“I got held up at the conference, then traffic sucked and the Uber driver missed the exit.”
“When’s the next flight?”
“There isn’t one. There’s connections, but I won’t get there in time.”
“What?” Courtney’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t miss the funeral.”
Oh shit.Julia’s heart sank.
“I can’t help it, babe. I’m sorry, I really am—”
“Paul, you can’t.” Courtney frowned, hurt.
“Maybe I can make the lunch after? Is there a lunch?”
“Then don’t come.” Courtney snapped, hanging up. “Do you believe him?”
The phone rang again, but she silenced it.
Julia felt terrible for her. “It’s not like him.”
“It is now, Jules. You remember College Paul. You don’t know Asshole Paul.” Courtney fumed. “You associate him with Mike. He’s not Mike, he was never Mike. They were both basketball players, but they were different men. Mike was the scholar-athlete, and Paul was the dumb jock.”
“No, don’t say that. Paul’s not dumb.”
“I have a dumb husband. I know it.” Courtney sighed, pained. “He can’t miss the funeral. Grandma Kay loved him. She was so good to him. She treated him like a son. She deserves better from him.” Her eyes filmed with bitter tears. “You know, I manage sales reps. When the lousy ones want out, they don’t say so, they just screw up. That’s Paul. If he were my rep, I’d fire his ass. It’s like hewantsto get fired.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Julia worried that things were worse than she’d thought.
“No rep of mine would miss a flight.” Courtney shook her head. “It’s ironic when you can rely on your employees more than your husband.”
“You don’t want to fire him, do you?”
“I don’t fucking know.”
“You’re upset now. Let yourself cool down.”
“Right, let’s let it go for now. We have things to do.” Courtney finished her ice cream, subdued again, and Julia could imagine how hard this was for her, with her grief so fresh.
“Do you still want to see Shenandoah Preservation? If you don’t, I get it.”
“I do, I want to.”
“What is it anyway?” Julia finished her ice cream. “I can’t believe he told you not to look at your phone.”
“I know, right? I have a constitutional right to google.” Courtney read from her phone. “‘Shenandoah Preservation is a coalition of local conservation districts, watershed groups, and the mining industry. Our mission is to reclaim and redevelop land that was harmed by the past practices of the mining companies. Anthracite, semi-anthracite, and bituminous coal fields mark northeastern and north central Pennsylvania. Abandoned minelands and polluted mine drainage are all over the Susquehanna region, one of the six major watershed basins in the Commonwealth.’”
“Sounds good. What’s the contact info?” Julia folded up her sticky wrapper. “We can go meet the guy if he’ll see us.”
“Oh, he’ll see us.” Courtney’s gaze shifted slyly. “He was my first boyfriend.”
“Whoa!” Julia burst into astonished laughter. “Really?”
“Yes.” Courtney’s eyes lit up. “Remember I told you about the guy from Penn State? The one with the long hair?”
“He’s theNittany Lion?”
Courtney snorted. “Don’t tell him I call him that. His name is Alex Dudek.”