marriage was legally ended 46 years ago.”
She came closer. “So after that, Mom was free to marry you?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
Penelope looked from the paper to me.
“But she never did.”
I sat on the edge of the bed.
“Fourteen years could’ve been a mistake. Forty-six years wasn’t.”
***
The next morning, I called Mr. Geller myself.
“I found the papers.”
“But she never did.”
There was a pause. “Then you know more than you did yesterday.”
“I know enough to need you here tomorrow.”
“I can come this afternoon.”
“Tomorrow gives me time to decide what I want to ask.”
He agreed.
“I can come this afternoon.”
***
When he arrived the following day, I put the old divorce papers between us.
“Start with this. Irene eventually became legally free. Why didn’t that make our marriage valid?”
