The next morning, I woke up with a horrible hangover. Whatever I had been drinking last night must have been...

Last night.

I remembered nothing. Just that Hawkeye had thrown me into the freezing water and he'd kissed me. After that we'd had more wine and--that was it. I was drawing a blank.

Someone stirred next to me, and I shot to my feet.

The bedroom I was sleeping in was, to say the least, NOT the one I had slept in for the past few nights.

"Hawkeye." I poked the sleeping form. "Hawkeye. HAWKEYE! WAKE UP!"

He opened an eye. "Grace," said Hawkeye sleepily, "if you don't get out of here..."

"It's not Grace," I said through gritted teeth. "It's me, Jaclyn."

Hawkeye sat up. "Why are you in here?"

"What happened last night?" I asked.

"You fell asleep up here," answered Hawkeye. "I thought you would have woken up before now."

"What time is it?" I grabbed the alarm clock. "Eleven A.M.? This can't be right."

It was.

"Well." Hawkeye chuckled. "I believe we've given them so interesting breakfast conversation."

"Interesting my foot! Our daughter is down there! Do you know what she's thinking?"

"If I do, she has a very sick mind."

I flung open the door and took the stairs two at a time.

Downstairs, Grace was pacing the length of the entryway, Margaret was reading the paper, and Calla was eating a jelly doughnut.

"Where's Hawkeye?" Grace asked me.

"In his room," I answered, brushing past her.

"Morning, Mom," said Calla. She looked at me for quite a long time. "Have a nice night?"

"Perfectly freezing," I responded. "Pass the the doughnuts, please."

I was met with suspicious looks from all three of them.

XXX

Later that day, I heard a loud thump from the study.

"What happened?" I asked.

Hawkeye was sitting at his father's desk, looking stunned. He'd dropped a box of papers on the floor, and now the floor was (excuse the bad pun) papered.

"Read this." He thrust a wad of paper at me.

I took it. " 'Dear Daniel, There was an error on these forms; please give them to Hawkeye and/or Jaclyn and have them fill them out again. Nathan'," I read, and flipped a page. "These are our divorce papers."

"Keep reading."

On the next page, 'VOID' was stamped across the top in big red letters. "Void?" I repeated. "How is it void?" I frantically turned pages until I got to the last one.

On the page I had filled out, 'Mother's Maiden Name' was circled.

"Because of Swensen," I began, "we have been married for SIXTEEN YEARS."

"You're still married?" Calla cried. She ran into the room.

I tossed the papers at her.

As she read, her smile grew. "Yes!"

Hawkeye stood up. "So, Mrs. Pierce-"

"I'm not Mrs. Pierce," I said, "and-"

But I stopped.

"I guess I am."

XXX

"It's obvious that you should redo these papers," said Grace later that day.

"Do you really care or do you just want to have him all to yourself?" Calla asked as she painted her thumbnail bright red with some nailpolish she'd stolen (or "borrowed") from Michelle.

"I onlywant what's best for you," Grace told Hawkeye. She took the papers. "Oh, this should be easy to fix."

I gritted my teeth. "Grace, there's something thatyou left outside. Go and get it."

"What was it?" askedGrace.

"You'll know when you find it."

I didn't expect it to work, but it did.

As the door slammed, I grabbed the key and locked it.

"That should keep her out for a while," I said, returning to the table.

XXX

That night, I was in my OWN room. Hawkeye had called Nathan Forrester, the attorney who had handled the divorce, and had arranged a meeting for the next day.

The only thing I didn't understand was why Daniel had kept the papers, without even letting Hawkeye know. It was as if he had WANTED us to stay married.

"Daniel's always been a hopeless romantic."

I jumped. The voice seemed to come from the strange white mist that was floating beside my bed.

Wait a minute.

FLOATING BESIDE MY BED?

I was out of there faster than you could say "haunted house."