True to Me - Kay Bratt Page 0,59

other details, but what Quinn noticed most of all was that Maria seemed to be taking everything in stride now.

“I’d better run, Maria,” Quinn said. “I need to get to the airport to pick up my friend who is coming for a short visit. I want to make sure I leave early enough in case there’s a traffic jam.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Is it your fiancé?”

Quinn felt a stab in her gut. “No, it’s my best friend from many years back.”

“That’ll be nice,” Maria said. “And you’re right, one fender bender can put you back an hour or more. Be careful.”

She waved and returned to the house. Quinn saw Kupuna standing in the doorway, and as she climbed into the car, she wondered what he thought about moving to the other side of the island. So far he hadn’t mentioned much about having to leave his home, but he did give advice on the various projects that were going on. He said the house had needed a makeover for years. Quinn wondered how he knew, considering he couldn’t see it, but obviously he knew every inch of it.

Yes, the house was finally coming together, and since the countertops were still held up somewhere, the plan was to tackle the floors next.

All the changes were going to look amazing.

At least one thing was going right.

Traffic wasn’t too bad, and the drive gave Quinn a lot of time to think about her current state of affairs. She was so lost in thought, automatically following the GPS directions, that she was surprised when she arrived effortlessly. She found short-term parking, pulled in, and shut off the car.

She checked herself in the mirror, took a deep breath, and climbed out.

The sidewalks were busy, lined with cars and people checking luggage at the kiosks. The tourists were easy to pick out, as they looked confused navigating around in their flowered shirts or sundresses, the locals moving around them smoothly, wearing less ostentatious clothes and carrying plain travel bags.

Quinn went through the doors, and the atmosphere changed yet again. Inside, it was a mixture of vibes of elation from arriving passengers, happy and eager to have made it to Maui, and the disappointed and holiday-hungover people getting ready to make the sad trek back to reality.

As for herself, she was stuck between excitement to see Maggie and anxiety that their friendship wouldn’t feel the same. That the easy and effortless vibe they’d always had would be gone, making the next few days even more stressful.

Quinn walked to the arrivals section and spent the next half hour staring out the window, too anxious to take out her phone. At two minutes until arrival time, she stood and went to stand near the door the passengers would be coming from.

It was a brutal combination of emotions that taunted her as she waited for her best friend to walk off the plane. She tried to calm herself by stroking the soft flower petals of the lei she’d bought inside the door. Maggie had never been to Hawaii, and Quinn wanted to try to make it special. Her thoughts spiraled out of control. They hadn’t seen each other in a few years. What should Quinn say to her? Should she hug her? Apologize first? Avoid talk of the time they’d been apart? Quinn didn’t know what to do. Other than her mother and Maggie, she’d never really been able to bond with other women. It was hard for her to open herself up, and she just never felt like she fit whatever it was they seemed to be looking for.

A few feet away, a mom sat beside two teenage girls, their heads down as they texted frantically. When she and Maggie were growing into teens, texting was just becoming popular among their crowd, but their moms were protective and didn’t even allow them to carry cell phones. Quinn was glad they hadn’t. She and Maggie had actually talked to each other. It was called conversation! With real words, her voice traveling into the wall phone and through a cord she’d stretched down the hallway as far as it would go. Their experience made for a deeper connection than she felt teens got these days with their chasing each other all over social media.

Quinn thought about their first prom and how quietly upset she’d been that she hadn’t been asked. Maggie had her date secured before almost anyone. But at the last minute, she arranged for him to go with someone else