Secrets of Time Read online

  SECRETS OF TIME

  Time Travel Romance Series, Book 4

  Written by Zoe Matthews

  and

  Jade Jenson

  Copyright © 2017

  All rights reserved

  No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places, and events are the product of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

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  Chapter 1

  Early October, 2015

  On a sunny fall morning, Megan Conway sat at a long table in her herb shop, wishing it wasn’t the start of a very busy day. She glanced out of the front window longingly, wanting to head to the nearby Rocky Mountains and spend her day hiking. Fall was her favorite time of the year. She loved the smell of the autumn leaves as they changed into the colors of red, yellow, and orange. She could almost hear the dried leaves crunching under her feet as she walked along one of her favorite hiking trails.

  She glanced at her hiking buddy, Apollo. Apollo was a greyhound dog whom Megan had purchased through a rescue program about six months ago. As if sensing Megan was thinking about him, the dog stood and walked to her side. Placing his head in her lap, he silently asked for attention. She reached down and patted his colorful head. He was considered a bridle color with a mixture of black, brown, and white. She absolutely loved this dog and was glad she had found him. He had been a racing dog who had lost too many races, so his owner retired him. Megan knew that many times when this breed of dog stopped winning races, they would be put down, but luckily Apollo’s owner had made arrangements for him to be placed in a good home through a greyhound rescue company.

  For a racing dog, Apollo wasn’t very active. He was perfectly happy sleeping on his large comfortable bed in the corner of the office. He rarely showed his face to customers. Although he was content to lounge the day away, when he was given the opportunity to walk and run, he could do so for a long time. Megan spent many hours with him on walks and hikes, making sure he got the exercise he needed.

  Apollo settled himself next to Megan as she continued to measure small amounts of herbs to be put in packets for different types of teas that she and her mother sold in their shop. The Greenhouse Shoppe was a dream come true for her mother, and Megan wanted to do everything to help the shop be successful. They had been in business for almost five years now and their clientele grew each year. One of their most popular products were the tea packets Megan was compiling. They were a combination of herbs designed to give a person different health benefits. The particular one she was working on helped alleviate migraines.

  She glanced at the clock, seeing that she only had thirty minutes before the shop opened at ten o’clock. She still had to arrange some new products that had arrived late the evening before on the shelves, but she wasn’t sure if she would have time before the shop opened. Usually, her mother was there to help, but she had a dentist appointment that morning and wasn’t planning on arriving until later that morning.

  Megan loved her job working in the shop and she was grateful that her mother was able to pay her enough so that she could have a good salary to support herself. She had lived with her mother in the condo she had grown up in until six months ago when she was able to rent a small studio apartment in downtown Denver near where her best friend, Abby, lived.

  She scooped the herbs she measured into a small bag and sealed it. Setting it aside with the other packets, she started the process of measuring again. Looking around the small shop, she smiled to herself. Her mother had allowed Megan to decorate it to suit her tastes. She had tried to keep the decorations fairly natural looking and had gone to different antique shops looking for unique pieces. She had discovered a love for antiques and enjoyed browsing the shops for new inexpensive pieces they could display in the shop.

  They already had several tin signs from a pharmacy that was no longer in business, but had been located in the heart of Denver nearly 75 years ago, which she had arranged in old-fashioned wooden frames. Other frames held arrangements of different types of dried herbs under the glass. Her favorite item she had found was an old scale, which didn't work well anymore due to its age, but she loved the character of it.

  Megan’s mother, Barbara Conway, had become pregnant with her when she was 17 years old. Megan had never known her grandparents or her father. Barbara’s parents hadn’t been supportive that she wanted to keep her baby, so they had refused to help her in any way. Barbara was originally from Austin, Texas, but had moved to Denver a few months before Megan was born to start a new life for herself and Megan.

  Barbara spent the first few years of Megan’s life working in various restaurants around Denver. But her real love was herbal remedies and homeopathic medicine. She spent her free time learning all she could about them. After a few years of living in Denver, Barbara had been able to get a job at a local herb shop which also had a small apartment located above the store. This was where Megan and Barbara had lived and was included in Barbara’s salary. Soon after, Barbara was able to earn a certificate at a local school in homeopathic medicine.

  The woman who owned the shop didn’t have any problem having Megan there when she wasn’t in school. Megan remembered this new job being a turning point in her mother's life. Barbara had begun smiling and laughing more and started to take Megan to the mountains whenever they had some free time. Megan reflected that was probably why she enjoyed the mountains so much. She saw it as the beginning of the good life they had now. She would always be grateful to the woman who had given her mother the job and a second chance.

  Barbara worked very hard and after a few years had been promoted to a management position. Eventually, Barbara basically ran the shop by herself. Throughout Megan’s years of growing up, her mother taught her everything she knew about herbs and healing. Soon after Megan graduated from high school, the owner of the shop started to have some serious health problems and decided to sell it. The woman offered to sell it to Barbara, but her mother decided she wanted to live in another part of Denver where there were more businesses available. She decided to open her own shop.

  They were able to find the building they were in now with inexpensive rent, and the rest was history. Both Megan and her mother worked very long hours and now the results were finally starting to show. Megan was also certified in homeopathic medicine, having earned her own certificate soon after she graduated from high school. The shop had developed a good reputation of a mother/daughter team.

  Finishing the last tea packet, Megan quickly cleaned up the small amounts of dried herbs that had scattered across the counter. As she wiped down the last corner of the table, her phone vibrated, ind
icating she had just received a text. It was from her mother.

  Will be here longer than planned. I have a filling that needs to be replaced.

  Megan smiled at the small teethy frowny face her mother had included with her text. No worries, Megan responded. All is well here at the shop.

  As she set her phone down, a pounding sounded at the back door of the shop, and she hurried to open it, thinking it was one of the delivery trucks that came once a week with supplies. Her heart fell when she saw it was the building’s owner, Mr. George Manning. The last thing she wanted to do was let him in. He was an older man, probably in his late 50s. His hair was almost white and always looked like he needed a cut. Megan wondered if he ever combed it.

  “Hello, Mr. Manning,” Megan greeted him politely as she held the door partially open, doing her best to let the older man know she didn’t want him to enter.

  Mr. Manning grunted his hello and pushed Megan aside as he entered the building, ignoring her hint. He was shorter than the average man, even shorter than Megan’s five feet six inches. He had gained quite a bit of weight over the last few years, and he always seemed to be out of breath when he moved. Apollo came to Megan’s side with a slight growl and she touched his head to quiet him. Mr. Manning hated dogs and had once threatened to call animal control if Megan didn’t keep Apollo away from him. She found it interesting that Apollo was friendly to everyone he met; everyone except Mr. Manning. For some reason, he didn’t like the man. Megan couldn't say she blamed the dog.

  “Can I help you?” Megan asked politely as she glanced at the clock, keeping her hand on Apollo’s head. She only had a few minutes before she opened the shop and hoped she could get rid of Mr. Manning as soon as possible. She was glad when he ignored the dog after glaring at him for a second.

  Experience had taught her that she wouldn’t be able to get rid of him easily. He owned the entire building where The Greenhouse Shoppe and other small businesses were located. Even though he rented out the entire building, he acted like each business was his own. Megan couldn’t count how many times he had come into the shop giving unwanted advice about the decor, what they sold, and how much they sold things for. He seemed to think his advice was wanted and would act hurt or sometimes even angry when his comments and suggestions were ignored.

  Megan knew her mother put up with Mr. Manning only because the rent was so reasonable, but she wished there was a way they could keep him from entering their shop whenever he felt like it.

  “Where’s your mother?” Mr. Manning growled as he glanced at the pile of finished tea packets Megan’s had just made.

  “She’s not here at the moment,” Megan informed him.

  “Why isn’t she here? She’s always here to open the shop.”

  The last thing Megan wanted to do was tell him her mother was at the dentist. “She’s running errands and will be here before lunch.”

  Mr. Manning grunted again. “Well, I don’t have time to wait around.” He pulled a battered envelope out of his back pocket. “I trust that this will get to her in a timely manner? It contains important changes about this building.”

  Megan frowned at him. Did he really think she would throw the envelope away or hide it from her mother? She hated the way he treated her, as if she was a young child with no thoughts of her own.

  “Of course.” She took the envelope and placed it on the table.

  Mr. Manning didn’t look convinced and continued to frown at her. Megan heard another knock, this time on the front door. She knew it was probably Mrs. Peterson, one of their regular customers who always came the minute they opened.

  “I need to go open the front door,” Megan said, glad that she had an excuse to get Mr. Manning to leave. “Was there anything else?”

  “Tell your mother that I’ll be by later this afternoon to talk to her.”

  The older man turned and left the shop without another word, and Megan sighed with relief. She absolutely hated it when he came around. She always got bad vibes from him.

  Megan locked the back door after Mr. Manning left and quickly ran to open the front door to let in Mrs. Peterson and another customer.

  “You're late,” Mrs. Peterson said without greeting Megan.

  “I’m very sorry,” Megan told her with a smile. “Are you here to purchase your usual supply of tea packets?”

  “I would like to look around first,” the woman replied.

  After greeting the other customer, who also wanted to look around, Megan quickly placed the newly packaged teas on the shelves in their rightful places. For the next hour, Megan was busy helping customers make their purchases. Being certified in homeopathy, she had quite a bit of knowledge about what various herbs can do to help different health issues, but she was also very careful not to diagnose anyone or lead customers to believe that the herbs would cure anything.

  Mrs. Peterson had severe arthritis in her hands. She swore that a mixture of herbs Barbara had created and that could be made into a tea kept her from becoming an “old crippled woman.” She came faithfully once a week, walking slowly from her nearby one-bedroom apartment, to purchase what she needed. Mrs. Peterson was an abrupt woman, stating exactly how she saw things, but Megan had learned to love the older woman and was glad that the tea helped her have a normal life.

  Megan was kept busy over the next hour with customers. She hoped her mother would arrive soon. It was definitely better when there were two people working in the shop, one to help the customers with suggestions and one to stock shelves and ring up purchases. All the while, Megan was wondering what was in the envelope Mr. Manning had dropped off. She hoped it wasn’t anything to be concerned about. Mr. Manning gave envelopes to her mother quite regularly. Her mother never shared with Megan what information was in them. The one time when Megan asked, her mother waved her hand as if the letters didn’t matter.

  “You know how he is. Everything is an important letter. They’re nothing to be concerned about.”

  Once the shop was empty again, Megan walked to the back room and picked up the envelope where she had left it. She instantly noticed that it wasn’t sealed. She looked around as if half-expecting her mother to show up out of nowhere. Did she dare open it and see what was inside? Quickly, before she could talk herself out of snooping, she opened the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper. She started to read its contents and her heart dropped at the words.

  Mr. Manning reminded her mother that they had signed a five-year contract and that the time was up to renew. Given that the economy wasn’t what it used to be, and with inflation, he felt he needed to up the rent. Megan gasped in disbelief at the new amount. It was almost twice as much as what they were paying. They had 30 days to either sign another contract or find a new building.

  Megan sat down on the nearest chair. How could he think it was fair to almost double their rent? She was sure he was aware that they wouldn’t be able to afford the increased amount. What were they going to do? She quickly slid the letter back into the envelope and placed it on a small table her mother used as a desk. She picked up her tablet and settled herself behind the counter near the cash register. Glad that the shop was empty for the moment, she decided to start a search for a new building to rent. Over the next ten minutes, Megan quickly realized that they weren’t going to be able to find a new place quickly within their price range and that fulfilled their qualifications of location and zoning laws.

  Sighing, she pulled out her cell phone from her pocket and dialed the number to a realtor whose advertisement she had seen on one of the websites she looked at. No one answered, so she left a message for the woman to call her back. Megan hoped she would be able to find something that she could suggest to her mother that would be an alternative to staying in their current building. She knew the letter was going to be a shock.

  Chapter 2

  It was mid-afternoon before her mother appeared. After the dentist appointment, her mother had called and asked Megan if she could take some time to run a few e
rrands. Her mouth was half numb from the dental procedure, and she felt she could use the time to get some other things done until her mouth was back to normal. Megan agreed, feeling relieved that her mother wasn’t going to find out about the letter for a few more hours.

  When her mother did arrive, Megan was busy with customers and so she couldn’t warn her about the letter. She knew her mother had found it when she appeared at her side, a frustrated look on her face.

  “Let me take over. We had a delivery from the Rocky Mountain Herb Company. Why don’t you get those boxes emptied?” her mother suggested.

  Megan smiled at her in agreement and went to work on emptying boxes. The rest of the day flew by and soon six o'clock arrived. Her mother changed the sign from open to closed and locked the door. Megan suddenly realized that Mr. Manning hadn’t put in an appearance like he had threatened, and she was glad he hadn’t followed through with his plan to talk to her mother.

  Quickly pouring some chamomile tea into two mugs, she gave one to her mother. This was a ritual they did together almost every day after closing. It was a time to relax together and talk about their day before parting for the evening. Sometimes they talked about changes they could make in the shop. Other times, they threw around new ideas or talked about their experiences with the customers. Megan knew that tonight they would be talking about Mr. Manning’s letter.