Page 62 of Butterfly Sisters
Meredith’s eyes widened in mock horror, making Mama snort with amusement as she sat down to put on her shoes.
“Mani-pedis,” Leigh continued, sitting down next to Mama.
Her sister offered a don’t-you-dare face.
“Makeovers. With varying shades of eyeshadow.”
Meredith clinked a mug of coffee in front of her sister. “You’re just being mean now.”
Leigh laughed, and it felt so good. Better than anything she’d felt in a long time.
Trying to get Jimbo on the phone was no small feat. Leigh had called twice and nothing. It was nearly five o’clock on a Friday, and he was probably about to go home for the night, so she thought she’d try to head him off. She pulled the rental car to a stop in front of the trailer and got out just as he was locking up.
“Hey,” she said, walking across the dusty gravel drive. “I tried to call.”
“Sorry,” he said, unaffected. “Busy day.”
“I need to talk to you.” She took a step to put herself in his path.
His lips curved into a frown and he looked down at her from under his old ball cap.
“I need you to not build on the land in front of Colton Harris’s property.”
He moved to the side to get around her, but she jumped in his way.
“I’m serious.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to convince him, but I’m surprised he was able to get you to sympathize with him. That property isn’t his.”
“I know,” she said, darting around him once more as he kept walking. “But there are other factors at play that will either tear down or build up the Greystone Properties name. You have to consider the people around you. It’s good business.”
“You keep doing what you’re doing and let me worry about the expansion, okay?”
She stepped in front of him, leaning against his truck door, in his way. Time to play hardball. “You build on that land and I’ll get every single one of the retailers that I’ve lined up to pull out.”
“And how will you do that? I can easily take over from here.”
“Not if I take away all the money I’m putting into it—mymoney. You’re out of money—I read the articles. I’m wining and dining these people. You gonna fly them all here, hire their cars, give them meal allowances?”
“Once I have the renters in my development, I’ll have the revenue I’ll need to get started. And I’ll sell my house if I have to,” he pushed back. “This is actually happening, thanks to you, and I’m grabbing the opportunity and running with it.”
“You’ll face the same issue with local boycotts on the new location,” she said, her heart hammering at the idea that he wouldn’t back down.
“Wasn’t it you who taught me to think bigger than that? I don’t need those local businesses. I’ll go national. Especially once I have four major players at the first development.”
Leigh’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Look, you can’t build there. It would ruin the landscape, and despite what you might think,droparea property values of the surrounding homes. You have to think about other people.”
“I have to think about putting food on my table,” he said. “No one is there to do that but me. And one lone farmer isn’t going to stand in my way. Now, if you would please move, I’m trying to get to my dinner.” He brushed past her, making her move out of his way, got in his truck and left, leaving Leigh standing alone in the gravel drive.
When Leigh got home, she sat down at the kitchen table and stared at the roses Colton had gotten them, wishing she could go back in time and change what she’d done for Greystone Properties. She pulled out her phone and dialed Colton’s number, with no clue of what she wanted to say. The phone pulsed in her ear and then finally went to voicemail. Discouraged, she hung up without leaving a message. Probably for the best that she hadn’t reached him.
“You look awful,” Meredith said, coming in and plopping down in a chair, her hand in a bag of chips. “What’s wrong?”
Leigh told Meredith about what she’d said to Jimbo and how he’d reacted—everything.
Meredith sucked in a breath and blew it out through her lips like a motorboat. “This is why I paint for a living. No harm, no foul.” She offered the open bag of chips to Leigh, but Leigh declined, her stomach in knots. “What did Colton think?”
“I haven’t been able to tell him what Jimbo said just now, but he’s upset, as you can imagine.” Leigh put her head in her hands. “I don’t know what to do.” She looked up at her sister, completely disheartened. “Trying to talk to Jimbo is pointless. He’s such a jerk.” She reached into the bag and took a chip after all, absentmindedly taking a bite. The starchy salt of it did nothing to distract her thoughts.
