Page 1 of Forever Fallen

CHAPTER1

SOPHIE

“Oh,you havegotto be kidding me…” Sophie Lane uttered under her breath in absolute disgust and dismay. It was bad enough the last remaining member of her family had died while she was out of town on a business trip – but this certainly took the cake!

The face regarding her coolly on the Zoom call did not look amused at her reaction and she couldn’t blame the attorney.

“Your grandmother left specific instructions…”

“When was the will updated?” she said bluntly, trying to absorb what he’d just said aloud. Her life was being destroyed in the blink of an eye, torn apart piece by piece.

“Three years ago.”

“Seriously?” Sophie sat back in her hotel chair, stunned. “Can you read that to me one more time. Maybe it’s jet lag, stress, or lack of caffeine…”

“I, Ruby Ann Perdita Yonder, leave all my property, possessions, titles, and holdings to my grand-daughter, Sophia Lane, in the event of my death. All monies will transfer immediately upon residency…”

“I must live there, too. Like full time?”

“As I was saying,” the attorney continued. “All monies will transfer immediately upon residency and proof of marriage within a week of my passing. Failure to do…”

“HOLD UP!” Sophie shouted, closing her eyes as her head spun. “That’s where I’m choking, and my brain shuts down. I mean, it’s like mental Zzz’s - and everything goes haywire. Dowhuh…?”

It actually helped to close her eyes because she wasn’t sure she could cry anymore once she heard the news and got the phone call from the neighbor about her Grammy’s passing.

Her apartment in Dallas was in a lovely high-rise building and Sophie worked as the Human Resource Manager for a large auto group that consisted of eight different brands.

She was treated very well, taken care of nicely, respected, and her schedule gave her every weekend in Yonder… except the one week out of the year when she flew to Washington D.C. for development classes and to meet other vendors at an automotive conference.

She was currently sitting in the hotel now and had texted the owner of the company what had happened and why she was missing the conference. He was sympathetic… and then asked her to be sure payroll was processed and submitted on time.

Sure.

Sophie put her head down in her hands and tried to hold back the panic gripping her chest and running down her spine.

“Did you just say that I needed to live there – and show proof of marriagewithin a week? It’s Monday.”

“Yes.”

“By this Friday…” she repeated.

“Yes.”

“You realize I am in Washington D.C. until Wednesday night, right?”

“I don’t expect you to have your marriage license on your person, but if you can swing by the office on Thursday morning, we can begin the process of moving everything…”

“I’m not married.”

“I see,” he said quietly, and remained that way for far too long.

Sophie looked at the cold expressionless face and realized that this guy on the other end of the call didn’t give a hoot whether or not she could abide by her grandmother’s wishes…

He was doing a job.

‘Make sure payroll is submitted’…her boss said.

Did no one understand, care, or feel anything?

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