Authors: Danielle Steel
“I like dogs,” she said simply, looking up at Coco. “My grandmother has a French poodle. It doesn't bite.”
“Neither do ours,” Coco explained. “Their names are Jack and Sallie. Jack is as tall as your dad, when he stands up.” Chloe laughed.
“That sounds very silly,” Chloe said, as Leslie got both her bags off the turntable and set them down next to Coco.
“I'll go and get the car,” he announced, and suddenly took off, leaving Chloe with Coco. She wasn't quite sure what to say to her, but Chloe chatted with her with ease.
“My mom is an actress on Broadway,” she explained, while they waited for her father. “She's very good and the play is very sad. Everyone dies. I like musicals better, but my mom doesn't play in those, just sad ones. She gets killed at the end. I was there on opening night.” She was exactly what Leslie had said, both enchanting child and small adult. “Are you an actress too?” Chloe asked her pleasantly.
“No. I walk dogs.” Coco felt silly as she said it. It was harder to explain to a child. “I walk people's dogs for them while they're at work. It's kind of fun.”
They chatted easily for a few minutes until Leslie returned. He was pleased to see that Chloe looked completely at ease with Coco. He carried the bags out to the car, strapped Chloe into the backseat, put her suitcases in the back, and a moment later they drove off.
“What are we going to do here?” Chloe asked as they drove into the city. “Is there a zoo?”
Coco answered for Leslie, since she knew the city better. “Yes, there is. And there are cable cars, and there's a place called Chinatown. And we can go to the beach.”
“Coco has a lovely cottage at the beach that I think you'll love,” Leslie filled in, as Coco smiled at him. She realized then that this was going to be like playing house, with his child. They had been living together for two and a half months, and suddenly they were a family. Or he and Chloe were, and she was tagging along. This was his real life. It was a taste of reality for both of them. It scared her a little, but she liked it.
When they got to the house, Leslie opened the door with his keys and turned off the alarm, and then turned to Chloe with a broad smile. “Welcome home for the next two weeks,” and then he walked her into the kitchen and offered her ice cream. She was still holding on to her bear. She had told Coco at the airport that his name was Alexander. It was a handsome name for a very raggedy old bear. All three of them sat down at the kitchen table, and Coco got out the ice cream. And then much to her horror, Leslie told his daughter about the scene with the maple syrup when they met. Chloe let out big belly laughs as he explained it to her, while she dribbled ice cream down her chin, and so did he. It warmed Coco's heart to see them both. Chloe looked as though she should be part of his everyday life. Being a father seemed to come so naturally to him.
When the three of them finished their ice creams, Coco introduced Chloe to the dogs. She made Jack hold out his paw to shake her hand, and Chloe giggled. She wasn't afraid of him at all, and Sallie ran circles around them, while Coco explained that Sallie used to herd sheep in Australia. And then they all went upstairs. Chloe was going to sleep with her father in the guest room that night. He winked at Coco over his daughter's head, and she got the message that he'd come in to visit when Chloe fell asleep.
Coco unpacked her bag for her, and Leslie watched while she brushed her teeth. She washed her face and put on her pajamas, and then Coco helped her unbraid her hair. It was fair and long and fine and wavy from the braids. Chloe got into the big bed then, and Coco kissed her goodnight and went back to her own room, while Leslie sat with her until she fell asleep.
He wandered into the master suite twenty minutes later, with a happy smile as he flopped down on their bed.
“She's adorable,” Coco said, smiling at him, as he leaned across the bed and kissed her. “She looks just like you, in blond.”
“So I'm told,” he said proudly. “She thought you were very nice and very pretty. She wanted to know if I love you, and I said I do. I'm always honest with her. She said I could sleep in here if I wanted to. I left her door open, and the light on in the bathroom. And we can leave our door open too, if you don't mind.”
“This is so grown up,” Coco giggled, looking like a kid herself, and he laughed.
“Yes, it is, isn't it? Fatherhood always does that to me. She makes me feel very responsible. I wish I saw her more,” he said wistfully. “She's such a great kid.”
“Yes, she is,” Coco agreed, as he got under the covers next to her. “Are you sure it's all right if you sleep in here?”
“She said it was,” he said comfortably. “She's a pretty savvy little kid.” He liked that she felt at ease with Coco too, and he liked the way Coco talked to her. She had a gentle, kind way with dogs and children, and with him too. He loved her even more now after seeing her with his daughter. It was wonderful for him having two people he loved under one roof. He was looking forward to the next two weeks with both of them. He pulled Coco into his arms then, and they lay side by side, talking for a while, in whispers, although Chloe couldn't hear them from the next room, and she was sound asleep.
Half an hour later, he and Coco had fallen asleep too. The dogs were downstairs, asleep in the kitchen. Coco had left them there so they didn't bother Chloe or climb up on her bed.
The house was quiet while all of them slept, and the next morning, when Coco rolled over before her alarm went off, and opened one eye, she found herself looking at Chloe, who was smiling at her. She had climbed into their bed when she woke up. Leslie was still sound asleep, and Coco laughed when she saw her.
“Are you hungry?” Coco whispered, as Chloe nodded with a broad grin. “Let's go downstairs and get something to eat.” They tiptoed out of the room so as not to wake her father. Coco let the dogs out, and Chloe sat down at the kitchen table as though she'd lived there all her life. “What do you like to eat for breakfast?” Coco asked her as they smiled at each other.
“Cereal and a banana, and toast, and a glass of milk.”
“Coming right up,” Coco said as she got it all together and put the kettle on for tea. “Did you sleep okay?” Chloe nodded happily, and then looked at Coco more intently.
“My dad says he loves you. Do you love him too?” she asked with a serious expression.
“Yes, I do,” Coco answered as she put the breakfast in front of her. “Very much. And he loves you a lot too, most of all.” She wanted to reassure her.
“My mom lets me watch his movies whenever I want,” Chloe informed her as she dug into the cereal, and then had some juice.
“I like to watch them too,” Coco confessed as she sat down across from her. “There's a big, big screen in our room here, if you want to watch his movies, or some other ones. It's fun to watch them on such a big screen.”
“My dad doesn't like watching them,” Chloe informed her, and Coco nodded.
“I know. We can watch other stuff with him.”
“What are you two up to?” They both jumped as Leslie walked into the kitchen. They hadn't heard him come in on bare feet.
“We're talking about watching your movies on the big screen,” Coco explained, as Chloe shoved too much of the banana into her mouth and then tried to talk. Leslie imitated her and they all laughed, and then the dogs wandered in and out again. It was everything a family should be.
“Why don't we take Chloe to the beach today, when you finish at noon?” he suggested. It was Saturday, and sounded like a great idea to all three of them.
“Can we swim?” Chloe asked, looking excited, and Leslie told her it was too cold to swim there. He didn't tell her about the sharks, and he said they could swim at home, in the pool.
He took her to see the pool while Coco tidied up the kitchen, and then went upstairs to dress. And when Chloe and her father came back, Coco offered to do her braids for her before she went to work. It was fun taking care of her and being there with them. She ran a bath for Chloe before she left, and promised to be back soon. Chloe waved from the window while Coco drove off in her van. It was nice knowing they'd be there when she got home. This was a whole different life than the one she'd had for years now in Bolinas, solitary for the past two years. She loved playing house with Leslie and his daughter.
Coco was back in time to have lunch with them, and immediately after, they left for the beach. Chloe watched with interest as they drove along, asked questions, and told her father what she'd been doing in the Hamptons all summer. She said her mother had a new boyfriend and he had a boat, and she was going to Saint-Tropez with him after joining him in Monte Carlo. Coco tried not to smile as she listened. Chloe made comments about the people in her life, and more than likely would be telling her mother about Coco when she went back.
“He's kind of funny-looking,” Chloe said about Monica's new boyfriend. “He has a big stomach and he's bald, but he's very nice. And Mom says his boat is very big.” Monica had never been one to ignore material benefits from the men she dated, Leslie thought, as Chloe described him. But if it worked for her, why not? He could see that Coco was trying not to laugh. “He's old too,” Chloe added. She had brought her bear with her, and held him up to look at the sea as they drove along the cliffs. And then she turned her interest to Coco. Leslie was driving this time. “Why aren't you married, and have children?” she asked, looking curious. She had told her father again that morning that she thought Coco was nice.
“I haven't met the right man yet,” she answered honestly. “My mom asks me the same thing.”
“Do you have brothers and sisters?” Chloe wanted to know everything and wasn't afraid to ask.
“I have a sister named Jane. She's eleven years older than I am.”
“That's old,” Chloe said, looking sorry for her, as they drove down the hill to Stinson Beach. There was a haze of fog on the ocean, but the sky was blue and the weather was still good. The climate was always unpredictable in August, and cold and windy in the city. The locals were used to it, and tourists were always disappointed, but Chloe didn't seem to care. She was just happy being with her father and Coco. She didn't seem to mind sharing him with a woman. She had met a lot of his girlfriends over the years. She had informed Coco of that over breakfast, and Coco just nodded as she listened. “Is your sister married and has kids?” Chloe asked hopefully. She liked playing with other children, but she was comfortable alone with grown-ups too, just as Leslie had said. She seemed totally at ease in her world, and even someone else's. She had been exposed to a very sophisticated life in her six years.
“No, she's not married either,” Coco said apologetically, “and she doesn't have any children. She lives with a friend, kind of a roommate. Her name is Liz.”
“Is she gay?” Chloe asked with wide-open eyes, and Coco nearly fell off her seat. She turned to look at the child with a cautious smile, and Leslie chuckled. He'd survived many interrogations of that sort at his daughter's hands. It was all new to Coco.
“What does gay mean?” Coco asked, feigning ignorance, to see what she would say.
“Don't you know? That means when boys live with boys and girls live with girls, and they kiss sometimes. And they can't have babies because only boys and girls can do that. Do you want to hear how people make babies? My mom told me about it,” she announced with a knowing look and then hugged her bear. She was the oddest mix of child and adult, adorable pixie and tiny woman. Coco had never met anyone like her, and already loved her. It was hard not to. She was the funniest little girl.
“I don't think I need to hear how people do that,” Coco said quickly. “My mom told me too. I was a little older than you when she did,” like about fourteen, and by then Coco had already heard the essential mechanics from Jane.
“It sounds weird, doesn't it?” Chloe commented, as they drove past the tiny town of Stinson Beach heading toward Bolinas. “I don't want someone sticking their penis in me when I'm older. That's disgusting,” she said, looking incensed, and then she turned wide eyes to Coco again. “Does my dad do that with you?” she asked clearly as Leslie choked and glanced at Coco, who was stumbling over her words.
“Errr… uh… no, he doesn't,” she lied, but she was not about to admit it to her. Some things were impossible to admit to a six-year-old, no matter how well informed she was.
“That's why you don't have children,” she said matter-of-factly “You'll have to do that one day if you want to have a baby. My mom did it with my dad.” She said it like something silly they'd done a long time ago, or a trip they'd taken. She obviously didn't understand the full meaning of what she'd been told, or the implications, although she had the mechanics right.
“Well, I'm very glad they had you,” Coco said blithely, trying to recover from the conversation, as Leslie took the turnoff to Bolinas, and they continued down the bumpy narrow road until they reached her house. “Here we are,” Coco said, ready to get out of the car, before Chloe could embark on any more delicate topics. Coco hadn't been ready for that.
All three of them got out of the car, and Coco unlocked her tiny house, as Chloe bounced in behind her. The dogs who had been cramped in the back of Jane's station wagon bounded off to the beach.
“Oh, it's so pretty!” Chloe said, clapping her hands, with her bear tucked under her arm. She set him on the couch and looked around the cottage. “It looks like where Goldilocks lived, or Snow White.” Coco laughed in answer. They had gone from sex to Snow White in under five minutes. Chloe walked out onto the deck then, as Leslie grinned at her.
“That's my girl,” he said in a whisper. “I told you she's very adult. Her mother treats her like one. But she's still very much a child at the same time. You handled that very well. And I promise never to do that disgusting thing to you again that she mentioned, unless we want to have a baby.” Coco laughed out loud, and they followed his daughter out to the deck.
“Can we play on the beach?”
“Of course, that's why we came here. Do you want to build a sand castle, or just run around?” Coco asked her.