Liv frowned. “So there’s nothing we can do?”

Taryn shrugged. “All we can do is be here for her, show her that she has our support, and when she’s ready to talk, hopefully she will.”

“I think getting this place in livable order will help,” Rebecca said. “I know when I’m upset about something, having a big project to focus on can do wonders.”

“Well,” Liv said with a yawn. “I’m done with this project for today. I’m thinking our intervention for tonight should be finding the lady in question to make her stop working and then ordering pizza and settling in for a night of Netflix.”

“I vote for that,” Taryn agreed. “That is, if the Wi-Fi that got installed this afternoon actually works. The cable guy looked perplexed by the farmhouse’s wiring. It’s never a good sign when a technician leaves and wishes you good luck.”

Rebecca smirked. “Guess if that doesn’t work, we’ll be down to telling slumber-party ghost stories.”

“Oh, hell no,” Liv said, opening the fridge to grab a few bottles of water. “We are not telling creepy-ass stories in this big, old house. That’s how horror movies start out.”

Her friends laughed, and they all went in search of Kincaid to declare quitting time. Liv called out Kincaid’s name, and her voice echoed down the hallway and up the stairs. Even with the furniture and boxes moved in, this place swallowed Kincaid’s stuff. The house had to be three times the size of the lake house.

When Kincaid didn’t answer, they peeked into a few of the rooms on the ground floor and then headed upstairs. “Kincaid,” Liv called out in a singsong voice. “Where are you?”

There was a creaking sound from one of the rooms.

Liv groaned. “Girl, if you jump out at me from the dark, I cannot be held responsible for what I do to you. My husband has taught me FBI moves.”

Taryn made clucking chicken sounds behind her, and Rebecca snickered.

“Shut up, you two,” Liv said, her skin prickling even though she knew there was nothing to be afraid of. She walked over to the one closed door on the second floor and turned the knob. For a moment, she was bracing for a jump scare from her friend. But instead, she found Kincaid sitting on the floor of a guest bedroom, legs pulled up to her chest with her forehead resting on her knees. Under the high ceiling and in the mostly empty room, she looked like a sad Alice who’d just tumbled into the rabbit hole.

“Kincaid?” Liv stepped into the bedroom, her heart sinking. “You okay, chica?”

Kincaid lifted her head. Where Liv had expected to see that fake smile Kincaid had been wielding for days, she saw tears instead. They’d tracked lines down the smudged dust on her face.

Taryn and Rebecca stepped up behind Liv. “Oh, honey,” Taryn said, empathy heavy in her voice.

Kincaid gave them a terse smile. “I’m fine.”