Winds of Time

by Zoe Matthews

  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, indicating 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 into 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.

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  Also by Zoe Matthews

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  Time Travel Guardians Romance Series

  It is 2045 and time travel has been proven to be real. But many devices are falling into the wrong hands, so the Time Travel Guardians were born. Their job is to use time travel to find each device before they are discovered by others. As they travel, they each have a fun adventure and discover love.

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