by Zoe Matthews
Changed by Time
Time Travel Romance Series, Book 5
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
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Chapter 1
Spring, 2016
On a warm spring day, Barbara Conway and her daughter, Megan, were spending the afternoon at a bridal shop, making the last decisions needed for Megan’s upcoming wedding which was only two weeks away. Barbara looked at Megan who was practically glowing with happiness. Barbara’s heart warmed at the sight. For her entire adult life, the one goal that had driven her to succeed was seeing this kind of happiness in her daughter, happiness that she’d never had.
Megan had met her fiancé, Keegan Callaghan, in a very unusual way. She had gone hiking on one of her favorite trails in the Rocky Mountains near Denver, Colorado and inadvertently triggered a portal that transported her back through time, 1902 to be precise. She’d arrived on a cattle ranch that Keegan’s family owned. Over the next few days, she and Keegan had gotten to know each other, along with his family. When Megan had decided she’d better return to her time in the future, Keegan followed her through the portal at the last minute. To make a long story short, they’d fallen in love with each other, and Keegan had fallen in love with Megan’s time. They became engaged and the rest was history.
“What do you think about daisies?” Megan asked, walking up to a particularly simple flower arrangement that brought a young lighthearted feeling into the room.
“Daisies would be wonderful for the table arrangements,” Barbara commented after a moment. “They are inexpensive, which is a plus, and are very inviting. However, if we are talking about your wedding bouquet, I would suggest gardenias. They are white and exquisite, and they represent purity and joy.”
“Ooh, that sounds perfect,” Megan responded with a grin.
Barbara led her over to a table where an extravagant bouquet was arranged. The bouquet held several gardenias, along with baby’s breath and a few small white roses.
Megan seemed speechless for a moment. “Mom, they are gorgeous. But I don’t need anything that fancy. The wedding isn’t going to be anything that big.”
“Oh, we can tone it down several notches if you prefer,” a saleswoman said from behind them. Her nametag said her name was Rachel. “When is your wedding?”
“In three weeks. I know it’s coming up soon, but we decided we didn’t want a long engagement,” Megan explained. “I love the look of this, but I really don’t need any more than a dozen flowers in the bouquet.”
“I think that will be perfect,” the saleswoman responded with an easy smile.
She led Megan over to a different bouquet that was a mix of gardenias and lilies of the valley. There was a lot of dimension in the bouquet, which kept it interesting even if it was smaller. “It’s smart to choose white flowers. That way, there is nothing to distract people from your face as you walk down the aisle.”
Barbara had to agree with her, even if she had always had a strong love for pink peonies herself. “I think it’s perfect,” Barbara said, offering her opinion.
“I love them,” Megan agreed with a grin. “This bouquet is beautiful.”
They set about finalizing the order, and then they headed to lunch at their favorite noodle restaurant. Barbara was grateful for the time she got to spend with Megan and she cherished every moment, for she knew that once Megan married, her focus would be Keegan, and rightly so. While Barbara was elated to see Megan happy with the man of her dreams, she also recognized that this marriage meant she would see a lot less of her daughter outside of running their shop together.
“So, we have ordered the flowers and the cake and chosen what food we would like to serve. The only thing left to figure out is the decorations,” Megan said after they had ordered their food and settled into a table out on the patio. The restaurant was small and casual, but had fantastic food.
“Well, that should be easy considering you’re getting married in Keegan’s backyard,” Barbara pointed out. “His gardens are beautiful.”
Keegan had inherited a beautiful Victorian home while he still lived in his time of 1902. Miraculously, the home was still around in Barbara’s time of 2016, though it had been empty for several years. Once Keegan had realized that he somehow still owned it, he’d offered to let Barbara and Megan use it for their new shop, Healing Herbs and Gifts. The house had beautiful gardens that surrounded it, which had needed a little bit of care. Luckily, Keegan had taken care of that same garden when he’d been a teenager in his time. He had known exactly how to get the garden manicured to perfection in time for their early summer wedding.
“I know, but I would still like to do something special with it. Maybe we can tie wires from each of the trees and hang lanterns above everyone,” Megan brainstormed.
“That would be beautiful. We could also string Christmas lights or hang white tulle to create some sense of a ceiling,” Barbara pitched in.
“Oh, the tulle would be beautiful. I can go to the fabric shop near the antique store at the end of the week and price some out.”
There was a break in the conversation as a waiter brought out the food they had paid for at the counter. Barbara had ordered her usual; spinach ravioli in a white sauce, while Megan had ordered chicken fettuccine.
“Oh, speaking of the antique shop, there is something I forgot to tell you. Last night, a customer came in and accidentally knocked over that blue glass vase on the bookshelf. We are going to need to find a replacement for it,” Megan said after she took a few bites of her meal.
Barbara nodded as she dug into her ravioli. “Can you take a look at the antique shop when you stop to get the fabric? Maybe you can find something to replace it.”
“Sure, sounds fun to me,” Megan said enthusiastically.
Barbara had always been grateful that Megan liked to shop for antiques. Barbara loved the look of antiques in her shop, but often felt overwhelmed by all of the choices when she went shopping for them. She was never sure what was considered a good deal or what items were even authentic.
Their shop had gotten off to a fantastic start at their new location. They had moved it into the main floor of Keegan’s house the end of fall the year before. The shop they had moved from hadn’t been good for them, in regard to location and emotional well-being. The man they had rented the storefront from was controlling and a bit frightening at times. Barbara was very grateful that they had escaped that place.
Healing Herbs and Gifts was a dream come true for Barbara. She had been working with herbs since Megan was born. At first she worked for a woman who owned her own shop. That was where Barbara had become certified as an herbalist. When Megan was a teenager, the woman started to have hea
lth problems and needed to sell her business. She’d offered to sell it to Barbara, but Barbara had wanted to start her own shop in a different location. She was able to rent a building in an older part of Denver for a reasonable price and she, along with Megan’s help, ran that shop for five years. Then last fall, George Manning, the building’s owner, had raised the rent to a ridiculous amount. When Barbara told him that she would need to move out of the building since she couldn’t afford to pay the raise in rent, he’d offered her a solution: marry him and she could stay in the building at the same monthly payment.
The last thing Barbara had wanted to do was marry George. For one thing, he was at least twenty years older than her. When she politely declined, George grew very angry. Eventually she discovered that George had done some research about her past, how she had been raped and then became pregnant with Megan. Somehow, he had also found out that Megan knew nothing about the circumstances surrounding her birth, although how he knew that, she had no idea. George had threatened to tell Megan everything unless Barbara married him. At first Barbara felt like she had to. The last thing she wanted was for Megan to know the true story about her father. But fate had stepped in and Keegan had offered to let them use his historical house for their shop. Megan was also very upset that Barbara was considering marriage to George. Barbara knew that if she had married him, her relationship with her daughter would have suffered. In the end, Barbara had refused to marry George, with the hope that he wouldn’t follow through with his threat, and so far he hadn’t, although he had sent her a few notes letting her know he knew where she was.
Over the winter months since they had moved to their new location, they had almost doubled their customer base. Many of their customers were willing to travel to the new location, even though it was almost thirty minutes away from their old building. Megan had worked hard setting up a website so they could sell some of their products online. Their new shop not only had the store where they sold herbs, but also a bookstore and a small café. Many people came by frequently just to sip tea in their cafe and take a break from their hectic lives. It was a definite sanctuary for Barbara, and she was glad that it had the same effect on her customers.
Barbara and Megan continued to eat as they brainstormed ideas about decorations they could use for the wedding. The wedding would be small. They were only inviting about fifty people. Megan wanted to set up a few long tables for the dinner. They would use light pink tablecloths, with flowers to match her wedding bouquet, along with the pink peonies Barbara enjoyed. There was a gazebo at the edge of Keegan’s property that had just been repaired and painted. Light pink lanterns would be the centerpieces, matching the hanging lanterns around the gardens. The garden had many rose bushes and Megan hoped they would be in bloom by the time the wedding ceremony was held there. Barbara smiled at Megan, once again grateful that Megan had such a strong love with the man she had chosen to marry.
****
“Okay, see you tomorrow, Mom. I love you,” Megan called to her.
Barbara had dropped Megan off at her small studio apartment once they finished their errands for the wedding. She knew Megan was going to be spending the rest of her day packing up some of her belongings to be moved over to Kegan’s house. She would be living on the second floor of the Victorian house until they could find their own place.
She waved at Megan and smiled again as she drove her small Ford Focus back to her condo. It had been so nice getting to spend some quality time with Megan. Ever since she had gotten engaged, Barbara hadn’t seen much of her, but Barbara supported that, even if she didn’t like it much.
Megan should be spending plenty of time with the man she was about to marry. Barbara just wished that didn’t mean she would be alone as much as she was.
Maybe it’s time I start finding ways to entertain myself. She thought about that idea as she drove. Should she start making an effort to date? Was she even ready to jump into the dating world? She thought for a moment about Megan and the love she shared with Keegan. It was so pure and honest; Barbara couldn’t help but crave something similar for herself.
She pictured in her head what it would be like to have someone special in her own life. He would be there to hold her when she needed comfort. They could make dinners together or go on dates. Ideally, it would be nice to find someone who enjoyed the same things she did. It would be even nicer if she could find someone who liked to travel. Barbara had traveled quite a bit when she was a child. Her father was the president of a large corporation and they’d had the money to take many extravagant vacations. But they always went to places her mother had wanted to go--mainly to places where other well-to-do people went, which were in Europe. Barbara would have preferred to travel to places like Alaska or tour some of the Polynesian Islands. Maybe once Megan was married, she could leave the running of their shop with her and start to do some traveling. They could also hire a few people to help if needed.
It had been a very long time since she had been on a date, about twenty-three years to be exact. She hadn’t dated since Megan was born, so her last date had been with Megan’s father. There were a few men who had shown interest in her over the years, but it had taken her a long time to be able to put the awful experience of her first and last date behind her.
She pulled up in front of her condo, thankful she was able to park in her favorite spot and started to shake as her heart raced at the memory. She had been seventeen years old, and the best-looking guy in school had asked her to a dance. Jason had actually been the son of friends of her parents. She had been so flattered and excited for the opportunity to go with him, especially since she’d had a crush on him.
What she hadn’t known was that Jason’s friends had found out that she was still a virgin. They’d teased him and dared him to change that on the night of the dance. After the dance, he had told her he was driving her home. She was surprised when he had pulled over to a secluded grove of trees. When he had started kissing her, it had gotten uncomfortable fast. She’d asked him to stop, but he hadn’t.
She forced herself to stop thinking about it. She didn’t want to think about the pain from that night. She didn’t want to think about the way she’d screamed and begged him to stop. She didn’t want to think about how he’d left her on the side of the road to walk home, or the way her parents hadn’t believed that the nice son of their best friends was capable of rape.
She didn’t want to remember the fear she had experienced when she’d realized she was pregnant, or her parents’ plan for her to visit her aunt in New Jersey until the baby was born and given up for adoption.
She only wanted to think about the beautiful baby that had come from it. Her life, pride and joy: her daughter Megan.
She forced herself to do the breathing exercises she had learned long ago and slowly, her breathing returned to normal. Eventually, Barbara got out of her car and walked into her condo. She made an instant decision. No, she didn’t need to date. She wouldn’t ever date. It was too risky. She needed to keep herself safe. Even if she did find a man she might want to go out on a few dates with, she didn’t think she’d ever be able to fully trust him.
Maybe I can find a hobby instead, she told herself as she warmed up some leftovers for dinner. A new hobby was a much better idea than a new man.
Chapter 2
“Your total comes to $16.07,” Barbara said cheerfully late the next day.
“Wonderful. And how often should I use this to help my migraines?” the woman asked.
She had come into the store just a few minutes before Barbara was planning on closing the shop. The woman had been frazzled and stressed, and Barbara had been happy to help her. She now seemed calmer and smiled gratefully at Barbara.
Barbara knew that the customer’s calmer attitude had a lot to do with the general atmosphere of the shop. Megan had worked hard to make it feel as if the world could stop when you walked in. It was a definite refuge for Barbara, who spent most of her days here.
“I would sug
gest drinking a cup of tea every morning, and you can make another cup if you feel a migraine coming on. It should help a lot.” Barbara knew from experience that this tea was the best way to get rid of chronic migraines.
“Thank you so much.” The woman took her receipt and bag from Barbara and headed out the door.
Barbara hummed to herself as she locked the door behind the customer and cleaned up the counter where she measured and packaged the herbs for tea. Once she was done, she glanced over at the empty spot on the shelf where the broken vase had been. She knew Megan was planning on going to the antique store for a replacement later this week, but she would really like to put something else there in the meantime.
She decided to head up the stairs to the attic where she knew they had moved a lot of the items that had been left in the home before Keegan moved in. She knew most of the items had belonged to Victoria Hilton Collins, the original owner of this home.
Victoria had lived in the late 1800s and had given the home to Keegan when she passed away. Victoria and her husband, Collins, were like family to Keegan and his siblings, since they hadn’t had children of their own. Keegan had only been living in the home for a couple of years in his own time when he met Megan after she accidentally fell through the portal to 1902, suddenly appearing on his family’s ranch deep in the Rocky Mountains. The two had fallen for each other quickly, although neither of them had wanted to admit it in the beginning.
