He was getting calls from Abe these days too, reminding him that he was spending too much money, and concerned over the child support he was going to have to pay Charlene. “You can't afford it, Coop. And if you miss a payment, she'll put you in jail. That's how those things work, and from the look of her, she'll do it.”
“Thanks for the good news, Abe.” He was spending less money than he usually did on Alex because she had simple tastes, but his overhead was still too high, according to Abe. He kept assuring Coop that the reckoning was coming.
“You'd better marry the Madison girl,” he said, chuckling, wondering if that was why Coop was going out with her. Given who she was, it was hard to imagine Coop didn't have an ulterior motive, and he was still examining his own conscience. He was daily more convinced that he loved her.
And Liz had also called him about the furor in the tabloids. She was outraged.
“What a rotten situation! You never should have gone out with her, Coop!”
“Now you tell me,” he chuckled ruefully. “How's marriage?”
“I love it, although San Francisco takes a little getting used to. I'm always cold, and it's awfully quiet.”
“Well, you can leave him, and come back to me. I always need you.”
“Thank you, Coop.” But she was happy with Ted, and loved his daughters. She was only sorry she had waited so long to get married. She realized now how much she had sacrificed for Coop. She would have loved to have children of her own, but it was too late for that now. At fifty-two, she had to content herself with Ted's daughters. “What's Alex like?”
“An angel of mercy,” he said, smiling, “the girl next door. Audrey Hepburn. Dr. Kildare. She's terrific. You'd love her.”
“Bring her to San Francisco for a weekend.”
“I'd love to, but she's always working, or on call. She's the senior resident. It's a big responsibility.” It was an odd match for him, Liz couldn't help thinking, but she was obviously very pretty. And the papers said she was thirty, which was the outer limit of the age he liked them. Anything between twenty-one and thirty was fair game for Coop.
Liz also asked him how much he was working. She hadn't seen him in anything lately, not even a commercial. He'd been calling his agent, but nothing seemed to be brewing, for the moment. But as his agent reminded him, he wasn't getting any younger.
“I've been working less than I'd like to, but I've got some irons in the fire. I just talked to three producers this morning.”
“What you need is one big juicy part to get everyone's motors going again. Once they see you in a big part, they'll all want you. You know what sheep producers are, Coop.” She didn't want to say it to him, but he needed a big part playing someone's father. The trouble was Coop still wanted to be the leading man, and no one wanted to hire him for that. But Coop just couldn't see himself as any older, which was why he was so comfortable with Alex. He never even thought about being forty years older than she was. And neither did Alex. She had pondered the issue initially and as she got to know him and fell in love with him, she dismissed it.
They were lying on his terrace talking about nothing in particular that weekend, when her pager went off. She was on call, but when she glanced down at it, she saw that it wasn't the hospital. She instantly recognized the number, and waited half an hour to pick up her cell phone. Coop was stretched out in a deck chair in the shade next to her, reading the paper, and only listening with half an ear to her conversation.
“Yes, that's right. I had a good time. How are you?” He had no idea who she was talking to, but the exchange didn't sound friendly, and she was frowning. “When?…I think I'm working…I can see you for lunch at the hospital, if I'm covered. How long will you be here?… Fine… see you on Tuesday.” He couldn't tell if she was talking to a friend or someone like a lawyer, but whatever it was, she didn't look as though she'd enjoyed it.
“Who was that?” Coop looked puzzled.
“My father. He's coming to LA on Tuesday for meetings. He wants to see me.”
“That should be interesting. Did he say anything about me?”
“Only that he saw that I was at the Oscars. He never mentioned you by name. He'll save that for later.”
“Should we take him to dinner?” Coop offered generously, although it still unnerved him to think that the man was younger than he was, and far more important. Arthur Madison was not only made of money, but of power.
“Nope,” Alex said, glancing at him. She was wearing dark glasses, so he couldn't read her expression, but it was definitely not warm and fuzzy, nor was she enthusiastic about seeing her father. “Thanks anyway. I'll see him for lunch at the hospital. He's flying back after his meeting.” Coop knew he had his own 727.
“Maybe next time,” he said pleasantly. But he could see that she wasn't looking forward to the meeting. And ten minutes later, she got called to the hospital for an emergency.
