Blake shook his head. He’d always been an afterthought in her life and likely always would be.
“I thought you’d be happy for me,” Grandpop said. “But it’s obvious you’re not.”
“Can you blame me? You spring this on me with no warning, and three weeks is too soon to be sure. That’s why I’m questioning your judgment.”
“Well, stop. I love this woman, and she loves me. We want to be together, live in the same unit and share a bed. We can’t do that unless we’re married.”
“You don’t have to get married to sleep together.”
Grandpop smirked. “We’ve been doing exactly that.”
The thought of them having sex… Blake didn’t want to think about that and managed to hide his reaction. “Can’t you continue the way you are?”
“Not if we want to live together. There’s a rule here about that. No cohabiting.”
Blake frowned. “Why is that?”
“No idea. That’s just how it is here. As soon as we’re married, we’ll move to a bigger place. I have my eye on something on the top floor that’d be perfect. Caroline likes it, too.”
He talked about the unit they wanted to share, but Blake didn’t pay much attention. He was thinking about the marriage rule at the 709. It made sense and kept things from getting sticky when one person got sick or worse. Which, face it, was bound to happen as people aged, even if they were in good condition now. “Sounds nice, but what’s the rush, Grandpop?”
“We have to move quickly, before Caroline does something she’ll regret.”
Blake had no idea what that was about. “I’m not following.”
“Her daughters have offered to help her with the down payment on her unit, but she’s decided not to take their money. She’s too proud.”
Blake didn’t like the sound of that. “Are you saying she doesn’t have the money in hand?”
“She will, once she cashes out her life insurance policy. According to her, it’s worth a fair amount. She’s looking into that now.”
Although they were the only two in the library, Grandpop leaned in and lowered his voice. “She doesn’t know this yet and won’t like it, but I don’t plan on letting her use her money to help pay for the unit.”
“What do you mean, you won’t let her?”
“Just what I said. Paying for the whole thing myself will be my wedding gift to her.”
“That’ll cost a bundle.”
“So? I’ll get a partial refund on my current place.” Grandpop shrugged. “Anyway, I have more money than I’ll ever need.”
And the story kept getting worse. “And Caroline’s okay with that.”
“Did you not listen to what I said? She has no idea I’m footing the entire bill. She’ll be okay with it.”
Blake didn’t like the sound of that, but wasn’t surprised. For all he knew, Caroline had planned the whole thing shortly after the two of them had met. In the few years since Grandmom had died, more than a few women had plotted to marry him and get their hands on his money. He’d seen through them and steered clear. Until now. “Gold diggers come in all ages.”
“Caroline is no gold digger.” Grandpop’s face reddened and he stood up. “This conversation is over.”
CHAPTER 4
“We have a lot to talk about,” Vi told Gran as soon as they entered her unit. It was small but comfortable, with a little kitchenette and table off the living room and a decent-size bedroom and bath. Through the large picture window in the living room, pretty white lights lit the peekaboo view of the garden for security purposes and nighttime walks. Easier to see were the parking lot lights and cars parked there.
Gran didn’t say anything until Vi closed the drapes and they sat down on the sofa. Then, “You’re not happy about Malcom and me, are you?”
“To tell you the truth, I’m in shock. He seems nice enough, but you’ve only known him a few weeks. It’s too fast, Gran. If I were doing this, you’d say the same thing.”
Her grandma made apfftsound. “How could you know anything about it? You’ve been in love exactly once, way back in college. For all of what, six weeks?”
