“ ‘Never burn a bridge you could push them off later.’ ” Began the old man as he pulled thoughtfully on his beard . “I believe it was intended to be funny, and only comes to mind now because I’m afraid that might be exactly what you, my dear, are about to do.”

Aggie searched the old man’s face for any indication he might simply be toying with her, and having found none, settled into the seat nearest to him at the table. She took the old man’s hand in hers and asked, “Which Papa, burning a bridge or pushing somebody off one?”

“Both.” The old man responded, twisting the hairs in his beard to a point before continuing. “You’re barely out of one marriage, and already making plans to plunge head-long into another. And if I’m not mistaken, betwixt the two, there’s a little matter of, shall we call it, unfinished business?”

Her heart leapt to her throat. Surely, only Agatha knew she might be about to commit bigamy. Then she remembered Papa’s fishing buddy. Blast that O’Ryan! Of course! He works at the courthouse! He must have found out her divorce paperwork had been fuddled, and she’d been forced to refile!

“But Papa!” Aggie jumped quickly into her own defense. “It’s really only going to be a matter of weeks after the wedding, okay a month or two at the most, and my divorce will be final. What can it hurt? I mean as long as my Reggie’s none the wiser.”

The old man left off twirling the ends of his beard between his thumb and forefinger, shook his head quizzically and said the only thing he could think of to say, “Good god girl! What are you talking about? I only meant to nudge you toward remembering today’s my birthday!”

This piece is written in 50 word increments. It includes the literary prompt provided by 50 word Thursday ““Only Agatha knew that she might be about to commit bigamy.”   – Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage – M.C. Beaton. And begins with the line, “Never burn a bridge you could push them off later.” that was provided by First Line Friday on MLMM by Dylan Hughes