I think atmospheric pressure was too low for liquid water to persist at any time
And oxygen would have boiled out of any liquid water that there was, followed by boiling of the water itself. High clouds would have formed, but bombardment by UV from the sun would gradually have stripped away the hydrogen, leaving oxygen to rust the iron surface soil. IMO. So the pictures we see from the rovers pretty much show the end result. I don't think there was ever enough time for life to form. Not enough comets resupplying water that evaporated, and not enough time in liquid form for life to evolve.