Enchanted - The Dressing Room Affair [Time Travel Historical Romance Novella] (Entwined Together Forever) (6 page)

~*~

That night, Katie had another dream about her mother. It seemed very vivid, almost real. It was similar to her first dream, but clearer, almost as though she was watching a movie played out in her mind.

In the dream, her mum was sitting by herself in the antique chair in the dressing room, just staring at
herself in the mirror. All of the sudden, the jewels on her bracelet started to glow.

“Entwined together forever,” she repeated, over an
d over again. The more she said it, the brighter the bracelet shone. The mirror’s glass started to swirl, a rippling mess of glossy silver, a whirlpool. The more her mother chanted those words, the faster it spun.

Then there was a flash of bright light and there, standing beside her mum, was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He was dre
ssed in early 19th Century clothing. Isabelle looked up at him and smiled.

“James, my darling… I missed you.” This man reached for her hand and kissed her gently. She rose to greet him. She then fell passionately into his arms, raising her lips to kiss him zealously. They met eyes. “Did you bring the jewelry box, my love?” 

The man with the deep green eyes, tousled sandy blonde hair, and ruggedly handsome features gazed back at her with a smile that would melt any women’s heart. “Yes, my beloved.” He removed something from his jacket. “Are you sure you’re ready to leave your daughter forever? You know there is no turning back if you leave the bracelet behind.” 

She looked up at him with sadness in her eyes and spoke softly as she replied. “Yes, James. It’s time for me to leave. I do not want
Katie to remember me as a dying woman. I want her to remember me for the beautiful moments, laughter, and happiness we shared over the last seventeen years. I will say my goodbyes to Katie on her 18th birthday… and leave her with this gift. I will put the bracelet in my nightstand. If our paths are to cross again, she will find a way to use its magic. I am ready to return with you, my love… where my heart belongs eternally entwined with yours forever.”

James embraced her. “Isabelle
, do you understand that you can never return to the future? You will come back sick… and die.”

Isabelle seemed to daydream for a moment and then touched the locket around her neck. It had the same engraving on the outside and the same four jewels in beautiful rose gold as the bracelet, Katie’s jewelry box, the chair, the bookcase and the mirror.

“I know.”

She opened the locket and stared at a photo within
it. It was a picture of Katie. James touched the locket and spoke softly, almost in a whisper as he rubbed it between his fingers. “There is something more you must know. My Mother gave me this locket as a gift to give to the woman who shared my heart. That woman is you, and it has always been you. This necklace has a special magic that will allow you to talk through the mirror to anyone who wears the bracelet and whose heart is entwined with your own. One day, you may very well see Katie again.”

Katie pinched herself as she watched the scene from an omnipotent place where they could not see her. Katie tried to yell out to her mother, but no sound emerged from her mouth. Katie started to cry, aching to embrace her mother in her arms one last time.

“Oh James… Truly?” Isabelle’s eyes were watering. She brought the beautiful engraved locket to her lips and kissed it gently. She looked up at him. “Thank you. Katie and I are entwined together too. She will be forever with me… in my heart.” Suddenly, Isabelle’s head snapped aside, staring at the door as though she heard a noise coming from the other side. She turned to James again. Quickly, “Be gone, my love! Return in two days and I will be ready.” He nodded and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.

Katie watched intently as he stepped away from her mum and started pressing the jewels on his bracelet. He faced the mirror. “Entwined together forever, entwined together forever, entwined together forever,” he chanted. The mirror started to swirl again and, in a flash, he disappeared.

All of a sudden, Katie’s alarm clock started blaring and the vision dissolved. Katie’s eyes snapped open, confused and disorientated, emerging from her shock into the familiar surroundings of her room.

Looks like it was just a dream,
she thought to herself. But deep down, she felt like it was more akin to a vision. Her eyes dropped to the bracelet around her wrist. She must have forgotten to take it off. The jewels seemed to be glowing from within, as though they fostered their own fire at the heart. A strange sensation tingled through her body.

Katie shook her head. “I really have to stop reading that
Timeless Love Affair
before bed.”

Katie jumped out of bed and prepared for the day. Abbey was coming over later. She would have to remember to tell her and Chloe abo
ut her dream and see if they could make any sense of it. Hopefully, some of the answers could be found in the pages of the two books Abbey was bringing with her.

She jumped into the shower, dried off, and dressed. She needed to grab some groceries for her lunch guests before they arrived.  She had a hunch that lunch was going to extend into dinner, so she wanted to make sure she had enough food and wine to last the
m the whole afternoon.

As Katie rushed downstairs to grab her coat and run out the door, something caught her eye. She turned towards the dressing room at the back of the shop and noticed that the door was ajar. Katie blanched and blinked, just to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. She distinctly remembered locking it
last night. She scanned the shop for an intruder.

“How the heck
…?” she mused. She inched towards the door, opened it, and peered inside. She was instantly bombarded with the seductive aroma of cologne. It was strong, as though the wearer had just passed through the room.

Katie switched the light on to try and figure out where the smell was coming from. She gasped when she saw a fresh bright red rose laid across the antique chair. There was a note tie
d with a ribbon underneath it. She searched the room, but the entire store was empty.

Maybe Chloe came in and left it for me as a surprise,
she thought.
That must be it. I’ll have to tell her to change her perfume.

Katie picked up the
rose, letting its pleasant scent waft up into her nose. It reminded her of her mother. She slipped the ribbon off the note and unrolled it. Katie squinted. It was written in some form of calligraphy with real ink, making it difficult to decipher.

“Wait…” she whispered.
Katie dropped the rose. She collapsed into the chair when she realized it was a note… from her mother.

My dearest Katie, how I have missed you.

You have been in my thoughts every waking moment of each and every day. I know you must be wondering what happened to me. I do not want you to worry, so I sent you this note to let you know that I am alive and well.

I imagine
this is very hard for you to understand and it makes little sense, but one day we will see each other again. I promise. For now, rejoice. I am no longer sick and you are in my heart always. Our hearts are entwined together forever, my child.

All my love,

Your mother,

Isabelle.

Tears started streaming down Katie’s face.

“I don’t understand, mum,” she choked out. “If you can write me a letter, where are you? Why can’t I come and see you? Why won’t you come and see me?”

All of a sudden, Katie’s bracelet started to glow. She felt energy surging through her body. Frightened, Katie looked up to see the mirror was swirling in a whirlpool of glossy silver. The glass stilled and smoothed over. Isabelle’s face appeared in the reflection.

Katie screamed and jumped up from the chair. She sprinted out of the dressing room, slammed the door, and
quickly locked it behind her. Her heart was hammering. She seized her car keys and drove straight to Chloe’s. She ran inside where Chloe was just packing up some things, getting ready for their afternoon with Abbey.

Chloe whirled around in alarm.
“Katie? What’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost!”

Katie struggled to catch her breath. “I think I have, Chloe. Seriously.” Tears sprang to her eyes.

Chloe approached her cautiously, coaxing Katie into a nearby chair. She could see she was shaken and something had upset her terribly. “Tell me what happened,” she entreated.

Katie explained what she had found in the dressing room. She told her about the strong masculine scent, the rose, and the note
. She told her about the bracelet glowing and the mirror starting to swirl. Then the tears started streaming down Katie’s face again.

“Mum appeared in the mirror, Chloe. I saw her. I swear, I saw her! It was so real,” Katie blurted out.

“Did she say anything?” Chloe asked, clearly struggling to comprehend what she was hearing.

“I don’t know,” Katie lamented,
wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “I ran out the door and locked it and came straight here.” Only then did she realize how much she was trembling. “Am I going mad, Chloe? Am I crazy?”

“No. I would never ever think that. Something is going on in that room and I think it is time we figured out what.” She laid her hand on Katie’s arm. “Do you want me to call Abbey and cancel lunch?”

“Definitely not!” Katie exclaimed as she jumped up from the couch. “If anyone is going to know what is going on, Abbey will. I hope there’s something in those books that can help us. There has to be some connection between all this. I will never know what happened to my mum until we find out what it is.” She gulped and took a shuddering breath in. “This is lame, I know. But there’s no way I can stay there alone tonight.” She shook her head. “I’m scared out of my mind. I’m a grown woman, but that freaked me out. Can you stay over tonight?”

“Sure, ho
n. Let me just grab some things, we can go get the groceries and I will come back with you to the shop to help with lunch,” Chloe granted as she gave Katie a big hug. “It’ll be okay. We’ll sort this mystery out together.”

By the time the girls got back from the store, Katie was feeling much better. Chloe insisted on going into the shop ahead of her, just in case. When they walked in, everything seemed to be normal. Katie tried not to think about what she had seen in the dressing room. The girls went straight upstairs to prepare lunch.

Katie and Chloe were sitting around the dining table with a glass of wine when all of a sudden they heard a loud bang from downstairs.

“What was that?” Katie exclaimed as she jumped up from her chair.

Chloe, who was a few glasses ahead of her, giggled. “Maybe Abbey walked into the mannequin when she came in the front door!” Katie rolled her eyes. Katie and Chloe started to giggle together as they ran down the stairs to welcome Abbey to their lunch afternoon get together. But when they got downstairs, there was no one there.

“That’s weird,” Katie muttered, coming up on her toes and squinting out the front window. “Either I have some very large rats, or someone was in the store and suddenly left
…”

“Better have a quick look to see if anything was taken,” Chloe suggested
urgently.

“Right.” Katie nodded.

The girls scouted for discrepancies, but they didn’t see anything out of place or missing. Swallowing her discomfort, Katie ventured towards the dressing room to see if any spare boxes had fallen off the stacking shelf. She got a whiff of the same potent cologne she had smelled that morning, but this time it was stronger. Katie stopped in her tracks, rooted in place with her eyes on the dressing room. The door was ajar again. 

“But,” she stammered. “But I locked it. I’m sure I did. I—
” She shook her head. “Chloe! Chloe come quick,” Katie called over her shoulder.

Chloe hurried over to where Katie was gawking. “What’s wrong?”

Katie raised her pointer finger, indicating the door. “I locked this door when I ran out this morning. I’m sure of it. I locked it! But it’s open again!”

Chloe didn’t seem nearly as bothered as Katie hoped she would be. “What’s that smell?” Chloe asked, sniffing the air. She smiled. “It smells yummy!”

“I don’t know. I smelled the same thing when I found the rose and the note.”

“Oh yeah! You never showed me the note. May I see it?” Chloe asked her quickly.

Katie shifted on her feet and mustered her courage. “Sure. I – I dropped it on the floor when I ran. It should still be there.” Katie crept forward, opened the door, and flicked on the light. The floor was bare. “It’s gone,” she gasped. “The rose and the note. They’re gone!”  She rounded on Chloe, wide eyed. “I’m not going mad. I swear, Chloe. I left them there, right there!”

All of a sudden, the front bell chimed. “Yoo
hoo, anybody home?” Abbey sang out. Swallowing their shock and dismay, the girls walked out of the dressing room and went to greet her. “Oh there you are! I wasn’t sure I was at the right place.” She grinned, her books tucked under her arm. Her cheery expression wilted a bit. “What’s the matter? Did I come at a bad time?”

Katie quickly smiled and shook her head. “It’s not that. We’ve just had… We’ve had quite a day. Come upstairs and Chloe and I will tell you all about it.”