Enchanted - The Dressing Room Affair [Time Travel Historical Romance Novella] (Entwined Together Forever) (2 page)

“Are you sure, Isabelle? Are you truly ready, my love?” James wanted to know, staring devotedly into her eyes.

“Truly,” she promised. “Yes, James. My heart is yours now. I want to be with you… forever.”

With those words, James stripped away the remaining garments separating their bodies. Awash in want, their mutual desires gave way to action. They cherished one another like that for hours.

As insatiable, exhaustive passion saw the dawn, Isabelle began to fall asleep. She was safely cradled within his arms. She felt him feather her forehead with kisses and whisper endearingly in her ear. She listened as James spoke the words that cemented and sealed their love.

“Now, we are entwined together forever.”

The memory of that night was forever emblazoned into Isabelle’s mind. That night was just the beginning of many midnight visits from James.

Isabelle had been worried that Katie would not understand
the romance with him. No one could ever replace her father. They agreed to keep his visits a secret. Many times, James would tease her about their secret rendezvous, which fondly became known as the ‘Dressing Room Love Affair’.

And it was the happiest time in her life.

Isabelle smiled in her slumbering state… and slept on.

~*~

Within several days, Katie noticed that her mother
was withdrawing, rarely leaving her bedroom and preferring to read in solitude. Isabelle was constantly immersed in one book in particular. Katie had never read it and Isabelle hid it away whenever she came in with food or something to talk about. To her relief, Katie could see snippets of her old personality in small bouts of smiling and laughter, but she wasn’t the same.

She would have to resign herself to the
fact that she would never be the same.

Katie took over the store. Every evening, after closing time, she would sit by her mother’s bedside. She told her about the customers who came in and the costumes they bought, just like she used to. They laughed
together, just like old times. It was their usual dinner conversations moved into the bedroom. But it felt different in a way that had nothing to do with location. There was a dark shroud over them now, some ominous beast that loomed on the horizon, waiting for the sand to trickle out of their hourglass.

As time went by, Isabelle’s sight began to waver. Reading became more difficult for her, so she asked Katie to read to her. Katie finally got to hold the book that seemed to be her mother’s most prized possession. The book w
as called
The Timeless Love Affair
and was written in 1856 by a man named Reid Walsh.

T
he Timeless Love Affair
was about a handsome Lord from the 19th Century named James Walsh, who presided over an estate called Bella Rose Manor. The estate was named in honor of his great, great grandmother.  The manor was built as part of a foundation for women who were sick and in need of treatment and special care. His family had carried on his great, great grandmother’s foundation throughout the generations in memory of her humanitarianism and generosity.

From what Katie could figure from the acknowledgements and introduction, it seemed that James and Reid were brothers. Reid was fifteen years younger. Apparently, James had asked his brother if he would turn his
day journals into a book so that if anything ever happened to him, he would leave a legacy for generations to come. Reid Walsh was an avid writer. He was happy to oblige and help his brother record his life’s memoirs.

Every night, Katie read a couple pages to her mother about the handsome Irish Lord. He had the ability to travel through time
,
obviously
rendering the book fictitious. The story detailed his romance with a woman by the name of Isabelle. She lived over 150 years in the future. 

“That’s your name, mum,” Katie teased Isabelle when she found out. With that interpretation in mind, she thought she understood why her mother might be so fond of the book. “Maybe he’ll come to find you and whisk you away to a faraway land back in time.”  

Katie could not help but notice her mother’s stricken expression.

“I’m just joking,” Katie assured h
er with a broad grin. The concern in her mother’s face dissolved. They laughed together. Even though Isabelle struggled to stay awake when Katie read to her, she always begged her to read more. It brought her peace.

Katie did not understand why thi
s book was so invaluable or why the sappy romance brought her mother so much joy, but she loved spending this special time with her each night. It was a wonderful excuse to be close to her.

One night, Katie awoke to the sound of talking and laughter coming from the costume shop. She crawled out of bed and tiptoed downstairs, followin
g the sounds. Katie opened the door into the shop which creaked and groaned in protest. She was reminded that she needed to oil the hinges this week.

Katie
stifled a gasp when she heard rushed scuffling noises coming from the back… where that old mysterious dressing room was.

She held her breath and inched her way into the shop.

“Is someone here?” she called out. “Hello?” Slivers of moonlight shone in through the tiny glass windows, spilling silver over the floorboards. Katie stopped short when she saw Isabelle’s unmistakable silhouette gliding gracefully towards her. She blinked in surprise, her brows knitting together incredulously. “Mum?” Katie whispered as the woman came nearer. “It’s so late. What are you doing up?”

Isabelle smiled. For a moment, Katie worried that she had forgotten to do something
today. Her mind raced back over her closing routine, finding nothing amiss. The last thing she wanted was to disappoint her mother and leave her wondering if she could handle the work on her own. But Isabelle pointed out no such inconsistency.

“Is someone with you?” Katie pressed, hardly satisfied with the silence.
She started to wonder if her mum had been sleepwalking. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

Isabelle continued to smile as she breezed past her and went back upstairs to bed.

The next morning, at breakfast, Katie prodded at her cereal until it was mush in the milk. Her eyes were dark from want of the sleep that eluded her, chased away by questions and odd memories of hearing voices coming from the costume shop for years.

I was just reading to myself
, Isabelle used to say.

But that couldn’t be the case now. Her eyesight was failing her. Reading printed material was an arduous chore that left her weary and frustrated. Last night, she heard laughter and the easy flow of conversation.

So… If it wasn’t for reading… why was she down there? And who was she talking to?

Katie gathered her courage when h
er mother sat down with a mug of coffee between her hands. “Mum, what happened last night? I want to know.”

Isabelle picked up a spoon and stirred in cream and sugar. “What are you talking about, sweetie?”

Katie pursed her lips and drummed her fingers on the tabletop, agitated that the question wasn’t as clear as she thought. “Why were you down in the shop?”

Isabelle frowned softly, assuming a blindsided look. “
What? I was in my bed all night, Kate.” She smiled sweetly. “You must have been dreaming.” She brought the mug to her lips, blew ribbons of steam from the surface, and took a sip.

Katie had no other alternative than
to assume this was part of her mother’s terminal illness. She knew she was wide awake for the incident. She knew what she saw. That afternoon, she called the doctor to ask him what to do.

There was a long pause from the other end of the line. “The tumor must be progressing fast
er than we thought,” he relented. Katie struggled to keep her voice even, constantly swallowing a massive lump in her throat. She suddenly wished she hadn’t called. “Bring her in next week. I’d like to examine her and run some follow up tests.”

During dinner preparations, Katie explained the doctor’s directions to her mother.

“Alright,” Isabelle agreed blithely. “The doctor is a smart man. Whatever you think is best, dear.” Then Isabelle just smiled and returned to her room. Katie slid into a seat at the kitchen table, feeling too heavy for her legs to bear. She buried her face into her arms and cried as quietly as she could.

~*~

~*~

It happened the day after Katie’s 18th birthday.

Isabelle
and Chloe had taken her out to dinner to celebrate. They all had a fabulous time. Her mother was in remarkably good spirits, and was looking radiant. In fact it was the best Chloe and Katie had seen her since her diagnosis nearly twelve months earlier. Oddly though, Isabelle kept grabbing hold of Katie’s hand throughout dinner and telling her how much she loved her… and how she just wanted her to be happy.

Katie’s worry for her mother was growing. She could feel it itching under her skin and eating through her hope. Even though Isabelle looked so
much happier and healthier lately, her strange habits had persisted.

E
very night for the last week, she heard Isabelle’s voice downstairs, talking and laughing at the back of the shop with shadows and phantoms. It always came from the same spot, near that mysterious locked dressing room. Katie feared her mother was either hiding something from her or getting worse, neither of which were good possibilities.

Katie dreaded bringing it up. More
over, she was reluctant to take her mother back to the doctor for fear of what he might say. She didn’t want the window of life to keep shrinking. Katie was not ready to say goodbye to her mother even though she knew the time to do so would come sooner than later.

The morning after her birthday dinner, Katie woke up with a heavy heart. Sadness hung around her like her own personal rain cloud, dumping bitter showers of woe. Her mo
ther had more tests scheduled today. At their conclusion, the doctor would have a more accurate assessment of how much time Isabelle had left to live. 

Katie wiped her eyes, refusing to cry again. After so many tears, she was surprised there were any left in her. The last twelve mo
nths had flown by, slipping through her fingers like a melting snowball. For the last week she had been praying every day for the doctors to discover that the tumor was miraculously shrinking. But Katie knew in her heart that at some stage she had to face the reality.

Her mother was sick
, irreversibly so. Her mother was dying. And they had six months at best to be a family.

In spite of the pain, Katie knew she had to remain positive for her mother’s sake. Isabelle, for some reason, refused to believe that there was anything wrong with her at all. She didn’t a
ct depressed or nervous like a person clinging to their last days of life.

Katie got out of bed, took a long hot shower, and went to get her mother ready for her appointment. When she entered her bedroom, it was empty.

That’s weird,
Katie thought.
Mum always waits for me to bring her a cup of tea before she gets up.
Katie checked the bathroom for Isabelle, but she wasn’t there either. She wasn’t in the den or the kitchen. Panic was worming its way into her veins. She raced downstairs into the shop.

“Mum?” Katie called out as he
r eyes darted frantically over the store. Nothing but the empty, eerie echo of her voice came back to her.

Something was wrong. Isabelle would never leave without te
lling Katie where she was going! In her fragile condition, there was no telling what could happen outside of the safety of their home. Katie rushed through the store and threw the door open, stepping out onto the street under the overcast sky. She looked left and right, but saw no sign of Isabelle.

Katie grew nauseous with worry. Had she collapsed somewhere? Was she hurt? Did she need her help?  Where could she be? Katie wheeled around and ran back into the store. She careened around the racks until she reached th
e back door. She forced it open. She dashed across the porch and down the stoop towards the river.

“Mum!
?” she cried. Her eyes searched the expanse, met with nothing but the windswept grass and the rolling hills beyond the river. Katie ran back into the shop, snatched up the phone, and punched in Chloe’s number.

“Hello?”

“Chloe! It’s me. Mum’s missing. I’m freaking out!” Chloe, who lived just up the street, came immediately to help search for Isabelle.  They looked everywhere – outside, upstairs, under the bed… the garden, the grocers, the costume shop, and even her favorite café.

“What if she went to the hospital?” Chloe suggested, trying to calm Katie down.

A light went on in Katie’s head. Maybe her mother had gone by herself to spare her any bad news. Maybe she did know how sick she was and was only pretending to not acknowledge it. They called the doctor to see if she went in alone, both girls huddling together with their ears over the speaker.

“No, Katie,” the receptionist said. “I’m sorry, but Isabelle isn’t here yet. We have no rec
ord of her checking in either.”

Dismayed,
“Thank you…” Katie sighed, shaking. “Something’s really wrong,” Katie realized as she hung up the phone. She swallowed hard. “I have to call the police and report a missing person.”

“We should try the other hospitals too,” Chloe suggested. “She could be hurt. Maybe someone found her and brought her in as a Jane Doe. Here.
” She gingerly took the phone. “Let me call. You go back upstairs and see if you can find any clues as to where she may have gone.  She must have left you a note somewhere, Katie. Your mum never goes anywhere without telling you first.”

Katie nodded, forcing a strangled smile.

Chloe started with the hospitals while Katie ran upstairs to try and figure out where her mother had gone.  She hurried into Isabelle’s room, scanning the bureau and the vanity and rummaging through her desk. Then she darted into her own room. Just as she was about to run back downstairs, she noticed a rose and a piece of paper sticking out of her new jewelry box - the present her mother had given to her the previous evening for her 18
th
birthday.

Katie remembered when she gave it to her at th
e restaurant. It was beautifully wrapped with purple tissue paper and a sparkling gold and green ribbon. There was a little card perched on top with the picture of a rose and a big pink heart.

Katie and her mother loved
roses. They used to buy them for each other. Sometimes they would hide them around the store for the other to find (beside the register or in the cash drawer or behind a spare box) when times were easier and money wasn’t as tight.

These days, with the me
dical bills, roses were harder to afford.

Last night,
Katie had read the card as slowly and carefully as she could.

To my darling daughter Katie,
Happy 18
th
birthday
.

Thank you for always being the sunshine in my day and the smile and laughter in my life. I will love you for eternity and beyond. Be happy, my child. I lov
e you forever, my beautiful daughter. Your father would be so proud of you. I know I am.

With love always,

Your mother Isabelle.

After reading her heartfelt card, Katie had
opened the present. It was the most exquisite jewelry box she had ever seen. It was crafted in dark mahogany. Tiny sparkling jade, sapphire, diamond and ruby jewels were embedded into the lid. Engraved with swirling calligraphy in the middle of the jewelry box’s lid were the words ‘entwined together forever’.

Thinking back now, in hindsight
, the message in the card and on the top of her jewelry box seemed tied together. They felt final, almost like a farewell message. 

Did she plan to go somewhere without telling me?
Katie was starting to wonder.  Katie’s mind began to reel, trying to scrounge up some clue to Isabelle’s whereabouts. Had she mentioned anything else last night?

Katie hurried to the jewelry box and snatched up the new note. It was definitely her mother’s handwriting. She hurriedly unfolded the note with tremblin
g fingers and started to read.

My Katie,

Last night on your 18
th
birthday, you became a woman. To celebrate the most amazing eighteen years of my life spent with you as your mother, I gave you this special jewelry box.

I’m sorry, but the
time has come for me to leave now. Don’t worry about me. Where I am going, there is only happiness, healing, and peace. Please don’t try and find me. Where I go, you cannot follow. Just know in your heart that I love you and that all I have is yours to cherish. 

Be happy, Katie. Find a loving partner and give your love full
y. Love is the key to eternal happiness.

Remem
ber me always in your heart. You will forever be in mine. Strive to live your life fully. Your father and I always believed in living with no regrets. No do-overs. Say goodbye to Chloe for me. Tell her I’ve always loved her as if she was my own daughter too. I wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness.

I love you forever, Katie.

Your Mother,

Isabelle

Katie, shocked, sank down onto her bed. “Chloe,” she called out hoarsely. Louder, “Chloe come quick!” 

Chloe rounded the corner and burst through the door
with a look of alarm. “What’s wrong? What’s happened? Did you find something?”

Katie’s face was pale
with confusion and distress. She handed Chloe Isabelle’s note. “I just found this in my jewelry box,” Katie whispered, shaking.

Chloe took the note from Katie and s
tarted reading it slowly out loud. She blinked, looking stupefied, her spaces between the words growing longer with each line. “I don’t understand, where has she gone?” Chloe pressed breathlessly.

“I don’t know”, Katie replied hopelessly, shrugging her shoulders. She suddenly felt the weight of t
he last twelve months crash into her. She was so tired. She took the cryptic note back and scanned the dreaded words again. She couldn’t accept them. Her mother couldn’t be gone. This was preposterous! It sounded utterly delusional.

Where had she gone? Somewhere to die alone?
The idea made her nauseous. She couldn’t have vanished into thin air.

“She’s
really sick,” Katie declared. “We need to find her.”

When the police arrived, they interviewed Katie and Chloe while they examined the contents of the letter.

“Miss Mackenzie?” Katie turned around to see a suited man striding towards her. There was purpose and authority in his steps. “I’m Inspector Patrick O’Shannessy.”

The Inspector sat Katie down and began to grill her with questions. Katie told the Inspector everything that had happened over the last twelve months, including hearing her mother talking in
the middle of the night and voices coming from the store… and her mother’s terminal illness.

Inspector O’Shannessy combed the store for fingerprints. From what Katie could see, nothing was missing.
No sign of foul play was found or suspected. There was no trace, besides the letter, as to where her mother had gone. It seemed like she just… vanished.

~*~