How Perfect You Are (Carlson College Mysteries Book 1)

by Isabel Fox

  “Gross. Well, if you two don’t mind scooting over just a bit, I’m going to make some more coffee,” I delicately slide behind them to the coffee maker while Amber and Seth giggled goofily. I wondered if James and I seemed like this to other people. I didn’t think so, but I couldn’t be entirely certain.

  “Cassie, do you have to work today?” Amber asked, passing me a coffee mug.

  “Yes,” I groaned. “Even if it’s an absolute blizzard by the time I have to go in, there’s no way Susan’s letting me off the hook. Especially not since I just took four days in a row off to go home with you. And the best part is she’s already texted me letting me know she needs me to work part of the evening shift, too, since a bunch of the newer kids have already called out.”

  Amber made a face. “That really sucks. I was just telling Seth that we should get Brooklyn and Jenna to come over and have a snow storm party. I mean, we still can, but…”

  “Do whatever you want. I’ll make it home eventually,” I said with a wave of my hand. “Have you seen the forecast? Any guesses on what the odds of us having class tomorrow are?”

  “Slim,” Amber replied. She turned the pancake with a flick of the pan, no spatula needed. James had done that too, only with an omelette. I figured that skill must be a genetic trait I was lacking. “The weatherman’s still calling for up to ten inches overnight, with the possibility of even more tomorrow.”

  “Well, there’s a silver lining if there ever was one,” I commented. “I could certainly use another day off, especially if I have to have an extra dose of Susan tonight.”

  “Personally, I think you should tell Susan to shove it and just not go in,” Amber continued. She carefully removed the now golden brown pancake from the skillet and added it to a baking sheet in the oven.

  “If I’m going to ask the Walkers to hire me full time when I graduate, I need to keep up my track record of being dependable,” I replied. I added a splash of cream to my mug before pouring in the coffee and breathing in the heavenly aroma.

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Amber waved the spatula at me. “We’ll be having fun here, and you can just join us when you get home.”

  “Okay. But don’t you dare use the good baking sheets to go sledding. I still haven’t forgiven you for the one you broke last winter,” I warned. I sipped my coffee and used my free hand to wipe of a few splatters of batter from the counter. Then, I turned and headed back upstairs to make sure James was awake.

  36

  “Susan, for the love of God!” Amanda hissed under her breath, loud enough for me to hear but not loud enough for Susan herself to overhear. She was rifling through the trunk of Susan’s car, looking for the keys to the wine cellar Susan had misplaced.

  “I swear, she’s just doing this to be obnoxious,” Amanda continued, handing me a heated blanket, a box of tissues, and a bag of cat litter as she attempted to find the keys. “She hid it in here on purpose so we’d have to stand out in the snow while she gets to stay by the fire in the lobby.”

  “Honestly, I doubt it’s on purpose,” I replied, starting to stagger under the weight of all the things Amanda was passing me. “I think she was out here on the phone and smoking at the same time, and got distracted when those guests showed up and she didn’t want them to see her smoking. She probably panicked and just dropped they keys in the trunk.”

  “Maybe so. But I prefer to imagine her as the devil incarnate, so stop ruining my fantasy,” Amanda retorted. She added a pair of high heels to the stack of junk before bending down with a decisive, “Ah ha!” When she straightened up, I saw a set of keys in her hand. Relieved, I let the stuff in my arms fall back into a heap in Susan’s trunk.

  “Come on, let’s get back inside. I’m about to turn into a giant popsicle,” I shivered, pulling my coat even more tightly around me. We hurried back inside, pausing to beat our shoes on the side of the door to knock the loose snow off.

  “Cassie, why is the computer being so slow?” I heard Susan whine from the front desk. “Can you come fix it? I need to make some calls.”

  I shot Amanda a pained look. “Is it too late for me to go get the wine from the cellar? I’d rather risk death by frostbite than try to fix whatever havoc Susan has wreaked on that poor computer, I think,” I proclaimed.

  “Better you than me,” was all Amanda had to say in response as she headed in the direction of the wine cellar behind the inn.

  I made my way reluctantly to the front desk, where Susan spent ten minutes raving about how the internet wasn’t nearly as good as people made it out to be and we’d all be much better off not having it. She also reminded me, for the nineteenth time, that she herself did not have internet at her house.

  “But, Susan, there’s not a Nordstrom for miles. How can you shop the annual sale from the comfort of your place of work without internet?” I asked, my voice dripping with false sweetness. Susan shot me a surprised look. I had never said anything even remotely snarky to her before. Thought it in my head, muttered it under my breath, of course, but now here I was giving her a hard time about online shopping at work to her face. It was basically unheard of.

  I gulped, a part of me wishing I hadn’t said anything. My patience was at an all time low, but still. She was my boss.

  The other part of me was glad I’d done it. I’d spent enough time letting Susan bitch and complain about every little thing. She needed to be taken down a peg, just this once.

  I said nothing as I pulled up the internet settings to try and find the problem. I could feel Susan shooting daggers at me, though. Her eyes were like lasers boring a hole in the back of my head. Refusing to look up, I pretended to be engrossed in the various menu options. Finally, I heard Susan exhale loud enough to wake the dead before she clomped away in her completely weather inappropriate heeled boots, most likely purchased in the aforementioned Nordstrom sale.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, I turned my attention to the computer for real now. In a matter of minutes I had found the problem (too many pop ups open in the background slowing things down) and fixed it. With a quick glance to make sure Susan wasn’t around, I slid my phone out of my pocket. It was a quarter of seven, when my shift would finally end. James would be coming to pick me up after he got off work, and I couldn’t wait to get home and try to relax and enjoy the snow.

  I saw my email icon had new alerts, so I opened the app and quickly scrolled through my messages. The college had sent out an email the entire campus announcing that all classes were canceled the next day. I felt a smile spread across my face, already looking forward to the unexpected day off.

  “Cassie?” I heard Amanda’s voice from down the hall. I left the desk and started towards the back door, where Amanda was struggled to carry two cases of wine at once.

  “Here, let me get one,” I rushed to grab the top case before Amanda dropped them.

  “Phew, thanks,” Amanda said, straightening now that her load was lighter. “If you want to drop that in the kitchen, you can go ahead and grab your stuff and go. Your ride’s waiting for you outside.”

  “Really?” I asked, surprised. I had expected to have to wait awhile before James would be there, but I certainly wasn’t going to complain about getting to duck out a bit early.

  “Yeah. That’s your new beau, right? He’s super cute. I’m a sucker for a blond,” Amanda laughed as she led the way to the kitchen. At her words, though, I froze.

  “Wait, what did you say?” I asked, feeling the blood drain from my face.

  “Blonds? I’m a sucker for them?” Amanda repeated, throwing me a glance over her shoulder. She must have realized something was wrong, because she stopped abruptly.

  “Cassie? What’s the matter?” she asked.

  “James has dark hair,” I said slowly, my gaze meeting hers. I saw from the look on her face that she understood my concern.

  “Do you think it’s...him? Your stalker, I mean?” Amanda’s blue eyes were wide. She didn’t seem particularly scared, though. If anything, she
seemed excited to have a little drama to liven up the evening. I wished I could feel the same, but I felt like I’d swallowed a lead balloon.

  “I don’t know. Maybe? What did he say?”

  “He just said, ‘Tell Cassie her ride’s here,’ or something like that.”

  “Well, besides blond, what did he look like?”

  “Tall, cute, wearing snow clothes. You know, parka, knit hat, boots. He just pulled up when I was coming out of the cellar. He didn’t seem like a psychopath, or anything.”

  I mentally ran through my most common acquaintances, but I could think of no one who fit that description. Could my stalker really be here, at the inn, just expecting me to hop in the car with him and go on our merry way?

  “Oh, my god, what do I do?” I asked, leaning back against the wall. I suddenly felt light headed.

  “Well, first of all, put that down,” Amanda said, taking the wine crate from me and setting it on one of the dining room tables. “Your wellbeing is totally my priority, but that’s also a five hundred dollar case of wine and you’re looking a little pale. Second, let’s go get Danny. He go out and see who it is. Then we can...run at him with pitchforks? I don’t know, whatever you think is most appropriate.”

  “Good idea. The getting Danny part, that is. As for the pitchforks, let’s hold off,” I said, following Amanda through the dining room and into the kitchen. Danny and Marcus were both working at the large island in the middle of the kitchen. Danny was dicing vegetables while Marcus was putting chicken in some kind of marinade.

  “Danny, we need you,” Amanda said. “Cassie’s stalker is outside looking for her.”

  “Her what?” Danny asked at the same time Marcus went, “What the hell?”

  “It’s a long story, but there’s this creep who’s been harassing Cassie, and we think he’s outside waiting for her to get off of work. Can you come out there with us?”

  “Wait, with us?” I repeated stupidly while Marcus said again, “What the hell?”

  “Duh, Cassie. I don’t know who this guy is. Odds are Danny won’t either. Don’t you, like, need to find out?”

  “I guess,” I said hesitantly, my heart pounding in my chest. “Don’t you worry, Cassie. We’ll tell this guy what’s what,” Danny said, wiping his hands on his chef’s coat. “Come on, Marcus.” Danny reached down and grabbed the long knife he’d been using to cut the vegetables while Marcus grabbed what looked to be a meat tenderizer. They both walked purposefully through the back door, leaving Amanda and me to follow after them.

  “Cassie, come on,” Amanda tugged my arm, hurrying to catch up. I sighed and looked skyward for a moment before going after her, trying to prepare myself to finally meet my stalker.

  Outside, the snow was falling steadily. I looked around the back parking lot, trying to spot anyone unfamiliar lurking about.

  “Where is he, girls?” Danny asked, his knife held far in front of him like a sword.

  “He was standing by the porch stairs. I don’t see him now,” Amanda said, squinting into the blowing snow. “That’s his car over there, though.” She pointed to a Jeep Cherokee parked nearby. I squinted at it. The car looked vaguely familiar, but I wasn’t certain if that was because I’d seen it before or just because everyone and their brother in Carlson drove Jeep Cherokees, it seemed.

  “What in the world is going on? Why are you all standing out here? Marcus, is that a meat tenderizer?” Susan came out of the office’s back door on the far end of the porch, giving us all an annoyed look.

  “We’re looking for some guy who’s been bothering Cassie,” Danny explained, now walking amongst the cars parked in the back lot.

  “Your what? You mean to tell me all that stalker nonsense was real?” Susan looked absolutely horrified.

  “Of course it was real,” I snapped, more than a little annoyed that she apparently hadn’t believed my stalker actually existed.

  “And he’s here? Right now? Oh, my god!” Susan gasped. She hurried down the stairs of the back porch to stand directly behind Danny, her expression fearful.

  “Should we, uh, call the police, or something?” Marcus asked, clearly uncertain. He held his meat tenderizer hesitantly by his side.

  “Wait! Inside! I saw someone inside!” Amanda exclaimed, pointing.

  “Are you sure it wasn’t just a guest?” Susan asked acidly. “We do have a few of those, you know.”

  “I don’t think so! It looked like the guy I saw earlier.”

  “Well, come on then, let’s go! Ladies, stay behind me,” Danny offered valiantly. We fell in line, me behind Danny, Amanda behind me, Susan clinging to Amanda’s arm, and Marcus bringing up the rear. We trooped back inside, everyone moving quietly. I heard a man’s voice speaking softly. It sounded like it was coming from the lobby. I pointed over Danny’s shoulder to indicate he should head that way.

  As we drew closer, I heard a girlish giggle. Confused, I listened closer. That giggle sounded oddly familiar.

  “Jenna?” I said, pushing my way past Danny in spite of his attempts to keep me behind him. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?”

  Jenna stood in front of the front desk with Paul, her eyes bright and cheeks rosy.

  “We’re here to kidnap you! We’re going over to your place, Amber’s got it all planned out, and-” she stopped abruptly as Danny, knife held out in front of him, and tenderizer wielding Marcus came into view, along with a confused looking Amanda and an irritated Susan.

  “Oh, crap. That was probably a bad choice of wording, wasn’t it?” Jenna said from behind her hand, which she had clapped to her mouth.

  “You think?” I asked sarcastically, still waiting for my heart rate to return to normal. I turned to my coworkers. “Sorry, guys, false alarm. This is my friend Jenna, and her boyfriend Paul. They are not, in spite of their plan, actually kidnappers or stalkers.”

  “Cassie, what is the meaning of this?” Susan sounded dangerously close to murder.

  “Susan, I am so sorry,” Jenna jumped in, babbling nervously. Though she had only met Susan once or twice before, she’d heard enough stories about her to know she needed to tread carefully if we wanted to avoid a nuclear reaction. “It’s my fault. I wasn’t thinking about how it would look to have a strange, well strange to you all anyway, guy come around asking for Cassie. I was just cold and didn’t want to get out of the car. We didn’t mean to freak you guys out.”

  “Well,” Susan drew the single syllable out slowly, as if she was buying herself time to process. “Cassie, don’t let this happen again.”

  Don’t what? Have some psycho show up at my workplace to kidnap me? I wondered. I promise, I’ll try to avoid it.

  “You’ve got it,” I said agreeably, more than ready to get the hell out of dodge. Susan stared Jenna down for another moment before turning to Marcus and Danny.

  “Well?” she asked. “What are you waiting for? She’s fine, get back to work!” Then she retreated to the office, probably to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes.

  “You sure you’re okay, Cass?” Danny asked, still looking suspiciously at Paul.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks Danny. You too, Marcus.”

  “Okay. Well, you need me, just let me know. We got your back,” Danny gave a threatening wave of his knife before he and Marcus returned to the kitchen.

  “Well. Now that I’ve experienced my first heart attack and survived, I think I’m going to go catch up on some inventory,” Amanda announced to no one in particular. Then she turned to Jenna and Paul. “Sorry about the misunderstanding. You guys have fun. Cassie....just don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Deal. Bye, Amanda. See you tomorrow,” I told her. When she had left, I shot Jenna a look that was equal parts amusement and exasperation.

  “Cassie, I’m so sorry!” Jenna immediately started apologizing.

  “It’s okay! Let’s just get out of here before Susan comes back to tell us off. Now, where’s James, and what did you say Amber is planning?”


  37

  “Okay, you guys ready?” Robby asked.

  “No!” Brooklyn yelped.

  “Yes!” I said with a laugh.

  “Okay, hold on!” Robby gave the sled a hard shove, and seconds later Brooklyn and I were racing down the steep hill at a blinding speed.

  “Oh my god!” Brooklyn leaned back into me, her hands gripping the side of the sled as tightly as her thick gloves would allow.

  “Isn’t this great?” I raised my voice to be heard above the sound of the wind as we carved a path in the thick powder.

  “I think you need a new definition of great,” Brooklyn replied. “Oh, shit! The trees!”

  “Lean left,” I urged as I saw the start of the forest approaching rapidly. Brooklyn responded by leaning right, sending the sled lurching directly towards a thick pine tree.

  “No, left!” I yelled, trying to redirect the sled by throwing all my weight that direction. Brooklyn did too, but apparently we had over compensated because a second later I found myself lying on my back, staring up at a snow filled sky, gasping for air.

  “Oh my god, that was awesome!” Brooklyn exclaimed, sitting up from where she had rolled a few feet away from me, though not before somehow managing to head butt me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

  “Speak...for...yourself,” I wheezed, struggling to catch my breath.

  “Cassie, are you okay?” Brooklyn crawled over to where I had rolled over on my hands and knees, laughing and gasping and coughing all at once.

  “Yeah, just can’t breathe. I’m okay,” I managed in short gasps, still laughing.

  “What are you laughing at?” Brooklyn sounded baffled.

  “I...don’t know,” I said in between wheezes. “You. Me. Trees. Everything.”

  “Cassie?” I heard James’s voice as he, Seth, and Amber came whooshing down the hill on their own sleds. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, she’s fine. I think she just got the wind knocked out of her, which she apparently finds hilarious, and now she’s having some kind of hysterical fit,” Brooklyn rolled her eyes before she started giggling too. It wasn’t long before Amber started laughing at the two of us, followed by Seth. Once he was certain I was okay, James started laughing too. Before long, Jenna, Paul, and Robby had come down the hill to see what was going on as well.