When Kathleen MacKenna dies, she leaves her run-down estate to her best friend, Jenna Rossi—a single mother of three who has always lived a second-hand life. The forested estate includes a neglected lakeside cabin and a run-down Victorian house: both of which need extensive repairs. It also includes something omitted from the will—a hidden skeleton.

With children and loyalties to protect, Jenna tiptoes into the risky role of amateur sleuth—poking the spiderweb that connects her childhood and her mother's friendships to shattering old tragedies.