My body shuddered. I should’ve been there. No one could convince me that my presence wouldn’t have mattered. That there wasn’t a chance I could’ve saved her. But instead, I’d been deep-cleaning my cottage, trying to lose myself in busywork so that I wouldn’t think too hard about my conversation with Harriet, the one that had stayed with me for days.

I gave myself a mental shake. I couldn’t think about that right now. I’d just start crying, and then Bell and Caelyn would be stuck to me like glue. I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “Crap. I’m late.” I scooted towards the end of the bed, heading for the bathroom.

“Late for what?” Caelyn asked.

“Work. What else? You’re going to be late too, if you don’t get moving.”

Bell pushed up from the bed, creeping towards me as if cornering a feral animal. “We both took the day off. We want to support you, Kenna. You shouldn’t be going into work.”

Bell was wrong. Work was exactly what I needed. Distraction and purpose were the only things that would get me through this day. “I’m going in.” Bell opened her mouth to argue, but I cut her off. “I need this.” I met my friends’ concerned gazes. “Please, just let me get through today. This is how I need to do it.”

Bell’s shoulders slumped. “Okay.”

“Call us if you change your mind. We’ll be here in a flash,” Caelyn added.

A bit of the tension eased out of me. “Thank you. For wanting to be here. And for not pushing.” I loved these women, but around them, I couldn’t don my armor and pretend that my world wasn’t crumbling around me. In one breath, I’d lost Harriet, my home, and the security I’d worked so hard to create. Soon, all I’d be left with was wreckage.

6

Crosby

“Crosby McCoy! You gave me thirty minutes’ notice that you were canceling, and the client was not happy.”

I sighed as I eased my truck down the ferry ramp, listening to my assistant rake me over the coals for making her job a nightmare. “I’m sorry, Penny. But it’s not like they had anything urgent to discuss. We can reschedule for later this week.”

I hadn’t been able to stomach the idea of sitting down with a man who was planning to sue his neighbor because he’d realized that the property line was eighteen inches off and wanted the fence moved.

“Crosby,” Penny growled.

“Sorry, what?”

“I asked if you were actually going to show up to this meeting or if I’d end up covering for you yet again.”

“Harriet died yesterday.”