Page 37 of Butterfly Sisters
Leigh hung on her mother’s every word. So far, Nan’s letters had been quite surprising, so she couldn’t wait to hear what was in this one.
“When I read it, I literally couldn’t believe it.” Mama’s eyes filled with tears. “I had to come back here to try to make sense of it.”
Meredith folded her arms on the table. “What did it say?”
Mama sucked in a long breath, looking both of them in the eye, one of her daughters at a time, her distress clear. “She didn’t leave the cabin to me.”
Leigh’s eyes widened. “What? Why?”
Mama sniffled, and Leigh reached over and grabbed a tissue off the counter, handing it to her.
“She told me in the letter that she knew I’d be all right and this would all make sense in the end.” Mama wiped her tears and took in a jagged breath. “She wants one ofyouto have the cabin.”
The hair stood up on Leigh’s arms. This was why Nan’s letter to her had been so short. This would be the perfect gift from beyond the grave. Nan knew that Leigh would include her mother in taking care of the house, which was why Nan had skipped over her mom in the inheritance. And Nan also understood that this wasLeigh’splace, where nothing could go wrong… She silently thanked Nan for this incredibly generous gift, her whole future changing before her eyes.
Mama put her unsteady hands on the table, leaning in toward them both. “Meredith, she wants you to have it.”
“What?” The word burst from Leigh’s lips in a defiant, angry snap. She realized in the silence that followed that she was standing now, her limbs trembling, the rejection from Nan stinging her like a swarm of bees. “Meredith doesn’t even like this place!” she managed, tears beginning to spill from her eyes, her chin wobbling. “She’s never settled anywhere in her life. What would make Nan want to give it toher?”
What Leigh wasn’t saying was that the cabin had been the place she and her mother had felt most safe. So many of their memories were there. And now, when Leigh’s world felt like it was turning upside down, it was the cabin that had grounded her. The butterflies she’d seen—the one that had flown into her car, the one on the hammock—she’d thought they’d meant something. Suddenly, it all meant nothing. Just as she’d been so sure about the job that Rebecca had pulled right from under her, now her sanctuary of love and memories was being ripped away from her and her mother as well. The worst part about it all was that Nan had seemed to have this deep understanding of Meredith and what made her tick, but hadn’t noticed how muchLeigh and Mamahad loved that place.
She lowered herself back down, trying to calm the hurt that was scratching at her insides. “You’re going to give it to me, right?” she asked Meredith, desperate to save it. “I mean, it only makes sense since you were barely ever here. It’s my favorite place…”
Meredith pursed her lips. “Your favorite place that you haven’t bothered to visit for the last eight years.”
“And you have?” Leigh asked, hearing the mix of anguish and frustration in her voice.
“We’ll figure it out,” Mama said, trying to soothe her.
Meredith stood up and faced the window, leaning on the sink. “I’m not sure there’s anything to figure out,” she said with her back to them. “Nan wants me to have the cabin. I’m sorry if the two of you find that tough to swallow.”
“She said she’s left you both notes here,” Mama said, her voice small. “I haven’t seen them.”
Meredith looked around, pensive, before she walked over to the doorway. “I’ll bet I know where to get mine.” She walked into the living room, leaving Leigh stunned, still shaking, at the kitchen table. She returned with the butterfly book and the letter. “Found it. Leigh, yours is probably in your desk drawer.” Then she left them alone once more.
“I was hoping I could get the three of us on good terms before I dropped the news,” her mother said in a whisper. “The last thing I want is for Meredith to be so upset with us that she alienates us and doesn’t let us into the cabin.” Mama’s eyes glistened with more tears, one of them escaping down her cheek. She blotted it with her balled tissue.
Mama’s words were going in but not connecting. All Leigh could think about was her nan’s betrayal and the letter that Meredith was probably reading right now. Completely disheartened, she stood up from the table. “May I have some time alone?” she asked gently, wiping the tears that were now streaming down her cheeks.
Mama nodded. As Leigh took a step, Mama reached for her arm. “I’m so sorry, Leigh,” she said.
The pain in her mother’s eyes only served to make Leigh feel worse. Leigh stared at her, speechless, the rims of her eyes burning with her pain.
“But Leigh, thereissomething else to it...”
There wasn’t anything else her mother could say to make it better. “I need a minute,” she said to her mom, ignoring the comment. She didn’t want to hear anything more about it right now.
Leigh went into the living room, opened the desk drawer, and took out her letter. Then she walked quietly back to her room and shut the door. Falling onto the bed, she opened the envelope and reread Nan’s cryptic message.
I know you and your sister are very different people, and sometimes you can’t always see eye to eye, but she’s family. Remember that. Embrace her. And no matter what, you’ll be okay.
Nan had clearly known how Leigh would take this news, yet she’d done it anyway. And no matter how hard she tried to understand Nan’s motives, Leigh had no idea why.
Leigh sat at a coffee shop about twenty minutes from the lake in the small Tennessee town of Goodlettsville. The morning rush had subsided, leaving a half-empty dining area of a few people on their laptops and one woman in the corner reading a book. Leigh had needed to get away to try to collect herself and make some progress on the Greystone project, but it was nearly impossible to have her entire head in the game when the issues with Nan and the cabin plagued her every thought.
She’d settled at a tiny bistro table with no view and free Wi-Fi, scooted the small vase with a single red carnation to the side, and opened her laptop, attempting to direct her attention to the task at hand. While she tried not to feel sorry for herself, she couldn’t help the niggling idea that no one seemed to understand her—not her boss or Nan, or even Colton at times.
Until last Thursday, she’d felt invincible, and now all she could do was question her every move. As she tried to construct an email to Green Hat Coffee Roasters’ corporate office, the words she’d typed rambled on in front of her, her confidence shot.
