22
The porch interior was as clean as the outside of the house, bleached laminate on the floor, white stone along the low walls that supported the windows. Poking out my index finger, I nudged the main front door until it opened wide enough to reveal what I’d gone in search of.
Perched on the third step up, on the stairs straight ahead, Liv stared back at me, hands tucked behind her up-drawn knees, the inside edges of her socked feet pressed as tightly together as her calves. A low breath eased past her lips, and she smiled, though what seemed to be nerves made the expression crooked. “I thought you weren’t coming in for a minute there, and that would’ve been embarrassing.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Just because.”
Pushing the door in the rest of the way, I stepped onto a grass-woven doorm
