The Inn at Misty Lake: Book Two in the Misty Lake Series (19 page)

“Not that I remember but if it was years ago, who knows? He may have and I just don’t recall. I do remember he went to Chicago when he was first getting started, but that’s about it. He was living in Minneapolis at the time, we didn’t see too much of him.”

“Hmmm,” Susan mumbled as she watched the two on the dance floor. They seemed to be doing more talking than dancing.

Frank stared at her and tried to figure out where to start. It hardly seemed possible, but she was even more beautiful than she had been years ago. Her hair was a little shorter but still jet black, thick, and wavy. He remembered the feel of it between his fingers. The full mouth that had smiled so readily now frowned a bit and her big, dark brown eyes seemed to hold more questions than answers. He wanted to run his hand along her cheek, to slide her sweater down and see the curve of her shoulder and to touch the smooth olive skin that used to heat so rapidly under his touch. He’d worked with dozens of models since. Not one could hold a candle to her.

“So, it’s not Cassandra, it’s Cassie. Fine. But Papa…whatever Susan said. What happened to Ray? Are you married?”

“No, no, nothing like that. It’s my real name, Cassandra Rachel Papadakis. When I started modeling, my agency thought it was too ethnic sounding so convinced me to shorten it to Cassandra Ray. That’s how I introduced myself to anyone in the business and, at the time, that’s who I was.”

“Okay.” Frank waited but Cassie didn’t offer any more. “So, what happened?” He fought to keep the anger out of his voice.

Cassie sighed deeply. “I’m sorry, Frank, I should have given you more than just that one email, I should have answered your calls. It wasn’t fair of me to just…well, it wasn’t fair. But I do remember telling you I had a policy not to get involved with photographers or anyone else in the business.”

“Yes, you told me, but I thought you had made an exception.” He remembered the exact moment she’d made that exception.

Cassie closed her eyes before answering. “It got complicated. Right after you left I had some…trouble. I quit modeling, graduated, and left for New York. I just wasn’t at a point in my life where I could handle anything else…anyone else. I really am sorry.”

“I tried for a long time.”

“I know.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“It’s not something I like to talk about, I hope you can respect that.”

Frank gave a slow nod and was torn between respecting her wishes and demanding an answer from the woman who had stolen his heart all those years ago.

“Is everything okay now?”

“Yes, everything is fine. Do you think we can try to keep this between us? At least most of it?”

Frank looked over at the group watching them intently. “We can try.”

The song ended and the band switched to a slower song. Cassie turned to rejoin the group but Frank took her hand. “Just one more?”

Cassie found herself in his arms. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and tried to stop the flood of memories, but as her heart fluttered they came thundering back. Two weeks. That’s all it had taken for her to fall in love. Every moment they could steal between Cassie’s school and work schedules and Frank’s long hours in photo shoots, they spent together. By the second week, she had more or less moved into his hotel room with him. She studied while he worked. He waited up for her when she had a night shift at the hotel where she was working. When he left it was with promises from both of them that not more than three weeks would go by between visits. But then it had all gone wrong. So terribly, terribly wrong.

Cassie fought an impossible jumble of emotions. For six years she hadn’t let herself think of what could have been. Now, she allowed herself a minute to hold Frank and to imagine. But just a minute because she knew there was no going back.

22

Susan hadn’t asked Cassie any more questions. Cassie had seemed exhausted and, if Susan wasn’t mistaken, sad, when they’d gotten home from town. But by Sunday morning she needed to find out if her friend was really all right.

They were sitting at Susan’s computer with Cassie focused on the inn’s website and offering opinions and suggestions. When they hit a lull in the conversation Susan tried to get her to open up.

“Cass?”

“Hmmm?”

“Cassie.” She waited until Cassie tore her attention away from the computer and faced her. Cassie pulled the glasses from her face and rubbed her eyes. She still looked tired.

“I don’t expect an answer from you yet, I want you to give it plenty of thought and be sure you know what you want, but I need to ask…what’s the deal with Frank? Is whatever history you two have going to affect your decision?”

Cassie turned and gazed out the window. She was quiet for a long time while Susan waited patiently. When she started talking it was with a forced nonchalance. She didn’t meet Susan’s eyes.

“We met six years ago but it was just a fling. We haven’t seen each other since so it was something of a shock running into him last night and finding out he’s your boyfriend’s twin brother. The fact that he’s here and that he’s a part of your life and connected to the inn won’t affect my decision.”

Susan didn’t believe her for a second. It hadn’t been just a fling, of that much she was certain, but what had gone on between them that had Cassie so unwilling to talk stumped her. In the years they’d known each other they’d talked about all sorts of things. Susan recalled times she’d cried on Cassie’s shoulder about a boyfriend, the times they’d vented and complained about their jobs, how Cassie had been there when Danny and then Susan’s grandfather died. And then it hit her…Cassie was a good listener, ready and willing with comfort and advice, but their conversations were mostly one-sided. Susan was more and more ashamed as she realized she didn’t know much at all about Cassie’s past other than her work experience and the basics such as where she had gone to school. She needed to fix that.

“Cassie, is there more to it? If you want to talk, I’d be happy to listen. And I promise you, whatever you say stays between us.”

Cassie hesitated and Susan thought, for a moment, that she’d open up. But then Cassie was patting her hand and reassuring.

“There’s nothing, Susan. Really. It’s just been a shock. I guess I remember that Frank told me he was from Minnesota, but I never dreamed I’d run into him. No, there’s nothing to talk about.” She smiled and patted Susan’s hand again before returning her attention to the computer.

Okay, she’d let it go. For now. But she promised herself she’d make an effort to get to know Cassie better. If Cassie needed a friend, it was going to be her.

After they had pored over the website, made some changes and updates, and discussed the best way to manage it, Cassie asked about inquiries and reservations.

“I have two firm reservations and one pretty serious inquiry about booking all the rooms and the event center. I’ve got my fingers crossed that one comes through. It’s a little hard to sell it when there aren’t even any pictures to show a potential customer. I’m waiting to hear back. Actually, I haven’t checked email since you got here, let’s take a look.”

Susan opened the email account and found five new emails in her inbox.

“That’s the most so far,” she said excitedly. “Oh, look, this is from the group I was just telling you about.” She quickly clicked to open the email and the two read it together.

They both shrieked at the same time. Susan jumped to her feet and danced in a circle. “All the rooms and the event center!”

“Awesome! That’s huge, Susan. Congratulations.”

Susan’s heart was racing. “Oh, my gosh, I can hardly believe it.” She started pacing around the room. “I’ll have to keep in contact with…” she glanced at the email, “Jackie, and be sure I have the space configured to best fit their needs. Do you think I should just let each family or each couple choose their own room or do you think I should offer suggestions? If some will have kids I could try to steer them to the bigger rooms. It’s still eight months away, but I have to make a note to have extra help that weekend. And—”

“And you should sit down before you pass out,” Cassie laughed.

Susan fell into the chair and leaned her elbows on the table. “You’re right. I need to calm down. But this is just so exciting!”

They celebrated and talked details for a few minutes before Cassie suggested checking the other emails. “Maybe you have another reservation in there.”

Two were sales plugs, one from a linen supply company and the other from a cleaning service. She’d look at those more closely later. The next two were both reservations for early October.

Susan leaned back in the chair and shook her head in amazement. “Sometimes I still can’t believe this is happening. I’ve gotten so used to the construction and the planning, it’s hard to imagine that in six months that part will be behind me and I’ll have guests. The fact that people are making reservations this far in advance for a place that’s not even done kind of blows my mind.”

“Some people love the idea of staying someplace new. When I was at the Catskills resort we opened up a section of new cabins. Once they were mentioned on the website the reservations started coming in even though the opening date was over a year away. A little different, I know, because the resort itself was established, but there’s something about being one of the first to stay someplace that attracts people.”

A new email popped up as Susan was taking down information from the reservations. She clicked to open it and was more disappointed than scared or angry. The thrill of getting two reservations and the hope that this would be a third quickly faded. This one said ‘Enjoy it while you can.’ As with the other two, she had no idea what the message meant. Enjoy what?

Cassie came up behind her. “Another reservation?”

“No, some weirdo has been sending emails, this is the third one. None of them make any sense.”

Cassie sat down next to her and read from the screen. “Enjoy what?”

“No idea, I was trying to figure that out myself.”

“Were the others the same?”

“No, they said, ‘You will pay,’ and ‘Stay away from what’s not yours’ or something like that. I don’t know what any of it means.”

“Do you have the others? Are they all from the same email address?”

“I deleted the first one but kept the second. I moved it to this folder…” Susan clicked and pulled up the second email. “This one has a different Gmail address.”

“Whoever it is must be creating a new email address every time. Have you told anyone about this?”

“No, I really didn’t think anything of it. Do you think I should be worried?”

“Three emails, all with strange, threatening messages? I think I’d notify the police.”

“I’ll talk to Jake, see what he thinks. But let’s not worry about it now and waste the rest of the time we have. What else do you want to know? Do you want to go back over to the inn and look around some more?”

“I would like to go back over there before I leave, get a little better look around outside, but first I have a question for you.”

“Anything.”

“What’s your plan if I say no?”

Susan’s heart sunk. She had been avoiding thinking about an alternate plan, desperately hoping Cassie would take the job. Now it hit her that she had no idea. “I don’t know, I guess I’ll start advertising. I might need to look further than Misty Lake…I don’t know…”

“You’ve had plenty of experience interviewing, you know what you want, it’s just a matter of finding the right person. Assuming that person comes through your door, you’ll know he or she is right for the job.”

“I suppose. Does that mean you’re telling me no?”

“No, it doesn’t. I want to tell you yes, but I have to take care of some things before I can give you a firm answer. Depending how it all goes, I should have a yes or a no for you soon. I just was hoping you had been thinking ahead in case this doesn’t work out.”

“Fair enough. You know how much I want you to say yes, but I understand it’s a big decision for you. Think it through…be sure. And know that whatever you decide, we’re still friends.”

“I will, and I know. I promise. I don’t know if I’ve told you but I appreciate you thinking of me for the job. This weekend has been all about you thanking me for coming and for the advice you think I’ve given you, but I want to thank you, too. It’s flattering to be sought after like this. Makes a girl feel wanted.”

Cassie grinned and seemed like herself again for the first time all day. Susan decided to take it as a good sign.

Frank stared at his phone for a full minute after hanging up with Cassie. She’d called, as he’d almost begged her to do, but he didn’t know any more now than he had the night before. She’d asked him straight out if having her in Misty Lake would be a problem for him. He’d debated on how to answer, but in the end, had simply told her it wouldn’t. That was about the extent of their conversation with Cassie avoiding all of his questions and claiming she needed to start the drive back to Chicago.

She hadn’t told him whether she was going to take the job but he decided, this time, he couldn’t sit and wait and wonder. He picked up his phone again and punched in the number for the magazine editor interested in his photos.

She was doing it. She was leaving Omaha. As sure as she had been the night before, as she loaded her son and their few belongings in the car and drove away, she saw her hands shake on the steering wheel.

It will all work out, she repeated over and over to herself. She’d made another call the night before to the one person there she could still call a friend and it had boosted her confidence. She thought she probably even had a place to stay, at least for a few days. She took a quick peek in the rearview mirror at the boy. He was vital to her plan and that worried her. She had never been one to put her faith in anyone…let alone a kid.

But it will all work out, she repeated again. And again.