chinese-patterned shirt over a flamboyantly Hawaiian sarong. She obviously worked hard to embrace her culture—all of it—and Quinn thought she was nothing less than adorable.

“She’s very old school,” Liam whispered as she’d retreated, raising his eyebrows at Quinn.

“No kidding,” Quinn whispered back.

“We’ll loosen her up by talking about your search before we mention Jaime,” he said.

Quinn’s armpits were beginning to feel swampy.

As they waited, Liam filled her in on the history of the house, warning her that Auntie Wang was very proud and protective of the property. It sat very close to the historical Front Street, and Liam told her it had been in Auntie Wang’s family for several generations. It was located very close to the protected Wo Hing Museum and Cookhouse, a landmark of Maui built in 1912 as a social meeting hall for the Chinese who came to Maui on trading or whaling ships, and then later for those brought over to work on the sugarcane plantations and the mills. The building included an upstairs temple for religious ceremonies, but all the social events were held on the bottom level.

Auntie Wang shuffled in as Liam was describing the museum.

“Did you see it?” she asked, setting down a long mahogany board, similar to a cutting board but with a drawer. She pulled open the drawer, lit a tiny candle, and set it inside the board.

“I did,” Quinn said. “We drove by it, but I hope to take a peek inside soon.”