Free Enchanted - The Dressing Room Affair [Time Travel Historical Romance Novella] (Entwined Together Forever) by Sierra Hunter Page A

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