Page 20 of Butterfly Sisters
“I don’t know,” Leigh told her. “I stepped into the shower to get ready for the day, and when I got out, she was gone again.”
Mama shook her head, disappointment showing.
“It’s like she doesn’t even care that you have something to tell us. I feel like she’s just here to make an appearance and that’s it.”
“Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she just forgot something on the boat and she’s run to Colton’s to get it.” Mama reached around the container of blackberries to retrieve her phone. “I’ll text him to see if she’s there.”
Leigh put the milk in the fridge and set the cucumbers on the counter. “I called the Greystone company and left a message while you were gone,” she said, folding the paper bag and tucking it under the sink where they kept them.
“Oh?” Mama ran the basket of blackberries under the stream of water at the sink.
“I told them I’d heard they were having trouble filling the property on the lake and I thought I could help them.”
Mama dumped the blackberries into Nan’s strainer to dry, the way Nan always had. “That’s great. Maybe something will come of it,” she said, pensive, her attention back on her phone. “Colton says he hasn’t seen her.”
Leigh couldn’t help the niggling fear that her sister had just upped and left. It would be just like her to run, chasing something else and leaving them there. “She wouldn’t havegone, would she?”
Mama’s hands stilled and she set down the tomato she was wiping. “Are her things here?”
Leigh and her mother walked into Meredith’s room at the back of the cabin. Leigh huffed out a small sigh of relief mixed with frustration when she saw her sister’s suitcase. Meredith’s strappy sandals were still tucked under the chair in the corner, a pair of cut-offs on the bed, and her bag against the wall.
“Promising,” Mama said.
“Yes, but it’s selfish of her to just leave without saying anything,” she said, as they both returned and headed back to the kitchen. “She doesn’t ever think about anybody but herself.”
“Maybe she’s outside somewhere. Have you checked?”
Her frustration mounting, Leigh went out to the back porch to look. She scanned the tree line, the dock, down by the water, the hammock, the fire pit—all empty. “Meredith?” she called, but all she got in return was the soft whistle of the wind. “She’s definitely not here,” she said, coming back inside.
Mama met Leigh in the living room.
“How are you ever supposed to tell us this mystery news of yours? Can’t you just let me hear it first?”
Mama stared at her as if deciding. “I’ve been debating whether or not to tell you first,” Mama replied, with an uneasy frown. “I kind of think I should, but there’s a part of me that wanted to include Meredith in this so she didn’t feel like I was choosing sides. She deserves to know when you do, although I think you’re going to have a harder time with it.”
A cold flash slithered through Leigh at the idea that she’d take whatever it was Nan had so cryptically warned her about harder than her sister, although it wasn’t all that surprising, since her sister wasn’t the least bit invested in their family.
“If she can’t stick around long enough to listen for even a second, shedoesn’tdeserve to hear it first.”
Mama chewed her bottom lip, clearly deliberating. “We’ll give her an hour. If she doesn’t come back by then, I’ll go ahead and tell you.”
Leigh sat on the screened-in porch while her mother bustled around picking up, the fan above them whirring. It was a perfect spring day—the birds chirped in the trees and occasionally a boat would buzz by on the lake. After texting her sister with no response, Leigh had spent the last hour building a quick document for the possible businesses she’d like to reach out to on Greystone’s behalf, overpreparing in case she got a phone call. She had descriptions of the businesses, photos of their other locations, and her guesses for how much they would probably pay in rent, based on their other spaces. The ideas flowed like wine in Nan’s cabin. She could develop this plan with her eyes closed, and the fact that it was coming so easily to her filled her with a sense of purpose.
The lake was a striking change to the pace she’d been living the last four years, and with everything going on in her life, being there brought her calm. Even without Nan physically there, she had a sense of relief, as if Nan were present in the wind, and on the scent of the pines. She could almost hear her grandmother talking her through it all.
“This is just a bump in the road,” she’d say, her gray hair pulled back, her weathered hands on Leigh’s knee. “You have everything you need to be successful.”
While her studies had prepared her for success, it was her time at the cabin with Nan that had made her who she was. Leigh made herself a promise that, no matter what, she’d come back to the cabin more often. It had been far too long since she’d been there. Maybe she could plan more visits—a few a month. It would be good for her soul to spend time in the place that had built her.
“It’s been an hour and a half,” Leigh said, looking over at her mom, who’d been sweeping the porch.
Mama leaned the broom against the porch railing. “I know. I’m just trying to give her time, hoping she’ll walk through that door.”
“I don’t understand her,” Leigh said, shaking her head as she closed her laptop. “She seems to do things just to get under our skin.”
Mama stared at her, and her silence spoke volumes.
“Go ahead and tell me. I doubt Meredith will even care.”
