Part 13 (1/2)

Joyce moaned in response.

It was good, but hardly that good. Julie glanced up to see Joyce close her eyes. OK, maybe it was to some people.

Julie looked back to her plate but then jerked up her head as Susan screamed.

”Oh my word! Joyce is dying!” Susan exclaimed. ”The killer struck again!”

Joyce careened over, falling to the floor with a soft thud.

Kenneth was on his feet in a split second. He raced to Joyce's side, turning her and grabbing her wrist to check her pulse.

Susan screamed again.

Julie rushed over to Kenneth. ”What's wrong with her?” She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed 911.

He shook his head. ”Her pulse is fast, and her breathing is shallow.”

”Does anyone know CPR?” Liam asked.

Kenneth shot him a look.

”Right. You're a doctor. Sorry.”

Julie relayed the information to the dispatcher, who promised to send an ambulance immediately. She hung up the phone and looked at the older woman. Her eyes were closed; she looked like she was asleep.

”Oh my,” Sadie gasped, placing a hand over her mouth. ”This is terrible.”

Everyone hovered around, but Kenneth motioned them back. ”Give her some room.”

”Has she had a heart attack?” Carrie asked.

”It appears so, but I'm a podiatrist. And it's been a long time since med school.”

”Wait!” Sadie grabbed Joyce's handbag and started rifling through the contents. ”Joyce is allergic to peanuts. Maybe she accidentally ate one.”

”Could this be anaphylactic shock?” Julie asked Kenneth. She was no doctor, but it really looked like a heart attack to her. And Joyce was no spring chicken. Plus, Hannah was the most careful person there was; if Joyce had a peanut allergy, she knew about it.

”Here.” Sadie found the EpiPen and held it toward Kenneth. Her hand was shaking.

”I've never seen anaphylaxis look like this,” he mused, his hand still on her pulse. ”There's no swelling or rash of any kind.”

”Please,” Sadie said, tears in her eyes. ”If you wait too long, she'll certainly die.”

Kenneth hesitated but then took the pen and administered the shot into Joyce's thigh just as Hannah entered with a shocked look on her face.

”Were there peanuts in the meal?” Julie demanded.

”Of course not,” Hannah offered. ”Joyce is allergic.”

Poison sprang to Julie's mind, and she pushed the thought away. She couldn't jump to conclusions. She wouldn't.

The bell rang from the front of the inn followed by heavy footsteps.

”The ambulance is here,” Liam said from the doorway. ”I'll direct them back.”

Joyce's eyelids fluttered a bit, but for the most part, she was as still as the dead.

”Clear some room,” the EMT ordered.

Everyone took a step back and then another as they started to work on Joyce.

Julie said a little prayer that the woman would be OK. For her sake, for Sadie's sake, and for Millie's sake. Two dead bodies in one weekend were more than anyone should have to face.

The EMTs loaded Joyce into the ambulance, and with Sadie riding along, rushed her to the hospital.

Even though dinner was barely half over, no one seemed willing to continue to eat. Whether they were upset about Joyce or afraid for themselves, Julie didn't ask. A poisoning would surely be the icing on the disaster weekend cake.

Susan went up to her room, dragging her husband reluctantly behind. Gregory started for the front door, mumbling about getting something decent to eat, and Liam headed for the stairs with the preoccupied look in his eyes that he often got. Only Carrie remained in the tearoom with Julie and s.h.i.+rley.

”Would it be all right if I worked on the quilt a little more?” Carrie asked in her soft voice.

”I don't see why not,” Julie replied. Everyone had their own way of working through stress and bad times. If st.i.tching helped Carrie, then Julie wasn't about to tell her she couldn't quilt. After all, that was the real driving force behind the Quilt Haus Inn.

Carrie smiled, and her entire face lit up. ”Great. If you need me, that's where I'll be.”

Suddenly there was something very familiar about her, but Julie couldn't pinpoint what it was. The girl's smile was similar to another that Julie had seen before.

She sighed. Maybe it was because Carrie reminded her so much of Hannah. Whatever it was, Julie couldn't shake the strong sense of deja vu as she made her way into the kitchen.

She found Hannah sitting on one of the stools at the island, biting her lip as she thumbed through a large cookbook. Either she was looking for something, or she was exercising her page-turning muscles. Flip, flip, flip.

”How is she?” Hannah asked, eyes on the cookbook.

”She was stable when they took her.”

”Do they know what caused her ... whatever it was that happened?”

Julie shook her head. ”I think it was a heart attack. But we won't know much of anything until tomorrow.”

Hannah nodded, her shoulders stiff with worry.

”So, you knew that Joyce was allergic to peanuts?”

”Of course,” Hannah answered, pulling her eyes from the book. ”There's a place for that kind of information on the registration form. Plus, I double-check with all of our guests before their arrival in case I need to do any special ordering.”

Julie remembered that there was a place on the registration form about allergies and special requests. Hannah was just so competent that Julie had pretty much not given the food another thought since taking the innkeeper job.