Page 25 of Butterfly Sisters
“Really?”
Colton took the bottles of champagne from her, bringing them into the house, Elvis by his side. When Leigh entered, she was met with the scent of jasmine, and she had to catch her breath. From the kitchen doorway leading to the back of the house, she could see the twinkle of the string lights outside, a nostalgic buzz swimming through her.
“Where’s Meredith?” she asked.
“I think your mom said she’s still out painting or something.” He pulled the champagne bottles from their bags and slid them into the fridge.
“She’d better come,” Leigh said under her breath. “It’sherparty.”
“She will,” he said, his dark eyes on Leigh. “You never trust her.”
Leigh wasn’t going to argue with Colton, but he hadn’t spent his life listening to Meredith’s excuses. “She always shows up for you,” she said instead.
He fixed his gaze on her. “It’s because I believe that she will, and she knows that.”
Leigh considered his point, the idea having not come to her before this. Was it because Leigh never really had faith in whether Meredith would come through for her? Perhaps Meredith could sense it…
“Can I ask you something?” He stepped into her personal space, looking down at her.
The seriousness of his expression, and the intimacy of just the two of them, made it difficult for Leigh to breathe.
She took a step back. “Sure.”
“What happened to you to make you so edgy?”
His question took her off guard. “I’m no different from the person I was.”
Colton shook his head. “You were always passionate, but never edgy. I could tell the minute you walked into Leon’s. Your shoulders are up near your ears somewhere.” He put his large hands softly on her upper arms and the tension instantly melted, her shoulders sliding downward. She hadn’t even realized they were tense until that moment.
“I was just busy today, that’s all.” She wasn’t sure why she wouldn’t admit to Colton what she was going through, but she didn’t want him to know. Maybe it was because if she tried to explain herself, she knew she couldn’t. She didn’t have a clue why she’d lost her job. Or why she hadn’t been strong enough to come back to the cabin over the years. Or, worse, why she hadn’t come back to seehim. She’d wanted to be in a better place in her life than she was right now before she ran into Colton again—now definitely wasn’t the best time.
“Oh! How’d it go?” Mama asked, coming into the kitchen with a rag and a spray bottle.
Elvis barked at her—one loud woof—his suspicious eyes following Mama as she walked through the kitchen.
Leigh quickly shook her head from behind Colton to quiet her mother’s questions. “I got us three bottles of champagne,” she said, throwing out any words she could think of to change the subject. She wanted to get this job before she mentioned it to Colton. In some strange way, she was hoping to prove that leaving him had been for the best, so she wanted to get her career back on track before talking about it.
“Great,” her mother replied, questions on her face as her gaze darted between the two of them. “We’ve got about an hour before people start arriving. I’ve invited everyone we know down this street, Rutledge Way, and Trout Lane.” She threw the rag and bottle under the kitchen sink and flicked on the water. “Colton, in about forty minutes, could you preheat the grill for the burgers and hot dogs for us?”
“Yep,” he replied, sending a curious look over to Leigh as if he were already in her head.
“Leigh, the salad fixin’s are in the fridge. Why don’t you throw a big bowl together for us? And do you mind arranging those cookies onto a tray?” Mama fluttered back out of the kitchen, leaving Leigh and Colton together once more.
“Help me peel cucumbers?” she asked, pulling them out of the fridge, along with tomatoes, a bag of lettuce, and a block of cheddar.
“Of course.”
She got one of Nan’s handmade serving bowls down from the cabinet—a swirl of pink, yellow, and teal meandering round the rim of the cream-colored pottery. She dumped the lettuce into it.
Colton washed his hands at the sink while Elvis flopped down in the corner of the kitchen with a snort. While Leigh ran her own hands under the stream at the faucet and lathered, Colton reached around her to get a paper towel, and she had to hold her breath to keep from inhaling the woodsy fragrance of his aftershave.
“Your mama’s been busy,” he said, wiping his hands.
“Yes, she has.” Leigh grabbed the Swiss peeler and a knife from the drawer and set them on the cutting board. “She’s really going all out for Meredith. I’ve never seen her quite like this before…” she said, picking up a cucumber and peeling it with ease, something she’d done for Nan many times over the years.
Colton nodded, the seriousness in his eyes giving away his ability to sense her worry about Mama. “It’s Meredith’s time, you know?” he said, clearly sticking to a lighter subject.
“Yeah.” She handed over the peeled cucumber.
