“Waimoku Falls,” Liam yelled. “Water that recognizes no friend. Four hundred feet high, straight drop to the bottom. On her strongest days she can amputate a limb if you get in her way.”

Terrifying but also stunning. Those were the most descriptive words that Quinn could think of, though she said nothing as she looked. She knew her words would get lost in the sound of the rushing water.

He moved closer to her.

The mist and the wind created from the falling water instantly cooled her, and it was so refreshing.

“We used to swim and play under it. But too many tourists come now. Too much of a liability.”

He sounded sad, and it made Quinn feel terrible for the native people of Maui whose lives had been changed so much by the tourism industry swooping down and taking over.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He shrugged. “See those boulders?” He pointed to a gathering of huge rocks, each the size of a golf cart near the pools. Then he pointed up. “That’s where those came from. Even a small rock falling can kill you from that far up. So I understand why they’ve had to do it. But many don’t heed the warnings or the threat of a fine. Some pay the price with their lives. It’s much more dangerous than the Seven Pools.”

Quinn thought about his helping her over the fence to lead her to the pools earlier. He hadn’t held the same reserve back there. Reflecting on risk and taking in dangerous places made her think about Ethan. All her troubles came flooding back, instantly filling her with dread.

She couldn’t just gallivant all over Maui and ignore everything that was going on. The man she had been planning on spending the rest of her life with had betrayed her. The house she bought was inhabited by a family who had deep roots there. And her search for her birth father had thus far netted absolutely nothing.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Liam said. “You look like all the wind just got sucked out of your sails.”

She didn’t want to look him in the face. She was sure that her eyes were filling with tears. Probably tears of self-pity. And that disgusted her. She needed to get her life under control. Or at least the parts of it where it was possible to do that.

Figuring out what to do about Ethan would have to wait. She couldn’t deal with him from thousands of miles away, and honestly, she didn’t even want to. Not today. And maybe not even tomorrow.

“Quinn?” Liam said.