Page 49 of Butterfly Sisters
“I have to agree,” Mama finally interjected. “This isn’t just your nan’s home. It’s our home too. It’s a place we want to come back to.”
“You haven’t been here in eight years,” Meredith said, crossing her arms, followed by a frustrated exhale.
Mama locked eyes with Meredith. “That’s because it’s such an emotional place to return to. I have a ton of memories here—we all do. Familyisimportant, Meredith. So important that I’m letting my mother skipping over me and giving you the cabin fly away because her intentions are what’s most important here.”
“Are we really a family at all?” Meredith challenged.
It was a low blow, and Mama immediately responded, shrinking in on herself. Mama stared out at the lake, her lip trembling, before pushing her emotion out of view and looking back at her daughter.
“I think that you’re the only one who doesn’t believe we’re a family… Even Elvis agrees.”
Meredith and Leigh turned their attention to her, both of them taken completely off guard by her insight.
“He was a stray, right? And he barks at you every time he sees you. I think it’s because he appreciates family, and he can sense it.”
“Sense what?” Meredith asked, clearly annoyed that she was giving in to this absurdity.
“Elvis had no family and I think he senses that you won’t let any of us in,” Mama said. “He can feel your hostility.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Meredith let out an incredulous laugh.
“Is it?” Mama asked. “It seems to make sense to me.”
“Me too,” Leigh said, jumping in on her mother’s side. “It is odd how he barks at you. He doesn’t bark at Mama as much as he barks at you. Dogs are very intuitive.”
Meredith shook her head. “I’m going to take advice on what to do with the cabin from two people who believe a canine is aware of our family dynamic.” She rolled her eyes.
“One thing I can say for certain,” Leigh cut in, “is if you do rent this cabin out, we may never be a family. We were just getting started.”
Mama stood up, taking her lemonade to the edge of the porch, and looked out. Leigh followed her lead and peered over at the place they’d taken family boat rides, both Meredith and Leigh holding on for dear life while they went tubing behind the boat, and the dock where they’d run after the car ride there, stripped off their cover-ups, and jumped in, signaling the start of summer.
“We all know that it won’t be the same if this is gone. Nothing will,” Mama said.
“Well, at the end of the day, it’s my choice. Nan gave me the cabin, and I want to use it for something that represents me and also reaches out to others. How can that be a bad thing? And I’ve already started calling contractors.” Without another word, that wall that they’d worked so hard this week to pull down slid back into position. Meredith got up and went inside.
In that moment, Leigh knew her mother had hit on something: nothing would ever be the same.
SEVENTEEN
With the fate of the cabin in Meredith’s hands, and no clue as to what the state of the place would be in the upcoming weeks and months, Leigh felt she needed to secure the Greystone Properties leases sooner rather than later. She’d need to get her work finished so she could focus entirely on changing her sister’s mind. Leigh fired off an email to Top Mountain Supply Co., checking in to see if they had any questions for her. Then, she looked at her calendar to reply to the interview offer from Rycroft Enterprises, giving them a few dates and times when she could come in.
But with no more tasks to complete, all she could think about was losing the cabin. She lay back on the bed, her head nestled in the pillow, and exhaled. “What in the world, Nan?” she whispered at the ceiling.
Then her phone went off with a text from Colton:Want to take a ride?
She stared at it, considering. She wanted to focus on her family and try to repair what little relationship they had. She also needed to check on Mama and make sure she was okay—she hadn’t seemed so after Meredith had dropped the bomb about the cabin. But there was also a part of her that just wanted to get away from her problems. It would all still be there when she got back, right?
She texted:A ride sounds amazing.
Colton returned:Good, because I’m already in your driveway.
With a grin, she got back up, ran her fingers through her hair, and headed outside, relieved for the immediate distraction.
But when she got outside, what was waiting for her wasn’t Colton’s usual Ford.
“What’s this?” she asked Colton through the open window of the shiny black Silverado that was idling in the drive.
“It’s my other truck. You don’t think I pick up dates in the farm truck, do you?”
