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Antonio respected his grandfather so much but resisted the urge to be flippant. If it were any other person with whom he was speaking, he may have responded with a “try it four or five times, like you did?” but he could see the old man was simply trying to prove a point.
“Everyone has an agenda, Grandfather. You haven’t even known Shelly that long.”
“And just how much time do you think I have to get to know her?”
“That’s just the point! Don’t you question the fact that she is so young and interested in spending her life with you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Grandfather, you’re a noble man, a great person. It’s not about you. The fact that you have four alimony payments going out to your ex-wives should set off some red flags. Won’t you even consider a pre-nuptial agreement?”
“Now you stop that, Antonio!” Toni sat up straight in his chair, his trembling index finger jabbing the air towards his grandson.
“Granddad, listen to me. I don’t want anyone to take advantage of you. For one thing, why did she choose to have such a risky ceremony? She, of all people, should know what too much excitement could do to your heart.”
“I went through the entire procedure with the wedding planning agency…”
Damn, them!
His gut clenched at the thought of how they pumped up his grandfather with all these stupid ideas about dream nuptials and outrageous ceremonies.
“They told me that those sorts of weddings are the in-thing now and they are fun,” Toni continued, as the butler came in with a tray filled with his evening snack, fruits, biscuits and a steaming cup of coffee. “You know how much I like to have fun, Antonio.”
“I understand, Grandfather. But do you remember what the doctor said to you after-” Antonio hesitated for a moment.
“Yes. After the stroke. I do remember. And I also remember that I may not have all the time in the world but that doesn’t mean life has to be a bore.”
“Grandfather, I don’t want you to rush in to things. If you really want to marry this woman, at least give it a little more time. You don’t have to wait years, just don’t jump into another marriage without thinking about it. What do you even know about this woman?”
“This woman is going to be my future wife and that’s that. I don’t require your approval or anyone else’s.”
“Fine. But you left me in charge in case you couldn't make decisions for yourself.”
“Please don’t remind me. Besides, that’s not the case now.” The older Romero paused for a moment as if in deep thought. “I know you care about me, Antonio. And I know you haven’t exactly experienced the joys of marriage or seen it with your own parents,” Toni’s voice softened, “but trust me on this one. It’s not as bad as it seems. Just because you’ve been hurt or just because I’ve been hurt by other relationships, do you think I’m going to want to miss out on potentially finding true happiness because of some bad decision I made in the past?”
Antonio closed his eyes and listened. His lips were clenched. He tried to suppress the emotion that had overcome him. Yes, his grandfather touched a raw nerve where marriage was concerned. His own mother was a self-professed gold digger and his former girlfriend had more than betrayed him.
It was a bitter betrayal. The one girl he thought he was in love with when he was younger used him and then went on to sleep with his so-called best friend. Antonio chose to block memories of her from his mind but the fact that his grandfather remembered how much it almost killed him at the time when he was still in college brought the reality back that it had happened and it was real.
Antonio didn’t get love from his own mother nor from the women in his life he had dated and add that to the fact that his own grandfather had been strung through the alimony cycle several times didn’t make it any easier.
Antonio wasn’t like his grandfather, though. Hurt him once and no one would ever get the opportunity to pull that again on him. He was through binding himself or tying himself down to one woman. Sex not love was his motto. And that was good enough for him.
