Page 67 of The Seven Rings
After a quiet night, by Lost Bride Manor standards, Sonya gave Cleo the seal of approval on hair, makeup, wardrobe. Then she waved her friend off for the sailing photo shoot.
After shutting the door, she looked down at Yoda and Pye.
“Another attic Saturday for us.”
When the doorbell bonged, Sonya just rolled her eyes.
“Oooh, doorbell ringing and no one’s there. Scary.”
As she started up the stairs, the servants’ door creaked open.
“Eek! Creaky door opens. Terrifying.”
She nudged it closed as she passed, grabbed another pack of sticky notes from her desk, then continued up.
On the third floor, doors flew open, slammed shut.
“You could always try rattling chains and moaning. Those are classics for a reason.”
In the attic she found all the dustcovers removed and folded into neat stacks.
“Thanks, Molly. That does save time. And there it is! That’s the vanity Catherine used on her wedding night.”
Directly in her line of sight, so she concluded someone on the helpful staff had moved it to make it easy for her.
“Thanks. It’s really beautiful.”
She made her way to it and ran a hand over the wood. Wood that felt freshly polished.
“It’s not too big, and I love the shape of the mirror. All the littledrawers. Maybe we can shift some things around and put it back in the room. It feels right.”
She opened drawers, and in the one on the left found a pair of hair combs.
“Oh, I wonder if these were Catherine’s. I think they’re mother-of-pearl—Cleo would know for sure. They’re pretty, but simple, like for a young woman.”
She set them on the top of the vanity, opened more drawers.
And found the hairbrush Arabelle had used to brush Catherine’s hair.
“I saw this.” Gently, Sonya ran her fingers over the bristles. “So soft. And I think this is ivory. Simple again. We’ll put it on the vanity, I think, in remembrance. And Trey was right.”
“About what?”
If it were truly possible to jump out of your skin, Sonya would have.
Brush in hand, Sonya whirled. “Jesus, Trey, you scared the crap out of me!”
“Sorry. I thought you heard me coming.”
He moved to her, gave her shoulders a rub. “I called out a couple times. I guess you didn’t hear that either.”
“Didn’t. Jump scare aside, hi.”
“Hi.” He leaned down, kissed her, lingered over it.
“I didn’t expect you for a while. You either,” she added, and rubbed Mookie. “Or you.” She gave Jones the same greeting.
“I bunked at Owen’s last night due to beer and poker. I left when he left, stopped off for a shower and a change.”
