Why’d you give him my number, if you didn’t like him for me?
I gave him a fake number, rookie.
Julia came out of her reverie, looking up as Courtney pocketed her phone and came over with a grin.
“Okay, we’re good to go. Ready to meet Alex?”
“Totally.” Julia could see Courtney was excited, which lifted her spirits.
“And don’t call him the Nittany Lion.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
19
SHENANDOAH PRESERVATIONread an orange-and-white sign hanging in front of a rundown house sandwiched between other skinny rowhomes, their windows boarded up. Its sagging front porch held a few PVC chairs behind a wrought iron rail, and its gray floorboards were broken.
“No frills, huh?” Julia eyed the place when they parked at the curb.
“It’s a nonprofit.” Courtney cut the ignition. “He runs it with an assistant and lives above it.”
They got out of the car and climbed rickety steps to the porch, then the screen door opened and Alex appeared, beaming, in the threshold. “Courtney!”
“Hey, Alex!” Courtney opened her arms, and he swept her into a hug. They clung to each other briefly, and Julia stood aside, unsurprised that Alex Dudek was handsome in a relaxed way, with blue eyes, a long, fine nose, an easy grin, and thick dark blond ponytail that struggled to tame a vaguely leonine mane. He had a blocky buildin a corduroy jacket, work shirt, and jeans. He wore no wedding band.
Alex released Courtney, his smile turning sympathetic. “I’m so deeply sorry about Kay. She was so wonderful, and we all loved her. What a terrible, terrible loss.”
“Thank you.” Courtney wiped her eyes, newly shaky, then gestured to Julia. “This is Julia Pritzker.”
“Great to finally meet you, Julia.” Alex met her gaze and extended a big hand. “I remember hearing a lot about you.”
“Me, too.” Julia shook his hand, which felt warm and rough. “We go back to your Penn State days.”
Courtney shot her a behave-yourself look.
“Yes!” Alex grinned. “Let’s go inside.”
Alex’s office was the house’s former living room, a long rectangle that contained a worktable covered with a laptop and neat stacks of papers. Bookshelves held black binders of EPA and PaDEP regulations and textbooks about environmental science, geology, and mining. Topographical maps of the region lined the walls, along with cheery posters reading “Kids, ask us how to paint with Abandoned Mine Drainage!” “Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium are the BIG THREE elements of soil!” “Restore your stream, and the brook trout will thank you!”
“Please, sit down.” Alex showed them to two ergonomic chairs opposite his desk, then he took his seat, his expression pained. “Courtney, this must be so hard for you. Everyone’s in shock, and the kids in our enviro-camp are taking it hard.”
“Oh no.” Courtney sipped her water. “How did they know her? I thought she just did clean-ups.”
“No, she also volunteered with the kids, mostly from the local elementary and middle schools. It’s a free afterschool program, once a week, and we do art projects to get them involved. They paint with iron oxide sediment, if you know what that is.”
“No.”
“The runoff from the mines has iron oxide, and it’s orange. We teach the kids to paint with it. Your grandmother was the only one who would fingerpaint. She was so good with kids.”
Aw.Julia felt touched and could see Courtney was, too.
“So you two got to know each other?”
“Yes, I try to get to know all of the volunteers, but you know she was special to me.” Alex’s expression softened, his thick blondish eyebrows tilting down. “She talked about you all the time, so I realized she was your grandmother pretty early. I’m glad for your success and your marriage and everything.”
“Thanks.” Courtney nodded, newly teary. “And thanks for seeing us, too.”
“Of course, but I’m sorry about the circumstances. I’m going to the funeral, if that’s okay. The volunteers, too.”
