Page 69 of Butterfly Sisters
“Ishould be asking that question. I’ve been a bit difficult.”
Meredith grinned. “I know. I mean,someone’sgot to help you find your direction and get you on track,” she teased, turning the tables from their youth.
Leigh put her arm around her sister, and there in the quiet living room, she felt real hope for the two of them.
As Leigh sat on the porch in the stream of light breaking through the trees, she brought up Colton’s number on her phone, her finger hovering over the call button. She ascribed the need to reach him and her optimism that she could make him understand her to the inspiration she’d gotten from her newfound kinship with Meredith, but if she were being honest with herself, it was just because she missed him. She dialed his number and put the phone to her ear, listening to the ringing.
Voicemail.
She hung up, an ache in her chest.
“Hey there, sunshine,” Mama said, coming out onto the porch and lowering herself next to Leigh.
“Hey,” Leigh returned.
Mama narrowed her eyes. “You’re not just enjoying the view, are you?”
She pulled her eyes from her phone and focused on her mother. “Hm?”
“Something’s weighing on you. What is it?”
Leigh let out a heavy sigh and pulled the blanket up to her waist. “Colton. I can’t get him to pick up. I can’t live with him feeling this way about me. It’s tearing me apart.”
“Do you think you could go over there and try to talk to him again?”
“I don’t know… If there’s anything he thinks I can do to fix this, I will. I’ve tried to find other retailers that could occupy the space without altering it too much, but I’m coming up empty.”
Her phone pinged with a text, sending her jumping for it.
Mama’s eyebrows shot up in anticipation. “Maybe that’s him now, reading your mind.”
“No,” Leigh said with disappointment, scanning the text.
This is Pamela Lyons again.Sorry for so many texts, but I forgot to say that I’ll only be in Nashville for two more days, so catching up while I’m here would be most efficient. I’m free this afternoon. Looking forward to hearing from you.
“What is it?” Mama asked.
“This woman got my number from Jimbo and wants to meet me. She says she might have a job opportunity.”
“Well, that’s encouraging,” Mama said brightly.
“Is it? Should I really follow a lead that Jimbo set up? He’s ruined everything he’s touched so far.”
“True, but it’s worth hearing her out to find out what it is. You can always turn her down.”
Leigh peered out at the old spruce trees, deliberating. “All right. I’ll text her back.”
“You never know. It could be something incredible.”
“With Jimbo’s hand in it, I doubt that very seriously,” she said with a laugh. She opened the text and responded.
“Is it possible to buy more of your firewood?” Leigh asked Leon. “We’re running low.” She put a bottle of sweet tea on the counter to get the complimentary two logs.
Leon rang up the tea. “You can just take however many you want.”
She eyed the small basket of wood. “Do you have more than that? I don’t want to empty you out.”
“Got a six-foot stack out back. Choppin’ wood’s the way I relax after a long day’s work, and I don’t have anything to do with it all but bring it here.”
