Read Online She Only Speaks to Butterflies by Sandy Appleyard - Free Book Online

head and rubbed it, as if to leave a permanent impression, and lowered her back down, so her feet were on the ground again.
    Sherry hugged her mom as the tears flowed. “I’m so glad yer here, momma,” she sobbed. “It’s been so hard.”
    “I know, princess,” Gertrude whispered. “But we’re here now.”
    “Mrs. Marx passed last night.” Sherry wiped a tear away with the back of her hand. “She had a stroke yesterday. I found her.”
    Gertrude’s hand went straight to her mouth. “Oh, dear. You poor thang. Let’s go in and I’ll make ya some tea,” she said as if that would take away the pain.
    “My goodness, love,” her mother complained, opening up the fridge “You been eatin’?” she looked at her daughter imploringly. “You haven’t got any food.” Kenny intervened.
    “We’ll go shoppin’ later.” He sensed his daughter’s discomfort. “I need stuff special anyway.” Kenny was the first to see Sherry’s fridge, having prepared the tea when they arrived.
    “Why don’t ya go on up and show grampa the new toys you’ve gotten since he’s been here last?” Sherry offered, while Gertrude gave her husband a knowing look.
    “Want a ride?” he offered Denise, who jumped up and ran to him. He hoisted her up onto his back and galloped up the stairs. “Be careful, for God’s sake, Kenny!” Gertrude scolded.
    When Kenny was out of earshot, Sherry sat down with her mother at the table.
    “Level with me,” Gertrude said. “You makin’ ends meet?”
    “I’m fine, momma,” Sherry insisted. “I’d planned on gettin’ the house ready for ya yesterday, but when everythin’ happened with Mrs. Marx, I got distracted.”
    “Are ya sure? It’s not like you to have an empty fridge.” She sat silent for a moment, looking at her daughter and bouncing her shoe off the end of her foot. “Sarah been over? She eatin’ all yer grub?”
    Nudging her mother in jest, she lifted her hand and kissed it. “God bless ya.”
    “I just want ya to be honest with me, love.” Gertrude took her daughter’s hands in hers. “Now, I know that husband of yours, God rest his soul...” She looked up at the ceiling, as though in prayer. “…Left ya lots of money…” Her eyes met her daughter’s. “…But raisin’ a daughter, a special one like yers, and tendin’ a house all on yer own, well…” She looked down dramatically, then back up again. “Don’t matter how much money ya got in the bank. It’s gonna run out some time.”
    Sitting back in the chair, Sherry exhaled. “Momma, I work, and the house is paid for. The school ain’t cheap, but we’re managin’ okay,” she explained. “Reverend Telly always asks if he can take up a collection for me. And I never have to.”
    “Ya know, if it weren’t for how good this town was to you, I’d insist you move with daddy and me, but it’s such a blessin’, you livin’ here.”
    “Amen.”
    “Sherry?” Kenny called from upstairs. “What’s this I hear about a weddin’?” he giggled, coming downstairs. “My little pumpkin’s got an engagement ring?”
    Gertrude glanced at Sherry with a crooked smile. “There somethin’ we should know?” she joked.
    “Luke,” Sherry explained, giving her dad a knowing smile. “I tell ya, her smile was brighter ‘n the sun when he asked her.”
    “Well, who wouldn’t want to marry that little angel?” Kenny said, pulling Denise downstairs gently.
    Later, after tea and cookies, they headed to the Food Mart.
    “Roast beef and potatoes good for tonight?” Kenny asked, observing the freshly cut meats being laid down by the butcher. Sherry nodded assent.
    “I can cut one special for ya,” Marty, one of the store owners, offered. “Or I’ve got some nice rib-eyes here, too.”
    “I’ll take a butt roast if you’ve got it.”
    “Here’s one right here. Just cut it myself,” Marty boasted.
    “Thanks,” Kenny commented. “How ya been keepin’?”
    “Just fine. Ned and Kate have some