A couple of days later Feliciana burst through my door, her black hair flying around her face. “I’ve got the best solution for you! It’s the answer to all our problems!” She danced about the room. “We only need to tell the priest that Manoel is dead! It’s as easy as that!” She smiled broadly. “Well? What do you think?”

I took a deep breath. “From what I understand, the priest has to see that the person is dead, or I have to have a family member swear that I am allowed to remarry. My family will never do that. After all this time, I doubt they would even speak to me.”

Feliciana slowly grinned. “I’ll sign as your mother.”

“Dona Feliciana, I can’t ask you to lie for me. It would be breaking the law.”

“Not if I got permission from a priest to do it. He said in order to rectify this situation he will absolve me of my sin.” She reached out to me. “I am so sorry, I hope you can forgive me, but I have been talking to Father Lorenzo about your situation.”

I pulled away suddenly, feeling defensive. Feliciana pleaded her case all the more. “He is on our side. He thinks you and José need to be married. He said we can find a way around your first marriage.”

This was too much. Everything was happening all at once. Feliciana rubbed her hands up and down my arms in an attempt to comfort me. “Father Lorenzo only asks that you meet him for a confession. Nothing has to be decided today, but talk to José. See what he says. Then go talk to the priest.”

I gave a short laugh. She didn’t know José as well as I did. Convincing him that this was a good idea would not be easy, especially with his views about the church.

That night for dinner I prepared one of the Italian dishes that I had recently learned. Walking through the front door, José set down his satchel. In addition to teaching, he had begun selling goods imported from Italy, primarily tomato paste, which he kept in crates in our parlor. “I sold two whole boxes of paste today. I would have to say that is an accomplishment. Don’t you?”

He made his way to Menotti, who giggled, waving his pudgy little arms in front of him. José picked him up in a great swooping motion as the giggles intensified. José kissed my cheek before sitting down at the table with a large smile on his face. Not knowing how to begin, I just blurted out the first sentence that came to mind. “What do you think about getting married?”

He stopped midchew. “I thought we already were.”

“Yes, well in our own eyes we are, but not in the eyes of the church.”