Robbed more than once of what he desires from life, Ben Williams is disillusioned with his concept of fairness. The only person still alive who matters to him is his son, but his work takes him from home, leaving someone else to parent the boy. The railman hides his resentment behind a facade of good-naturedness and an illusion of self-reliance. He has every intention of his mind outwitting his emotions. Eighteen-year-old Katherine McGinn is unaware that she views herself as an emotional victim, despite her strong faith. Her longing for acceptance and a desire for more than her common life offers her are both held prisoner by her practicality. The only world she knows exists inside a rural early 1900's community where she shares a house with her siblings, and where mundane work is a necessity for survival. She guards her emotions for fear of disappointment. When their lives cross paths, Ben and Katherine attempt to help one another move beyond their inner conflicts, but their bond is threatened by new circumstances that demand the need for forgiveness.

Life can be thwarted by misunderstanding. Forced to leave home after making a devastating decision, Ben Williams longs to be forgiven and reunited with his wife and child. His efforts to provide and parent from a distance and his written pleas for forgiveness to his wife seem to go unheeded. Separated from those he loves, Ben finally relinquishes his longtime grudge against God and accepts His forgiveness. However, despite this new faith, Ben struggles with the courage to do what restoration with his family requires. Katherine Williams is torn between the love she feels for her estranged husband and the reasoning that he does not deserve to be reunited with her and their child. The tension has slowly transformed her into a guarded, controlling, and unhappy woman who cannot forgive her own mistake. When she at last releases her harsh feelings, life threatens her hope of restoration and the well-being of those she loves and protects, forcing her to either maintain a tight control over her family or release them to God. Inspired by true events When the Butterflies Dance is the second book in the Letters to Layton series by author Kim Williams. Kim resides north of Atlanta with her husband and family. A former English teacher, she has spent more than twenty years serving on the staff of First Baptist Woodstock overseeing ministry to young children.