They hadn’t had much conversation about the change in plans since that first phone call. He’d been away more than home in the few weeks leading up to her trip, and most of their communication had been through voice mail or text. The icing on the cake was when she’d emailed him the link to a house on Maui that she’d decided to buy.

“You’ve really lost it now. No one buys houses on a whim,” he’d said, calling her immediately and begging her to tell him she wasn’t serious.

“That’s not what the Realtor said,” Quinn argued. “Most of his properties are snatched up, sight unseen, within days after they’re listed. It’s a tight market on Maui, and I had to move fast. Now, when we go together, we’ll have a place of our own.”

She could practically hear him simmering with anger on the other end.

“Look, this is how I want to invest my money, Ethan. Maui is where my mother is from, and I’ve always dreamed of going there. We can set it up for short-term vacation rental, and it’ll be a great source of income.”

“Who’s going to manage this great source of income?”

“A property manager,” Quinn replied calmly. “I’ve already researched all of it and have a list of them to interview.”

He took a long, audible breath and changed his tone to one of calm patience.

“You need to at least go see the house first, and if you still want it, attend the closing in person.”

“It has to be done before I can get there, so they’re doing a mail-away closing,” she said. “They do it all the time.”

“This is not the time to have a debate,” he told her. “I’m trying to save you a lot of headaches.”

“You’re right, Ethan. It’s not debatable. It’s my money, and I’m doing it.” They’d ended the phone call without even exchanging goodbyes. Since then, they’d barely had a chance to talk. It made her sad that their communication had changed so vastly over the years. Once upon a time, they never would’ve spoken to each other that way.