Inheritance (The Lost Bride Trilogy, #1)(118)

“Not yet.”

That pulled his attention away from dumplings. “What about last night?”

“I guess we’ll start with that.”





Chapter Twenty-five



She told him about Cleo finding her walking at three a.m., then backtracked to finding the portrait, wove in Yoda’s ghostly companion, and ended with the bird.

“You forgot about Molly. Clover let us know, musically, the name of our housekeeper.”

Without asking, Cleo dished up a second helping for Trey.

“Thanks. That’s a lot for a couple of days.”

“Before I lived here, I’d have said it’s more than enough for a lifetime.” Sonya lifted her shoulders. “It’s not that you get used to it, but it’s more expected.”

“I’d like to see the portrait.”

“It’s beautiful. Since you’re the only one who’s seen her—I guess in person—you can tell me if my father’s caught her.”

“He captured the manor. I wonder why, if Collin bought the portrait, he never said anything. I know it’s not in the inventory.”

“Which begs the question, where the hell was it?”

“I have a theory.”

Sonya looked at Cleo. “Uh-oh.”

“I don’t think it’s that far out based on, we’ll say, the rules of this particular road. You said it’s as if you go through the mirror and into another time. There’s a school of thought that hauntings are just people out of their own time. Like a slip in time. Maybe this is a combination. And maybe the two portraits—Johanna and Clover—were, basically, on the other side of the mirror.”

“That’s interesting.”

Sonya rolled her eyes toward Trey. “Don’t encourage her.”

“It’s interesting,” he repeated. “A slip in time? Those portraits weren’t in the house, unless there’s a place in the house I don’t know about, Dad doesn’t know about. And regardless, both ended up in the studio. And now, the last two lost brides are in the music room. Collin painted one, your father—his twin—the other.”

He scooped up more chicken and dumplings. “It’s interesting. The bird flying out of the Gold Room’s another matter. Could you draw it?”

“I didn’t get a really good look. It happened fast. I just grabbed Yoda and ducked. Then it wasn’t there.”

“I didn’t see it, but I heard it, too. And when I opened the window to call to Sonya, I smelled sulfur.”

“I know Cleo’s theory on that, and I guess it makes sense—considering the rules of this weird road.”

“What’s the theory?” Trey asked her.

“She conjured the bird. Hester Dobbs. But once it was outside for more than a few seconds, poof. Because she’s limited, that power’s limited. And yet … I know she lured Catherine—the second bride—out into that blizzard.”

“She bespelled her,” Cleo said easily. “Catherine walked out under a spell, and by the time it broke, it was too late.”

“Maybe.”

“Or … she had more power then. It’s been a couple of centuries.”

“She tried to lure me out, that night. I heard the pounding at the front door, saw a blizzard out the window.”

“But when you opened the door,” Cleo pointed out, “no blizzard.”

“I see where you’re coming from,” Trey said. “Still, if Sonya had stepped outside, and hadn’t been able to get the door open—it would’ve been a long, cold night.”

“I think Dobbs would have enjoyed that. But I didn’t have Yoda or Cleo then. Or you. And now I’m going to sound like Cleo, but I think Clover’s looking out for us, too, as best she can.”

Her phone played “I’ll Be There for You.”

“See?”

“Okay if I go take a look at the portrait?”

“Let’s do that. I want to know what you think.”

The three of them walked down together and into the music room.

“That face,” Trey murmured. “That’s Clover. It’s beautiful. She looks happy but … serene.”

“You’ve seen her twice. But she isn’t pregnant.”

“No, not like this.”

“I’ve thought about that.”

Sonya looked over at Cleo. “Theory time again?”

“Clover died, and never got the chance to rock her babies, nurse them, cuddle them, sing to them.” Cleo sighed. “If there’s a choice, I wouldn’t want the constant reminder of what I wanted so much and never really had.”

This time Sonya didn’t roll her eyes, but took Cleo’s hand. “And still she plays music, and comes off as happy. At least content. I think she’d have been a wonderful mother.”

When her phone played “Let It Be,” Sonya laid a hand over it in her pocket.

“They look good there, right there,” Trey commented. “Together. I wonder … I wonder if you’ll find the others, the ones after Astrid and before Clover.”

“I looked this morning.” Cleo shrugged. “I kind of hoped, but since Sonya found both of these, I guess that’s for her. If and when.”