“So, we all know why we’re here. To get Devoiry out of the clutches of the mob”

The phone was ringing, but Chava was too busy to answer it. Yitzi had just spilled his pasta all over Sari, and she was trying to retaliate by lobbing her own dinner at him. Chava was restraining Sari while Elisheva cleaned up the pasta.

Elisheva looked at her mother. “How in the world did you do this on your own when we were little?”

Chava shook her head. “I have no idea. I guess youth makes a difference.”

“Well, I’m young and these kids are hard.” Elisheva narrowed her eyes. “Any word from Devoiry on when she’s coming back?”

“Not yet.” Chava tried to keep her voice neutral, to mask her growing anxiety. You’d think a mother would want to check on her children at least once a day. But in the four days that they’d been here, Devoiry had called only once, and she’d sounded strained and eager to get off.

“I guess she and Avi are living it up on their vacation,” Elisheva said.

“It’s a business trip,” Chava said automatically.

Elisheva snorted. “Right. What do you wanna bet their ‘work’ involves relaxing in the Swiss Alps?”

If she hadn’t been so worried, Chava would’ve been tempted to laugh. (Why was it that had Devoiry made such a comment, Chava would have admonished her, but with Elisheva, she was able to admit it was funny?)

The phone rang again. Maybe it was Devoiry? Chava cautiously released Sari’s arms and ran to get the call.

She looked at the caller ID: Tirtza Strauss. Disappointed, she let the call go through to voice message. Chava didn’t have the headspace at the moment to consider job changes.

She’d already told Tirtza that her answer was probably no, but had been just wishy-washy enough for Tirtza to declare, “I’m going to give you another week or so to think about it.” She assumed Tirtza’s patience would only last so long; at some point, the job would be given to someone else.

Chava didn’t know if that would make her feel relieved or regretful; right now, she wasn’t up to such analyses. Her brow furrowed as her fears washed over her once more.

What was going on with Devoiry?