“He looks like a Frank,” Georgia said as Friday pulled the pants on first and then the shirt.
I turned Livvy around to face him.
“His name is Theodore Williams, the third,” Livvy said.
Everyone turned their gazes to her. Livvy shrugged. “Mildred told me.”
“Theo it is.” Georgia clapped her hands. “I’m starving. Can we eat now?”
Theo squatted in front of Livvy, grimacing at the pain in his leg. He held out his hand, and she shook it. “I’ll always be your friend, Livvy. Thank you for releasing me.”
“Let me get an appropriate bandage for your leg,” I said, leading Livvy inside with Theo and Margo slow to follow.
We spent the afternoon eating and talking with Theo and listening to stories from his experience with Mildred and our dad. It was a sobering experience to know that for reasons unbeknownst to my sisters and I, that Mildred’s family had once thought this man a menace when he appeared kindhearted.
I put him in the room where Ryder had once stayed while Margo ran into town to buy him some appropriate clothes and things he might need. I was just coming down the stairs when Franklin appeared in the hallway from the kitchen.
“Just the woman I was about to look for,” he said, his cheeks tinted.
“Oh?” I asked, stepping off the last stair.
He shoved his key into the lock and opened the basement door. “I do believe I promised you a tour.”
Chapter 19
I chewed my bottom lip as I followed Franklin down the concrete stairs into the basement, getting my first look at the secrets hidden below the inn.
It wasn’t a typical basement by any standard. It was another room like the ones upstairs, only larger, with leather furniture like in a living room. The other side contained a sleeping area.
“This is nice,” I said, turning in place. “I can see why you spend so much time down here.”
A glint of humor filled his eyes. “I don’t,” he said, walking to a double-door closet. He grabbed the handles and glanced over his shoulder. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
My brows rose. “You keep them in the closet?”
“Come and see for yourself.”
He tossed the doors open and disappeared inside. I was slow to follow, but when I did, I forgot to breathe. I stepped through the hanging suits and out the back into a beautiful room unlike any I’d ever seen before. Futuristic would be the word I’d use to describe it. A robot in a maid’s uniform walked by the woman standing across the room.
“Where are we?” I asked, my senses on overload.
“That’s a bit harder to explain,” he said, meeting the woman across the room. He kissed her in the familiar way I remembered my mom kissing her husband. “I’d like you to meet my wife, Charlotte Hexford, your aunt.”
My mouth parted.
“I think you’ve stunned her, dear,” Charlotte said, crossing the room. She took my hands in hers. “You look so much like your father. It’s nice to meet you, Tess. Franklin has told me so many great things.”
I snapped my mouth closed and glanced at Franklin. “Why are you hiding her?”
“He’s not, Tess. Let’s have some tea, and I can explain.”
I wish someone would. Charlotte linked our arms together and led me into a similar kitchen to the one upstairs. It was all a bit too much to take in.
I dropped her hold and walked to the kitchen window to find the sky dark and filled with clouds. “It was just sunny outside.”
“We aren’t in your reality, Tess,” Charlotte said, pouring tea into two china cups. “In your reality, I was sick, and here I’m not.”
I took a seat across from her, cupping the warm teacup in my hands in an attempt to keep me grounded. “Please explain.”
“There came a point in my life when I was slowly dying and had given up. It’s when Franklin showed up as a guest for the first time. I was smitten with him.”
“As I was with you.” He leaned in to kiss her.
“Turns out Franklin wasn’t from our time but from sometime in the future. Mildred had cast a spell on the inn, accommodating guests by making the living arrangements similar to their homes. She had no idea what home was like for Franklin. It was because of that spell that I’m still alive.”
My brows dipped as I sipped the tea. “A spell is keeping you alive.”
“No, dear.” She grinned. “The time and accommodations the inn provided for Franklin is keeping me alive. He’s a doctor, and medicine is more advanced in Franklin’s time. Lucky for us, when the Inn accommodated him, it chose his room at his clinic. He had access to everything he needed to help me.”
My gaze turned to Franklin. “You’re a time traveler?”
“I wouldn’t say that. I’m a wizard, and a spell gone wrong landed me here. I came to meet Mildred by seeking out powerful witches I thought could return me home. When I met Charlotte, I didn’t want to leave. I wouldn’t leave.”
I slowly nodded.
“She’s having a hard time believing this, Franklin. Be a dear and go get the book.”
Franklin disappeared and returned moments later. He opened a book and slid it across for me to see. It was a family album of sorts. Starting with pictures of Mildred as a young girl and growing up and having children of her own. My dad’s pictures were included.
Charlotte flipped farther into the book and rested the book open for me to see. “We knew you three were coming because, in Franklin’s time, it’s already happened.”
A family portrait showing King and me was on the page. Livvy looked to be in her teens, and I was cradling a baby in my arms.
“This isn’t real,” I said, about to flip the page when Charlotte pulled it back.
“Knowing about your future can alter it. I’m afraid that’s all we can show you.”
“I needed you to meet Charlotte before you and your sisters start to undo what Mildred has done. If you were to counter the spell on the inn, all of this vanishes, and I can’t let that happen.”
“We wouldn’t….”
“I needed to be sure you understood the importance before it happens. In this reality…” Franklin tapped the book. “The Inn doesn’t change, but we’ve noticed some new pictures that have been added. Ones that weren’t there before.”
“The only thing we’ve done is change Friday.”
Charlotte and Franklin exchanged a look. “Yes, and luckily for us, it was for the better, but you might one day change something that’s not.”
“And destroy this world the inn created?” I sat back in my chair, and my shoulders slumped as understanding settled in my gut. “My sisters are never going to believe me. They’ll need to meet you.”
“In due time.” Charlotte smiled. “Right now, enjoy getting to know them and helping Livvy. You’re building a life here, Tess, one that will have more meaning than you can ever imagine.”
I went to pick up the tea and noticed slight wrinkles on my hand that hadn’t been there before.
“Oh dear, Franklin, it’s time you took her back.”
“Of course,” Franklin said, coming to my side to help me stand. “Don’t worry, Tess, the effects reverse when you’re back in my room and it’s harmless. It happens to me every time.”
I exited the same way I’d entered and stepped back into Franklin’s room. I watched as the wrinkles slowly started to fade away. “You could have told me about Charlotte.”
“You would have never believed me, and besides, you’ve been a bit busy since you arrived.”
“I know. Hopefully, things will calm down.”
“You and your sisters still have some inner demons to fight,” Franklin said, guiding me upstairs.
“Care to give me a hint?” I asked, stepping out into the hall.
“Your trials and tribulations are what make you into the woman you are. I wouldn’t change the wonderful women you become by giving you hints.” Franklin held the door open, and his face softened. “Please
be careful with the changes you make.”
“Of course.” I smiled as he shut the door, disappearing back into his happy place.
The End.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the girls on their latest adventure and meeting Friday and the new sisters for the first time. In future books, you’ll find their lives entwined as the girls learn more about each other and the skeletons in their closets, starting with Georgia’s twisted past. Enjoy the sneak peek!
Georgia
Chapter 1
“You can’t leave,” I said following Tess around her room as she packed a few things into her suitcase. “Who’s going to run the inn?”
Her smile was tight-lipped as she handed me the Inn’s magical book. “You’ll be fine, Georgia. There’s no one scheduled, and I marked off my vacation, so I’m sure you won’t have any guests.” Her brows dipped, the look on her face proved she didn’t even buy the line she was feeding me. “I hope.”
I shoved the book back against her chest snatching my hands away as if it was laced with a bullseye and riddled with bullet holes. “I can’t. I don’t people, and besides, I have to go to the antique shop to sort through the mess that Mildred left. Did you know that she didn’t even keep inventory? Who does that?”
Tess tossed the book onto the bed. “It’s okay, Margo said she’d cover the Inn while I’m gone. Between her and Friday…”
“Don’t you mean Theo the third?” I asked.
She grinned. “Margo and Theo can handle things around here.”
“Theo already promised to help me at the antique store,” I pouted.
Tess sighed, “Fine, then Margo can handle it. No one is listed in the register to check in and there aren’t any appointments, so there shouldn’t be much to do. King, Livvy, and I will only be gone to Venture Island for a week. We’ll be back next Saturday.”
Tess crossed the room and grabbed a couple witch in training books from the shelf and stuffed them into her bag.
“Aren’t you worried about leaving us here?” I asked grabbing her pendant from the dresser and lowering it around her head. I knew she didn’t know much about being a witch, but Tess and Margo were the only family I had left.
“If I don’t go there and see my dad, then Masterson Venture is going to come here. Look at this way, I’m saving you and Margo both from the overbearing man. I can manage him on the island, but not here.”
“You’re going to show him you’re happy by bringing the boyfriend and kid with you. Is that your plan?”
She grinned as she zipped the suitcase. “That’s the plan. He needs to see that me leaving the island didn’t change the person I am. I owe him that much.”
“He’s not your dad.”
Tess lugged the suitcase off the bed and rested it on the floor lifting the retractable pull handle. “That man may not be my blood, but he’s been more of a father to me than ours will ever be.”
Tess’s face softened as Noah entered the room. “Tess, are you almost done? If we don’t leave soon, we’ll miss the ferry. King and Livvy are already downstairs. We’re waiting on you.”
“She’s ready,” I growled and grabbed the dang book from the bed with the intention of passing it off to Margo who I knew was downstairs waiting on them both. This was my last ditch attempt to stall her; I’d been trying ever since she had concocted the idea, but I couldn’t really blame her. She’s been dealing with nothing but death since the minute she arrived. “Grab her bag, studly. God forbid she trip on the stairs and have to stay with us.”
Noah grabbed her bag, and Tess turned to me pulling me into a hug I hadn’t been expecting. “I’ll be back before you know it. It’s one week, what can really go wrong in one week?”
She had to ask. She might as well put an ad in the newspaper that said the parents were out of town and it was time for mischief.
****
If the ominous dark clouds in the sky wasn’t a warning about the day I was about to have, the short stop at the coffee shop should have been. I’d been putting off going to the antique store for three whole weeks since all that went down with my sisters being kidnapped over a painting and a delusional witch wanting to use evil. I sat idly at the coffee shop table across from Theo who was still getting used to his newfound freedom and looking around in wonder at how society had changed.
Women walked by smiling and flirting making Theo’s eye twinkle.
“You’re acting like a dog in heat? If you want some tail, go get some. Nothing is keeping you here.” I said to the disappointed gazes of nearby parents.
Theo turned his attention back on me, tilting his head to the side as he’d done in cat form pretending not to understand a word on the first day I’d shown up when he’d nosed his way into my room just in time for me to change clothes.
“You know why I can’t leave yet,” he said on a sigh watching me over the brim of the coffee cup he lifted to his lips.
I did know. He didn’t have anywhere to go and no money. He’d told us a million times. That’s why I’d hired him for the antique store. A man like him living with Mildred had seen and knew everything going on. He was the perfect person to understand the history of the relics that waited, not that I’d need a history lesson when I had ghosts waiting to tell me the significance of each piece. Personally, I think he had an ulterior motive not that he was saying.
The bell above the door chimed, and the blood from my face drained as the man stood just inside. Sunglasses covered his eyes, but I didn’t need him to take them off to know the color of the peepers that were scanning the crowd.
“You okay, Georgia?” Theo rested his hand over mine. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat as I slowly rose. I knew instantly when the gaze locked with mine. A smile formed at the corner of the owner’s lips as he seductively slid the sunglasses off his eyes and headed in my direction.
My breath hitched as my heart raced. There could be no good reason for his visit.
“Georgia Fontaine. It’s been awhile,” he said sliding his hands into the pockets of his pressed pants.
“Special Agent Logan Douglas,” His name grated like sandpaper on my tongue. I grabbed my coffee and glanced at Theo. “I’ll see you in ten.”
Theo’s brows rose. “I can go with you now.”
“Sorry, guy. I need to ask her some questions in private. Take your time.” Logan said following behind me.
“Two years, five months and three days.” The words flew from my lips before the coffee shop doors even closed. I was an idiot for keeping track, but that was me. I never knew how to tell the man no and mean it.
“I’m flattered you remember,” he said in the rich timber voice that made me weak in the knees.
“It wasn’t a compliment. What do you want Logan? Why are you here?” I spun on him almost spilling my coffee on his nice pressed white shirt. That would have been a shame.
“I see you’re still angry.”
I turned giving him my back and continued walking. “Yep, you’ve seen for yourself. Now if that’s all, you can leave on the horse you rode in on. As you can see, I’m not in need of saving and your armor isn’t as shiny as it used to be.”
I shoved the key into the door of the antique store and hit the lights as I entered turning with the door in hand to lock my past out. “Sorry, we’re closed only employees can enter.”
“Georgia, I’m sorry.”
My eyes narrowed. I didn’t care if Logan yelled it from the top of the statue in Canapoly Falls time square. “Sorry for what?” I raised my brow. “For pretending to be someone you weren’t, or maybe for the way you used me for intel after you got me in bed and then disappeared from my life, or maybe for letting your superiors think that my mother was some crazy nut job when she tried to convince you that a killer was on the loose.”
I slammed the door in his face and flicked the lock.
Georgia’s book is coming out September 2018. Be sure to subscribe to my email to g
et notified and keep up with release dates. www.kateallenton.com
Kate Allenton’s books are all available in Kindle Unlimited.
Other Books & Series by Kate Allenton
Suggested Reading Order
BENNETT SISTERS BOX SET (Books 1-4 in one bundle, 1218 pages)
BENNETT SISTERS BOX SET VOLUME 2 (Books 5-7 in one bundle, 517 pages}
INTUITION (Book 1)
TOUCH OF FATE (Book 2)
MIND PLAY (Book 3)
THE RECKONING (Book 4)
REDEMPTION (Book 5)
CHANCE ENCOUNTERS (Book 6)
DESTINED HEARTS (Book 7)
PHANTOM PROTECTORS BOX SET (Books 1-4 in one bundle, 964 pages)
RECKLESS ABANDON (Book 1)
BETRAYAL (Book 2)
UNTAMED (Book 3)
GUIDED LOYALTY (Book 4)
CARRINGTON-HILL INVESTIGATIONS
DECEPTION (Book 1)
DEADLY DESIRE (Book 2)
SHIFTER PARADISE BOX SET
NOT MY SHIFTER/ SINFULLY CURSED
KARMA
SOPHIE MASTERSON SERIES/ DIXON SECURITY
LIFTING THE VEIL (Book 1)
BEYOND THE VEIL (Book 2)
VEILED INTENTIONS (Book 3)
VEILED THREATS (Book 4)
THE LOVE FAMILY SERIES
SKYLAR (BOOK1)
DECLAN (BOOK 2)
FLYNN (BOOK 3)
REED (BOOK 4)
LANDON (BOOK 5)
ALEXIS (BOOK 6)
GABE (BOOK 7)
JACKSON (BOOK 8)
LINKED INC.
DEADLY INTENT (BOOK 1)
PSYCHIC LINK (BOOK 2)
PSYCHIC CHARM (BOOK 3)
PSYCHIC GAMES (BOOK 4)
DEADLY DREAMS (BOOK 5)
CREE BLUE PSYCHIC EYE
DEAD WRONG (BOOK 1)
Witch Bait Page 8