“A week ago.”

She looked away for a moment.

“I knew he was sick. I didn’t know it was that close.”

I stared at her.

“You knew Larry?”

Margaret frowned slightly.

“Of course I did.”

“How?”

She glanced around the courthouse.

“He worked here.”

I stared at her.

“Here?”

“For twenty-eight years.”

My mouth fell open.

“Then how did he end up homeless?”

Margaret’s expression softened.

“His health started failing after retirement. Medical expenses ate through his savings. Then he lost his apartment.”

She shook her head.

“Larry was too proud to call any of us.”

“What did he do here?”

“Mostly marriage licenses.”

She removed her glasses.

“He never told you?”

“No.”

A faint smile touched her face.

“That sounds like Larry.”

“What does that mean?”

She paused.

Then she stood.

“Come with me.”

Margaret led me down a hallway and into a small civil ceremony room.

Against the wall stood a wooden wedding arch.

I recognized it immediately.

“This is where Larry and I got married.”

“I know.”

I turned toward her.

“You were here?”

“No.”

She walked toward a cabinet.

“But Larry was here the afternoon before.”

I stared at her.

“Why?”

Margaret unlocked the bottom drawer.

“I asked him the same thing.”

She pulled out a thick binder and placed it on a table.

“He sat in that chair for almost an hour.”

She pointed toward a seat beside the arch.

“What did he want?”

“Nothing.”

Margaret smiled.

“He said he was nervous.”

I almost laughed.

“A man who worked around weddings for twenty-eight years was nervous about getting married?”

“That’s exactly what I said.”

She rested her hand on the binder.