The Lost Bride Trilogy, #1
Inheritance
by Nora Roberts
Contents
Chapter Nine
Overview
Sonya visits the Doyle law office, meets Deuce, Sadie, and Ace, and learns key Poole family history, including Patricia’s role in separating the brothers and the manor’s lineage. Reassured about the inheritance, she advances Anna’s project. Back at the manor, paranormal signs intensify, culminating in a vivid dream of a woman freezing in a storm.
Summary
Sonya visits the Doyle law office and meets Sadie, then Deuce, who welcomes her and discusses her settling in. He confirms the cousins accept the will and that her business share is minimal. Deuce points Sonya to Collin’s family book, a digital tree, and the family Bible, and outlines Patricia Youngsboro’s dominance, the separated brothers, and Collin’s upbringing with his mother Gretta. He notes Collin’s father Michael willed the manor through Charles to Lawrence.
Deuce explains Collin’s mother’s decline and Collin’s dutiful visits. He reveals Sonya’s grandparents contacted him, worried for her welfare, and invites future family dinners. Sonya asks about adopting a dog, and Deuce offers local rescue information. In the lobby, Ace Doyle charms Sonya, jokes about ghosts, and introduces Eddie, before Deuce warns that Ace easily extracts confidences.
After Sonya leaves, Deuce reflects with Trey on Collin’s final months, sensing distance in Collin’s mood despite no proof of anything but an accident. They agree to quietly check on Sonya, and Trey will send the dog rescue details.
Back at the manor, Anna calls to accept Option One for her branding and website. Sonya organizes deliverables and celebrates, but notices a shadow at an upstairs window and her perfume bottle moved. While working in the library, her iPad blasts Elton John just as she’s thinking of Saturday, unsettling her though she pushes on.
That night, Sonya dreams of walking the manor and witnessing a chestnut-haired woman in a white nightgown meet a dark-haired woman at the seawall during a snowstorm. After a silent confrontation, the nightgowned woman, terrified and barefoot, tries to return but collapses and freezes as the manor’s doors stay shut. Sonya thrashes and weeps in sleep.
Who Appears
- Sonya MacTavishProtagonist; meets the Doyles, learns Poole history, advances Anna’s project, experiences intensified hauntings and a chilling dream.
- Oliver "Deuce" DoyleFamily lawyer; shares Poole lineage, Patricia’s influence, reassures Sonya, and privately questions Collin’s state before his death.
- Ace DoyleDeuce’s father; charismatic lawyer who greets Sonya, jokes about ghosts, and energizes the office.
- Trey DoyleDeuce’s son; discusses Collin’s mood with Deuce and plans to send Sonya local dog rescue info.
- SadieOffice manager; brisk, witty, longtime friend of Collin and the Doyles, keeps the office running.
- Anna DoyleClient; calls to approve Option One for branding and website, sends photos, accelerates project.
- EddieJunior lawyer; introduced by Ace while reviewing work at the front desk.
- JillTrey’s assistant; briefly seen working in the office.
- MookieTrey’s rescue dog; comforts Deuce during their talk.
- Chestnut-haired woman in nightgownApparition in Sonya’s dream; ventures into a snowstorm, collapses and freezes outside the manor.
- Dark-haired woman at the seawallFigure in Sonya’s dream; confronts the nightgowned woman with visible fury.