YOU’LL ALWAYS HAVE A GOOD TIME READING IRIS RAINER DART! ’TIL THE REAL THING COMES ALONG “The characters are romantic and lively and the plot moves along with engaging force…. She understands people and that’s Dart’s strong point as an author. $he takes us into their emotions and makes us understand them, mainly because they make the same mistakes and have the same dreams as the readers.” —Ocala Star-Banner “Iris gives you her world in her voice. The behind-the-scenes of ;i comedy star show, the survival of writers who are used to big salaries, the male-dominated suites of the networks…. [She can] make you laugh, cry, and think.” —California Jewish Press “Dart, the author of Beaches, writes with…humor and compassion.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer on Tbe, Stork Club “If Iris Rainer Dart were a performer instead of a writer, she’d almost certainly be Bette Midler…Midler’s brash style is Dart’s fiction made flesh.” —Chicago Tribune Books by Iris Rainer Dart ’Til the Real Thing Comes Along Beaches The Stork Club Beaches II: I’ll Be There Show Business Kills Copyright Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint lyrics from the following songs: “CANT TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU” By Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. Copyright © 1967 Saturday Music, Inc. & Seasons Four Music. Used by permission only. All rights reserved. “I’M GLAD THERE IS YOU (IN THIS WORLD OF ORDINARY PEOPLE)” by Paul Madeira and Jimmy Dorsey. Copyright 1941,1942 MORLEY MUSIC CO. Copyright © renewed 1969, 1970 MORLEY MUSIC CO. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by permission “IT’S ALL IN THE GAME” (Dawes-Sigman). Copyright 1912 and 1951 renewed and terminated and assigned to Larry Spier, Inc. and Major Songs Co. Reprinted with permission of The Copyright Owners. “WHEN YOU WORE A TULIP (AND I WORE A BIG RED ROSE),” words by Jack Mahoney, Music by Percy Wenrich. Copyright 1914, renewed 1942 LEO FEIST, INC. Rights assigned to CBS CATALOG PARTNERSHIP. All rights controlled & administerd by CBS FEIST CATALOG INC. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission. “THEY ALL LAUGHED” by George and Ira Gershwin. Copyright 1937 by Gershwin Publishing Corp. Copyright renewed, assigned to CHAPPELL & CO. INC. International copyright secred. All rights reserved. Used by permission. “SMALL WORLD, ISN’T IT?” by Stephen Sondheim & Julie Styne. Copyright © 1959 and 1960 by Norbeth Productions & Stephen Sondheim Williamson Music Co., and Stratford Music, Owner of publication and allied rights throughout the world. CHAPPELL & CO. Sole selling agent. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by permission. “GETTING TO KNOW YOU” by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein IL. Copyright 1951 by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein IL Copyright renewed, Williamson Music Co., owner of publication and allied rights throughout the Western Hemisphere and Japan. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Used by permission “RHINESTONE COWBOY” (Larry Weiss). Copyright © 1974 WB MUSIC CORP and HOUSE OF WEISS MUSIC. All rights reserved. Used by permission. “YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO YOUNG” (Joseph Myrow and Mack Gordon). Copyright 1946 WB MUSIC CORP. (Renewed). All rights reserved. Used by permission. “I’M FOREVER BLOWING BUBBLES” (John William Kellette and Jean Kenbbrovin) Copyright 1919 WARNER BROS. INC. (Renewed). All rights reserved. Used by permission. “ON THE BOARDWALK IN ATLANTIC CITY” (Joseph Myrow and Mack Gordon). Copyright 1946 WB MUSIC CORP. (Renewed). All rights reserved. Used by permission. WARNER BOOKS EDITION Copyright © 1987 by Iris Rainer Dart All rights reserved. This Warner Books Edition is published by arrangement with the author. Warner Books, Inc. Hachette Book Group 237 Park Avenue New York, NY 10017 Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com First eBook Edition: October 2009 ISBN: 978-0-446-56761-9 This book is dedicated to the memory of my parents, Rose and Harry Ratner. and to my blessings, my son and daughter, and to Stephen Dart, my knight in shining armor Prairie Hili Books 6508 Old Independence Rd. Brenham, TX 77833-6634 (979) 836-9226 [email protected] www.prairiehillbooks.com THANK-YOUS Barry Adelman Doctor Howard Allen Sylvia Angel Ann Beckett Mary Blann Hank Bradford Francois R. Brenot Joyce Brotman Ethel Eisner Sandy Ferguson Joe Mansfield Elaine Markson Doctor Alfred Pasternak Fanny and Benny Rabinowitz Elliot Ratner Joe Singer Meg Sivitz Susan Sivitz and a special thank-you to my editor, Linda Grey, for the confidence, enthusiasm, and support she’s given me since the very first day. Contents Books by Iris Rainer Dart Copyright THANK-YOUS BOOK ONE: R.J. BOOK TWO: DAVEYAND ROSIE JANE DAVEY’S STORY ROSIE JANE’S STORY DAVEY’S STORY ROSIE’S STORY DAVEY’S STORY R.J.’S STORY BOOK THREE: R.J. BOOK FOUR: DAVEY AND ROSDE JANE DAVID’S STORY ROSIE’S STORY DAVID’S STORY R.J.’S STORY DAVID’S STORY BOOK FIVE: R.J. and David BOOK ONE R.J. 1979-1981 I t was three o’clock in the morning and a thick gray cloud of cigar smoke hung in the air over the conference table. R.J. took another sip of coffee from a white mug that had the words THE BROAD printed boldly in red on the side, then held the mug next to her cheek, hoping the heat would soothe her pounding headache. “Patsy’s gotta say it right out on the air,” Harry Elfand announced. “‘My husband left me for a younger woman.’ America is gonna love her for tellin’ the truth, so let’s run with it.” “How young is the other woman?” Eddie Levy asked, knowing the other writers would rise to the bait. “She’s so young, when he takes her out to dinner he has to cut her meat,” Marty Nussbaum offered. “He has to strain the food.” “He comes home with pablum on his breath.” “The only social disease he worries about is diaper rash.” The voices of the writers were strained with exhaustion. “You’re makin’ the girlfriend too young,” Harry Elfand said. Then he absently put a lit match to the cigar he was chewing, even though the cigar was already lit. R.J. wriggled her toes inside her boots. She would never get through another hour of this. She was freezing and sleepy. A younger woman. What’s funny about a younger woman? she thought. “Everyone reads the Enquirer. We’ve gotta make Patsy come out smelling like a rose. She caught her old man cheating. The girlfriend’s eighteen. Patsy’s thirty-six.” “How’d Patsy catch him?” Eddie Levy asked. R.J. put her cup down on the table and answered in a sleepy voice. “She found Clearasil on his collar.” “That’s funny,” someone muttered very quietly. “Good one,” Harry Elfand said to R.J. “Stay with it.” “Freddy’s so cheap, he’ll marry the girl ’cause he can get her into the movies for half price,” R.J. said. She was so punchy that she laughed a sharp little laugh out loud at that one. No one else even cracked a smile. “Okay, two jokes about the girl is enough,” Harry Elfand said, turning to face