Page 15 of Butterfly Sisters
Meredith looked at her, the defensive edge in her face melting a little.
Elvis came over and sat next to Leigh’s feet as if he knew she needed the support. He sighed and set his head on her knees. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she stroked his soft fur, glad for his company.
“He likes you,” Colton noted, his brow furrowing adorably at the idea. “He doesn’t warm to people well. He was a rescue, and we don’t know what happened to him, but he doesn’t trust many people.”
Leigh looked into the hound dog’s wide dark eyes, the gesture meaning even more now.
“When he does make friends, he’s incredibly loyal.”
Meredith got up to pet him, and he ducked her hand, letting out a loud, deep bark. In a weird way, it lifted Leigh’s spirits having this intangible thing with the dog that Meredith couldn’t take from her. Colton chuckled and Meredith sat back down, stung, and swigged her beer. Leigh patted her knees, telling Elvis it was okay to come back over. The dog kept an eye on Meredith as if waiting for any sudden moves and returned to Leigh, sitting tall and mighty beside her, his chest pushed out, ears on alert as if he would take on anything else that decided to hurt her tonight. At least she had someone on her side.
SIX
Leigh was the first one up the next morning. Still in her flannel pajamas and bathrobe, her glasses on because she couldn’t be bothered to put her contacts in yet, she grabbed her mug of coffee and stepped into the crisp spring air on the back porch. Through the sweet malt of her morning cup, she took in the fresh smell of the lake, a soft breeze flowing around her, her shoulders instantly relaxing.
When she was young, she met Nan out there in the mornings, the two of them always up before the sun. They chatted about Nan’s tomato plants or they’d bird-watch together. While Nan and Grandpa Joe had settled in the rural area there at Old Hickory, both of them had traveled extensively when Grandpa Joe was in the army. Every now and again, Nan would get to talking about her travels.
“Your Grandpa Joe and I knew we wanted to live by the water after he was stationed at Attersee Lake in Austria. The lake was always so blue, and it stretched out to the most stunning mountains. We sat at cafés with their tables right on the beach—in the sand! And we drank wine and laughed all day long—oh, your grandfather could make me laugh. We’d sit there talking for hours. It was an incredible place,” Nan had told her once.
“Why didn’t you retire there?” Leigh had asked, pulling her knees up and hugging them as she sat next to Nan on the porch sofa.
“Ah, because it wasn’t close to you all. Family’s more important.” She waved a hand at the lake in front of them. “And we still get a view.”
Leigh peered over at that porch sofa, now empty, wondering what Nan would think of the three of them there. Nan had been no stranger to the differences between Leigh and Meredith, but she always had a way of smoothing things over between them while they were staying with her. Nan would bake cookies or suggest a board game, and for a few brief hours, they’d have harmony. Leigh’s memories of those times were magical.
Leigh looked through the screen door, out at the lake, her mug steaming in her hand, a source of warmth against the chill. The trees were beginning to bloom again after the cold winter—a vibrant green. The water was calm that early in the morning, with a slight haze of fog rising above it. The stone fire pit was charred inside from last night’s fire, the skewers still leaning against it, empty beer bottles sitting on the rim. Leigh set her mug down on the coffee table and stepped out through the door to collect them. The chairs were draped in morning dew, the earth icy cold beneath her bare feet as Leigh gathered up the empty bottles.
Colton hadn’t stayed too long last night, and once he was gone, Meredith had said she was beat from the flight. Mama and Leigh had both been flabbergasted that she’d flown there, since flying required actual planning. She went up to the house to go to bed, which Leigh had been relieved about, since she couldn’t deal with whatever it was Mama had to tell them. She needed a good night’s sleep first.
Leigh held the bottles and danced across the freezing ground until she reached the porch. Balancing them all in one arm, she grabbed her coffee mug and went inside the cabin, the warmth wrapping her in its embrace. With a shiver, she threw the bottles away quietly and went in to the desk in the living room, where her laptop sat, to look for jobs.
As she searched, Leigh pondered what she’d tell someone in an interview as to why she was no longer at McGregor. She didn’t want to have to admit she’d been fired. After all the work she’d done for the company, couldn’t Phillip at least have given her a heads up so she could’ve found something before she was let go? She stopped scrolling, halting at a job in Brooklyn that looked promising. It was a property management director position for a small firm. She had all the qualifications… She took a drink from her coffee mug and pulled up the website, finding the application, filling it out, and attaching her résumé.
There was another one in Manhattan that was a bit below her, but she went ahead and filled out the interest survey. Maybe they’d be so blown away by her overqualification that they’d neglect to notice the fact that she hadn’t cut it in her previous position.
“Morning,” Meredith said, yawning as she came into the room.
Leigh quickly shut her laptop.
Her sister breezed past in nothing but an oversized T-shirt, her toned bare legs and a slight peek at purple lacy underwear visible. She didn’t give Leigh a glance before she headed for the kitchen.
Meredith clinked things around in the other room and the coffee pot began to gurgle again. Leigh looked down into the last third of her coffee, and decided to get up and have another cup. She’d need the caffeine to deal with Meredith anyway, she was nearly sure of it.
“Morning,” Leigh returned, coming into the kitchen, hoping to start off on the right foot. “You’re up unusually early, aren’t you?”
Meredith rooted around in the pantry, pulling out a loaf of bread and unbending the twist tie. “I needed to get up,” she said, pulling two slices from the bag and popping them into the toaster. “Want some?”
“No, thank you.” Leigh tugged the carafe out from under the coffee maker, the sizzle of coffee dripping onto the hotplate causing Meredith to turn.
“You’re impatient,” Meredith said. “Haven’t you already had a cup?”
“Yes,” Leigh replied. She wanted to say more, but didn’t have the energy to argue her point for having a second cup, so she let it go.
“Do we have any avocados?” Meredith asked, her purple-laced bum front and center as she dug around in the fridge.
“I don’t think so,” Leigh said, shaking her head as she focused on the creamer she was pouring. “There’s some jam in the door.”
Meredith grunted and grabbed the jar of strawberry preserve.
