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Truth and Forgiveness - Butler Family Series Book Two

By Pat Nichols

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Chapter 1

Six weeks after walking out of the Manhattan office building one last time, Daisy Butler remained suspended in a time warp—unable to move forward until her dad made a decision. She plucked a dried leaf off the concrete walkway running through her family’s commercial greenhouse and peered up at the glass ceiling. Dark clouds cast a gray pall across the massive space. Another dreary January afternoon in Georgia soured her mood. She crushed the leaf, let the pieces slip between her fingers, and wandered to the exit.
Outside, she sidestepped a puddle from last night’s torrential rain and paused beside the miniature house on wheels parked beside her dad’s delivery truck. David Lambert was probably sitting at the camper’s dinette with his laptop open. Had her attraction to the investigative journalist unduly influenced her decision to move back home? Had she abandoned a promising career for a man she’d just meant two months ago? After he gathered enough evidence to solve the case and finish writing a book about her grandmother Rose’s disappearance thirty-five years earlier, would he abandon her to chase down another cold case?
A wind gust nipped Daisy’s cheeks and tousled her shoulder-length hair. She pulled her jacket tight across her chest and dashed across the backyard to her mom’s private retreat. Inside the tiny clapboard building, the warped floorboards creaked with each footstep. Sheer white curtains fluttered in the breeze from the open window. A bud vase adorned the sill, the white rose symbolic of the ongoing struggle to accept the truth about Rose Fowler.
Daisy’s muscles tensed as she dropped onto the hand-hewn wooden bench beside her mom. She scrunched her nose at the scent of damp wood and eyed the open newspaper on her lap. “At least that article didn’t appear on the front page.”
Poppy Butler tapped the headline. “Georgia Mega Lottery Winner Remains Anonymous. Winning Ticket Sold at Willy’s Convenience Store.” She pressed her palm against the dark wine-colored birthmark staining her left cheek. “One slip of the tongue, and the whole world will find out that your dad claimed the winning number.”
Daisy released a long sigh. “There’s a huge difference between him accepting the check and actually cashing it.”
Her mother lowered her hand from her cheek and touched Daisy’s arm. “Are you having second thoughts about resigning?”
“I underestimated the challenge of transitioning from twelve-plus-hour workdays to zero.”
“Like a race car stuck at an endless red light.”
“If I’d had the slightest inclination Dad would take this long to decide whether or not to cash that check…what’s done is done. Now I need to find some kind of project to keep me busy.”
“You could start your own law practice.”
Images of Curtis Butler streamed through Daisy’s mind. The grandfather she had never met before the Warner law firm assigned her to recruit his business empire. If David hadn’t arrived on the scene, her family would never have discovered that Curtis fathered her Aunt Pansy and had a hand in her grandmother’s disappearance.
“What do you think, honey?”
“About what?”
“Opening your own office.”
“I’m a corporate attorney, Mom. I doubt anyone within a fifty-mile range would need my services.”
“Seems these days everyone is specialized.” A smattering of raindrops pinged the metal roof. Her mom tilted her face upward. “Years ago when Mama entertained men during rainstorms, Pansy and I pretended this little hideaway was a boat adrift at sea. My sweet sister would peer out the window and describe the whales and dolphins she imagined floating by. One time she wrote a story about landing on an island populated by cats.”
Images of dozens of sketchpads featuring her middle-aged, childlike aunt’s detailed drawings skated across Daisy’s mind. “Her imagination and artistic ability are off the charts.”
“Lucky for us one of her imaginary stories about Mama’s disappearance brought David into our lives.”
“Indeed.” Daisy leaned her head back against the wall. “Does Aunt Pansy understand why we need to keep the winning lottery ticket a secret, even if Dad never cashes it?”
“The challenge isn’t whether or not she understands; it’s her unpredictable comments.”
“One more reason to continue stalling her plan to open a bakery.”
“We can’t deny her dream indefinitely.” Daisy’s mom set the newspaper on the bench. She scooted to the edge, removed a new scrapbook from an ancient trunk, and opened to the first page.
Daisy ran her finger over the title bearing her dad’s name. “Danny Butler’s Family Legacy. The sequel to your first scrapbook?”
“At least I won’t have to keep this one secret or fill it with newspaper clippings of relatives who don’t know us or care if we exist.” She turned the page to reveal the family’s Christmas photo and tapped her finger on her middle child’s image. “Next year’s picture will include Lilly’s baby—your first nephew and my first grandbaby.”
Daisy smiled at the image of her sister standing between her husband Andy and their brother Basil. A lump rose in her throat as her focus shifted to her mother posing beside her dad. The way she turned sideways to hide the birthmark on her left cheek—the blemish she believed obscured her beauty and brought her shame. Other than the birthmark, there was no mistaking she and her mom were mother and daughter. Daisy swallowed as her focus drifted to her own image—her hair tucked behind her ear revealing her faux-emerald earring a shade darker than her eyes. David stood beside her, their shoulders touching. The only non-family member ever invited to pose for the annual Christmas photo. “What goes on the rest of the pages?”
“Pictures. Mementos. One in particular—” She flipped to the next page. “Pansy’s last birthday card to your dad.”
Daisy touched the card, one of dozens created for family members over the years by her aunt who brought so much joy to their family. “The card that held the winning ticket. Do you suppose her cards will continue to include lottery tickets, all with the same number?”
“I suspect they will. We’ll find out when your birthday rolls around.”
The rain intensified, drumming the roof with a rhythm akin to brush sticks striking dozens of snare drums. Daisy pointed to the ceiling patch over the window. “Good thing Dad fixed that leak.” She paused. “Do you have any idea when or what he’ll decide to do about the check?”
Her mom shook her head. “All I know is he’s struggling with his conscience.”
“About taking the money or what to do with it?”
“Both.”
“What do you want him to do, Mom?”
She remained silent for a long moment, as if considering how to answer. “Whatever he believes is best for our family.” Daisy’s mom closed the scrapbook and placed it back in the trunk. She moved to the window and pushed the sheer curtains aside.
Daisy closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose, and scoured her memory for clues her dad might have revealed. An offhand comment or question during breakfast or supper. Nothing surfaced. Not surprising, considering Danny Butler was a man of few words. She lowered her hand and opened her eyes.
Her mom stared at her, her lower lip clenched between her teeth. “You gave up a lot when you walked away from a promising career. Especially after all those years you spent studying and working hard.”
Daisy eased beside her mom. A spider posed in a web stretching between the upper window frame and a rafter. “Family comes in a distant second for Warner law-firm partners. I wasn’t willing to make that choice.”
“Love of family is a powerful emotion.” Her mom swiped her hand across the window. “So is the appeal of huge sums of money.”
A sensation akin to a dozen fluttering butterflies accosted Daisy’s chest as she stared at the arc her mom created in the condensation. There was no denying one all-consuming fact. Her dad’s indecision continued to strain her family’s patience and test their loyalty to one another.
 

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