food poisoning."
"I see."
I swallowed too quickly, burning the back of my throat. "But it wasn't anything he ate here, of course. You knew he was out most of last night, didn't you?"
"With your sister, I take it."
"How did you know that?"
"Jim has an eye for women, and your sister is very attractive."
"She is?" Just between you and me, Susannah is the plainer of us. What I mean is, if you stood the two of us side by side - without all that makeup and gunk - and spotted me a few points for age, I'd be the more attractive sister. At least that's what Aaron said when we were courting. Then again, the man didn't tell me he had a wife stashed up in Minnesota.
He nodded, but didn't seem inclined to elaborate.
It was just as well. I had some important business to broach, and flattery and money do not mix. Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible does not label money the root of all evil. It says that the love of money is the root of all evil. I, for one, do not love money; I merely enjoy its benefits. To put it simply, money has been good to me.
Flattery, on the other hand, got me into a bogus marriage that made me the laughingstock of the county. It almost cost me membership in my church. And Lord only knows how many times it's gotten Susannah to do the horizontal hokeypokey, as she so crudely puts it.
"Well," I said, after a decent interval, "I suppose you'll be canceling the contest. That's understandable, of course, but I'm not going to be able to give you a full refund. In fact, I can't even give you a prorated refund, because you'll be leaving me with empty rooms for the rest of the week. You see, I had to cancel some very important guests to squeeze you in. But - " I spread my hands magnanimously - "how does fifty percent sound?"
He shook his head.
"Look buster, I had Bill and Hillary coming, not to mention Roach Clip."
"The Roach Clip?"
"You've heard of him?"
"My secretary love his music - to use the term loosely," he said. "And you don't need to bother with a refund, because I'm not going to cancel."
My mouth opened wide enough to catch a gold ball. I willed it into speaking position.
"You're not going to cancel? But you only have three judges, and one of them is in the hospital, maybe dying, and - "
"Jim will be fine." He patted a cell phone in his suit pocket. "I talked to his doctor just before you drove up. A nice Dr. Gilderstein, I believe."
"That's Dr. Rosenkrantz," I snapped.
"Anyway, you were right. It is a case of food poisoning. But a fairly mild one at that. Jim passed out because he was dehydrated. He'd been throwing up all night."
That explained all the flushing I'd heard. I had all the plumbing updated when I turned the family home into an inn, but there's just so much you can do with two-hundred-year-old walls.
"It's a good thing I have my own well," I said. "Those motels in Bedford would charge you exta for all that water."
He chuckled. "The good news is that the paramedics hooked him up to an IV right away, and by the time I called, Jim was coming around."
"So he's going to judge, after all?"
He chuckled again. "Not hardly. I don't think he'll be able to look at solid food for a day or two, and our schedule has us judging the first entry tomorrow."
"Two judges is an interesting concept," I said kindly.
"Oh, there will be three of us, if my hunch is right."
"If you don't mind my asking, who's the third?"
He laughed outright. "You are, Miss Yoder."
-8-
"Me?"
His blue eyes danced the tarantella. "That is, if you'll agree. And I'm pretty sure you will."
"And just what makes you so sure?"
He slapped his knee, an unseemly thing for the top executive of a large company to do. "You're a pistol," he said, between laughs.
I felt my eyebrows arch
"I see."
I swallowed too quickly, burning the back of my throat. "But it wasn't anything he ate here, of course. You knew he was out most of last night, didn't you?"
"With your sister, I take it."
"How did you know that?"
"Jim has an eye for women, and your sister is very attractive."
"She is?" Just between you and me, Susannah is the plainer of us. What I mean is, if you stood the two of us side by side - without all that makeup and gunk - and spotted me a few points for age, I'd be the more attractive sister. At least that's what Aaron said when we were courting. Then again, the man didn't tell me he had a wife stashed up in Minnesota.
He nodded, but didn't seem inclined to elaborate.
It was just as well. I had some important business to broach, and flattery and money do not mix. Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible does not label money the root of all evil. It says that the love of money is the root of all evil. I, for one, do not love money; I merely enjoy its benefits. To put it simply, money has been good to me.
Flattery, on the other hand, got me into a bogus marriage that made me the laughingstock of the county. It almost cost me membership in my church. And Lord only knows how many times it's gotten Susannah to do the horizontal hokeypokey, as she so crudely puts it.
"Well," I said, after a decent interval, "I suppose you'll be canceling the contest. That's understandable, of course, but I'm not going to be able to give you a full refund. In fact, I can't even give you a prorated refund, because you'll be leaving me with empty rooms for the rest of the week. You see, I had to cancel some very important guests to squeeze you in. But - " I spread my hands magnanimously - "how does fifty percent sound?"
He shook his head.
"Look buster, I had Bill and Hillary coming, not to mention Roach Clip."
"The Roach Clip?"
"You've heard of him?"
"My secretary love his music - to use the term loosely," he said. "And you don't need to bother with a refund, because I'm not going to cancel."
My mouth opened wide enough to catch a gold ball. I willed it into speaking position.
"You're not going to cancel? But you only have three judges, and one of them is in the hospital, maybe dying, and - "
"Jim will be fine." He patted a cell phone in his suit pocket. "I talked to his doctor just before you drove up. A nice Dr. Gilderstein, I believe."
"That's Dr. Rosenkrantz," I snapped.
"Anyway, you were right. It is a case of food poisoning. But a fairly mild one at that. Jim passed out because he was dehydrated. He'd been throwing up all night."
That explained all the flushing I'd heard. I had all the plumbing updated when I turned the family home into an inn, but there's just so much you can do with two-hundred-year-old walls.
"It's a good thing I have my own well," I said. "Those motels in Bedford would charge you exta for all that water."
He chuckled. "The good news is that the paramedics hooked him up to an IV right away, and by the time I called, Jim was coming around."
"So he's going to judge, after all?"
He chuckled again. "Not hardly. I don't think he'll be able to look at solid food for a day or two, and our schedule has us judging the first entry tomorrow."
"Two judges is an interesting concept," I said kindly.
"Oh, there will be three of us, if my hunch is right."
"If you don't mind my asking, who's the third?"
He laughed outright. "You are, Miss Yoder."
-8-
"Me?"
His blue eyes danced the tarantella. "That is, if you'll agree. And I'm pretty sure you will."
"And just what makes you so sure?"
He slapped his knee, an unseemly thing for the top executive of a large company to do. "You're a pistol," he said, between laughs.
I felt my eyebrows arch
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