True to Me - Kay Bratt Page 0,28

hard to distinguish her expression. “I didn’t think I needed to. Couldn’t you determine that on your own?”

“No,” Quinn said. But what she thought was of course she couldn’t, because she was self-centered and focused only on getting what she wanted. She was a terrible human being, and every day she was there she was being reminded of it.

Maria put a hand out and squeezed her knee. It felt awkward, someone touching her with affection. “I think if I told Kupuna what you just said, it would just make his day. He never wants to be treated differently because of his loss of sight. And once he finds out he got past you for quite a while, you just might be his new favorite person.”

Quinn didn’t reply. Before she could think too deeply on Maria’s words, Liam started to strum. Suddenly, his music lulled everyone into a quieter state. It was slow and sweet, and when he added his voice to it, it was pure magic. The soft sounds he was making were a direct contradiction to the raw, masculine figure that he cut. Quinn wondered who his significant other was, as it was a song clearly written out of love.

As the melody wafted through the night air, even the kids returned to the circle, perching on knees or finding another place to sit, drawn like moths to a flame. Quinn found herself falling into the moment, the tension she usually carried fading away until her body felt light and free.

“He had his heart broken once,” Maria said, seemingly reading her mind. “It was a long time ago. That’s how he is able to play so passionately.”

When he slipped into a more melancholy tune, Quinn realized Liam was a man who knew sadness. Maria was right. No one could sing like that unless they’d known sorrow.

She was just about to ask Maria about it when, from the glow of the firelight, she saw a glint of a tear on her face.

Quinn leaned over close to her. “What’s wrong?”

Maria shook her head. When the song was over, she turned to Quinn.

“There’s a long story behind those words,” she said. “And that was also Jaime’s favorite song. Liam always played it for him. I miss him sitting here next to me, listening. We were supposed to grow old together, watching our children’s children play on this very same beach.”

Quinn didn’t know what to say. How could a woman miss a husband who had wronged her so deeply? It was unimaginable. Abandoning a family without even leaving word of why?

“I’m sorry,” she said, unable to think of anything better.

“I just worry about him,” Maria whispered. “Our marriage was good. This doesn’t make sense. But I pray to the gods every night that they will watch over him, wherever he is and whatever he is doing. That he will just make it through to the next morning. Then I begin the prayers again at daylight.”

That was a serious case of commitment, Quinn thought. If Ethan dropped out of her life without a trace, she’d probably find a voodoo doll and stick pins in it every night, not say prayers of protection for him.

Liam started another song, the lyrics telling of a couple destined to be together but parted by a long distance. It seemed all of his songs were also stories.

But Quinn’s mind was still on Maria. She realized that despite their different paths in life—one of them focusing on family and the other on career—they had a lot in common. Both of them were weighed down under a mystery that caused them worry and anguish. Maria didn’t know what had happened to her husband and the marriage she thought was solid, and Quinn was clueless about where and whom she came from.

Would either of their mysteries be solved? Quinn didn’t know the answer to that, but she did know that for the first time in a long time, she felt a kinship to someone other than her mother.

Then she had an epiphany.

What Maria needed most right now was to find out what had happened to her husband. Liam had to know something. Or his famous coconut wireless could find out. As he said, Maui wasn’t that big, so how far could one man go?

Liam was the key to finding Jaime. And maybe her dad, too, if she ever decided she was ready to look. Quinn wouldn’t take no for an answer. And when they found Jaime, he’d better be ready to be blasted,