Jimmy looked more rested for once, Alex thought, automatically assessing him. She treated the rest of the world as though they were patients, and it was hard not to notice how they looked, acted, or moved. She never seemed to be able to put her medical antennae away, and laughed at herself. But Jimmy smiled as soon as he saw her, and shook hands with Coop as Mark and Taryn went on talking about something that seemed to fascinate both of them. And for once, the kids hadn't invited friends over to swim, so things were fairly quiet. With the good weather, it seemed like a constant party at the pool these days, but this time, it was just the actual residents of The Cottage, which was a relief for Coop. The group was big enough without adding to it.
He had been in very good spirits since Taryn moved in. They were spending a lot of time with each other, and he had taken her to lunch at Spago and Le Dome, and all his other favorite haunts. He enjoyed showing her off and introducing her as his daughter. No one seemed surprised, they just assumed they had forgotten he had a grown daughter. And she was a very respectable-looking woman. Coop introduced her to everyone, and she was enjoying her taste of Hollywood. She told Alex all about it whenever they got together. It was a whole new world for her, and she thought it was fun. And sooner or later she had to decide whether or not to go back to New York, or to get involved in something in LA. But she was in no hurry to make the decision. She was having too much fun, and there was no pressure on her.
Alex thought she'd been a good influence on Coop. Although he'd been wonderful before, he somehow seemed more grounded, and more interested in other people's lives suddenly. He wasn't quite as focused on himself. He actually sounded as though it mattered to him when he asked Alex what she'd done at work. But when she explained it to him, he still looked a little blank. The complicated medical interventions she participated in were a little beyond him, as they would have been for most people. But if nothing else, he seemed happy and mellow these days.
He was working a little, but not enough, he said. Abe was still complaining to him. And he had heard from Liz, who was stunned by the number of people living on the property. She worried about how much the Friedman kids might annoy him, and she was touched at his story about Taryn finding him.
“I leave you for five minutes, Coop, and you have a whole new world of people around you.” Like Alex, she thought he sounded remarkably peaceful and content. More than she'd ever heard him. And when she asked him about Alex, he was vague. He had his own questions about that, but he didn't share them with anyone. It was occurring to him increasingly that if he just allowed himself to marry her, he would never have to work again. And if he didn't, he would be hustling cameo roles forever. It was so tempting to just let himself go, but he hated to take the easy way out, even at his age. Another, more practical side of him, told him he had earned it. But she was such an honest, decent person, and she worked so hard herself, he actually hated to take advantage of her. He loved her, and the easy life was so tempting. His financial worries would be solved forever, but another part of him was afraid that if he sold out, she would control him. She would have a right to make him do what she wanted, or try to at least, and that was anathema for him. For the moment, it still seemed like an unsolvable problem. And she had no idea what he was wrestling with, she thought their relationship was going fine, and it was for both of them. Except for Coop's bouts with his conscience. Much to his chagrin, it seemed to be growing like a benign tumor inside of him. It had never troubled him before, but Alex had introduced a new element into his life, a kind of white light that had made some things grow and others shrink. And his exchanges with Taryn only seemed to enhance it. They were both remarkable women, and they'd had a profound effect on him. More than he'd ever dreamed of or wanted. Life had been so simple before, without the burden of a conscience. And like it or not, the voices in his head seemed to be there to stay. All he needed now were the answers to their questions. He was searching for them.
By the end of Saturday afternoon, Jimmy had taken Jason somewhere to buy new sports equipment, Jessie was sitting at the far end of the pool, doing her nails with a friend, Taryn and Mark were still chatting quietly, and Coop was asleep under the tree, when Mark turned to Alex and invited the inhabitants of the main house to join them for dinner. Alex's eyes quickly went to Taryn's and she nodded almost imperceptibly, so Alex accepted on all their behalf. And when Coop woke up, and the others had gone, she told him.
“We seem to see an awful lot of them,” he complained. Mark and Taryn were trying to play tennis on the damaged court by then, and no one else was around, so she could be honest with him.
“I think Taryn really likes Mark,” she explained, “I think it's mutual, and she wanted me to accept. We don't have to go if you don't want to. She can go alone.”
“No, it's all right. I'll do anything I have to for my only daughter,” he said nobly, with a grin. “No sacrifice is too great for one's children.”
In truth, he loved having a nearly forty-year-old daughter, as no one was too clear about her age. But saying that brought Charlene to mind again. There had been some fresh demand for more money through her lawyers. She wanted a bigger apartment in a better neighborhood, preferably somewhere close to him in Bel Air, and she was wondering if she could use the pool, since she was feeling too ill to go anywhere, she claimed. Coop had an absolute fit when his lawyer called him, and said there would be nothing whatsoever given to her until the results of the DNA test came in. It was going to be another five or six weeks before she took it. And until then, and more than likely afterwards as well given the way she'd behaved, she was persona non grata at The Cottage or anywhere else that involved Coop. His irate message had been somewhat cleaned up by his attorney, and duly delivered to the opposition.
Alex felt sorry for him. Understandably, it was a situation he detested. And it put a strain on them as well. She knew he was worried about the financial implications to him. There had been a recent case where a girl had gotten twenty thousand dollars a month in child support from a man she had been involved with for two months. But the father of the baby in that case, as Alex pointed out to Coop reassuringly, was a major rock star with a humongous income. Coop was by no means in that situation. She was particularly aware of that now after talking to her father. Coop never talked about his debts, and he spent money with utter abandon. But she knew that somewhere in the back of his mind, he had to be worried about how much he would have to give Charlene to support the baby, if it was his.
The three of them went downstairs to the guest wing that night, promptly at seven. Taryn was wearing pale blue silk pajamas that were very flattering on her. She had designed them herself for her last season, before she closed her business. And Alex was wearing red silk pants, and a white shirt, with high-heeled gold sandals. She looked more than ever like a model or a ballerina, and not a doctor. It was a far cry from the scrubs and clogs and braid she wore at work, and Jimmy enjoyed the contrast when he joined them for dinner.
Jimmy described his tour of the ICU during dinner, as Taryn and Jessie helped serve the excellent spaghetti carbonara Mark had made. Jimmy had brought the salad. And there was tiramisu for dessert. Coop had brought two bottles of vintage Pouilly-Fuissé. And everyone listened with fascination as Jimmy talked about the work Alex did. She was impressed by how much he'd heard and understood, and only made one small correction, about a baby with a serious heart and lung problem. But he had correctly remembered all the rest.
“He seems to know a great deal about what you do,” Coop commented dryly when they went back upstairs. It was after midnight, and Taryn had decided to stay for a while, she was enjoying chatting with Mark and Jimmy. The kids had gone out with friends, and were staying with them. It had been an easy evening. “When did he visit you at the hospital?” Coop asked, sounding cool, and Alex was surprised at his tone. He actually sounded jealous, which was unnecessary, but touched her. It was nice to know how much he cared.