True to Me - Kay Bratt Page 0,29

because Quinn wouldn’t leave him alone until he found a way to make right all the things he’d done wrong. She’d make him face Maria and his responsibilities. It wasn’t fair for Maria to struggle through such huge life changes alone.

If Maria had her husband to help them out, then Quinn also wouldn’t feel so guilty about taking their home.

That settled it. She’d call her boss in the morning. He’d be shocked, but she was going to ask for a leave of absence. As for Ethan, he would just have to keep managing without her for a bit longer.

The song reached a crescendo, and a lump formed in Quinn’s throat.

This time she reached out. Her hand found Maria’s, and they clasped fingers, bonding as only two lonely women could do as, together, they listened to Liam’s love song.

Chapter Eight

Quinn woke to a racket. A door slammed. Then a loud clatter. Door slam again. A minute or two later, another clatter.

Groggy from lack of sleep, she looked at the clock on the nightstand.

Six fifteen. Only a few days in Maui, and she was already easing into the laid-back lifestyle, reluctant to get up until she felt completely rested.

She groaned, then rolled out of bed and went to the window, peeking out from the side to remain hidden.

Liam was there, and just as she looked, he dropped another shutter onto a pile he’d built near the main house lanai. He hesitated, then turned to the window, his gaze curious.

Quinn jerked back, feeling exposed. How had he known she was there?

She backed away and went back to the bed, climbed in, and pulled the sheet up to her chin. She wasn’t ready to face the morning.

Couldn’t a girl ever sleep in?

Quinn was angry at herself, because after the beach scene broke up and they all cleaned up, she’d walked the trail back to the cottage alone. She felt restless inside, wanting something but not quite sure what it was.

When she’d finally gone to bed about midnight or so, it had only gotten worse, leaving her staring at the ceiling for hours until she finally fell asleep.

Then she’d dreamed of trying to find her way out of the world’s largest cornfield maze. The frustration of not knowing which way to turn or how to find the exit made her feel as though she hadn’t slept a wink.

But it was time to get moving. She had two goals to accomplish: discover her roots and get her house completed. That was it.

Oh, and find Jaime. If she could find a way to put Maria’s fractured family back together again, it would bring her a sense of satisfaction and help ease the guilt of displacing them.

She had a lot to do.

Her phone lay on the nightstand, and she reached over and pressed the “Home” key. A few email notifications came up, but nothing from Ethan. He was punishing her, hoping she’d call and beg him to join her and fix her life.

Determined to get moving now, she tried again. Roll forward, feet on the floor, then a beeline for the shower. Ten minutes of scalding hot water and she started to feel human again.

She stepped out and rolled her hair in a towel before wrapping another around her body. Quickly, she applied her makeup, finishing it off with a soft pink lipstick. Her casual color, she liked to think of it.

When she leaned forward to see the end result, she wasn’t impressed. The makeup didn’t do a lot to cover the damage of a sleepless night. She should’ve brought her eye cream. In the anxiety storm leading to her trip, she’d forgotten a lot of necessities.

Well, it couldn’t be helped. Moving on, she dried her hair, then twisted it up and secured it with a pearl-encrusted comb. She dressed in crisp white linen pants and a billowy sky-blue blouse. Only then did she allow herself to go to the small kitchen and make her first cup of coffee and grab a bagel from her tiny fridge. She toasted it, coated it with cream cheese, and took it and the coffee out to the lanai. Then she came back in for her laptop.

Returning to the lanai, she set the computer down and opened it, fingers crossed that overnight something magic had happened. She signed on, then took a bite and a drink as she waited for it to load up.

Around her, the birds chirped and a breeze brought her the scent of the lovely pink plumeria flowers that