MILFORD MILL, Md. -- Ashley Booker had looked forward to her senior prom night all year long.

The Milford Mill, Md., student picked out the right shoes, the right purse and the right dress. But in an almost fairy tale fashion, the dress she spent hundreds of dollars on remained at the cleaners -- behind locked doors.

WBAL-TV in Baltimore caught up with Booker on Thursday while she waited for her turn at the beauty salon. But clearly, her mind was on her prom dress.

"It's a Palm Beach coral color ... it's, like, orangish, pinkish color. It's long and it got jewels and a split with jewels along the side," Booker said.

Booker said she took her new prom dress to Anton's Cleaners and Tailors on Liberty Road last Thursday. They told her to return a week later to check the alterations, but she returned to find the doors locked. She tried calling the business owner but got no response.

"My dress is, like, right in the front window ... and I can't get it," Booker said. "I spent a whole lot of money on that dress and now I want be able to wear it for prom."

Booker had to finish her hair appointment, then make her nail appointment and maybe go shopping for a new prom dress. She told WBAL-TV that she was "hoping and praying" for a miracle.

The answer to her prayers was closer than she could ever imagine.

Finally, hope arrived -- not from the shop owner, but from the landlord. A WBAL-TV reporter tracked the landlord down at the cleaners.

It didn't take long for Booker to show up with curlers still in her hair.

"I'm sorry young lady," said landlord Samuel Lee.

"I'm happy now I can go to the prom; I'm really happy, I'm excited, ecstatic," Booker said.

The landlord said it was a stroke of good luck.

"Tell the truth, I don't know why I stopped by here. I was going home, so it's really interesting that I stopped by here this morning for this young lady, I think," Lee said.

The landlord and a former worker at the cleaners told WBAL-TV that the business owner is recovering from a serious illness and is dealing with some difficult family issues. There was no immediate word on when or if he would re-open the store.