"I will, Mrs. Woolf."
"All right," she said. "So now I'll go see if the soup is hot."
Rosa came into the room just as David was about to introduce Needlenose to the Strassmers.
She stopped in the doorway, a look of surprise on her face. Then she smiled and came into the room.
"Why, Mr. Schwartz," she said.
"How nice to see you."
Irving looked up. He held out his hand.
"Hey, Doc," he said.
"I didn't know you knew my friend David."
She took his hand.
"We just met this evening."
Irving looked at David. "Doc Strassmer did my nose retread. She's really great, David.
Did you know she did that job on Linda Davis last year?"
David looked at Rosa curiously.
No one had ever said anything about her being a doctor.
And the Linda Davis operation had been a big one.
The actress's face had been cut to ribbons in an automobile accident, yet when she went before the cameras a year later, there wasn't the slightest visible trace of disfigurement.
He was suddenly aware that Mr. and Mrs. Strassmer were staring at him nervously.
He smiled at Rosa.
"Doctor, you're just the one I wanted to talk to.
What do you think I ought to do about the terribly empty feeling I suddenly got in my stomach?"
She looked at him gratefully. The nervousness was gone from her eyes now and they glinted mischievously.
"I think a few of your mother's knaidlach might fix that."
"Knaidlach?
Who said something about my knaidlach?" his mother said from the doorway. She bustled into the room importantly. "So everybody sit down," she said. "The soup's on the table and already it's getting cold."
11.
When they had finished dinner, Rosa looked at her watch.
"You'll have to excuse me for a little while," she said. "I have to run over to the hospital to see a patient."
David looked at her. "I’ll drive you over, if you like."
She smiled. "You don't have to do that. I have my own car."
"It's no bother," David said politely. "At least, let me keep you company."
Irving got to his feet.
"I have to be going, too," he said. He turned to Mrs. Woolf. "Thank you for a delicious dinner. It made me homesick."
David's mother smiled. "So be a good boy, Yitzchak," she said, "and you can come again."
Rosa smiled at David's mother. "We won't be long."
"Go," Mrs. Woolf said.
"Don't you children rush." She glanced beamingly at Rosa's parents. "We older ones have a lot to talk about."
"I'm sorry, Irving," David said as they came out of the apartment house. "We didn't have much of a chance to talk.
Maybe we can make it tomorrow?"
"We can talk right now," Irving said quietly. "I’m sure we can trust Rosa. Can't we, Doc?"
Rosa made a gesture. "I can wait in the car," she said quickly.
David stopped her. "No, that's all right." He turned back to Irving. "I must have seemed stupid when you called yesterday. But Dan Pierce mostly handles our labor relations."
"That's O.K., Davy," Irving said. "I figured something like that."
"Dan tells me we're looking down the throat of a strike. I suppose you know we can't afford one.
It'll bust us."
"I know," Irving answered. "And I'm trying to help.
But I’m in a spot unless we can work out some kind of a deal."
"What kind of a spot can you be in?
Nobody's pressing you to go out on strike.
Your members are just getting over the effects of the depression layoffs."