Joe stood up quickly. “If I could see him for just a moment—”
Archie Munn said: “I wouldn’t, Joe.”
All at once Joe found it hard to swallow. He said: “So Mr. Wylie won’t talk.”
Lucille drawled: “That’ll be the day.” It was all carelessly off-hand.
But Joe knew the cold, frightening truth. He wasn’t out of the Sue Davis Against the World show, but neither was the part his. It might never be his. Lost in worry he strode across the room, strode back.
“Joe’s rehearsing for a walk-on,” Stella said.
Without warning, the strain of carrying a front broke him. “It’s the not knowing,” he said.
“That’s what always puts the knife into you,” Archie Munn said bitterly.
“Infant,” said Lucille, “we’ve all been there. Not one of us has a sure part for next season.”
Joe was startled. “But when Years of Danger went off last June—”