"Hello, Kurt," she greeted him quietly when he was nearly level with her.
He nodded briskly without speaking, his expression masked, his shoulders stiff. He would have walked on by, but Alanna stopped, partially blocking his path.
"Please don't walk away," she begged.
He halted, his abrupt manner indicating he was anxious to be on his way and didn't welcome her interruption.
"I can't think of anything we have to say to each other," Kurt responded coldly.
"There's a great deal to say if you would only listen," Alanna argued pleadingly, keeping her voice low. "You never gave me a chance to explain my side of what happened."
"I don't see what there is to explain. It's all fairly obvious." His gaze was as bleak as an arctic sky.
"Things aren't the way they appear on the surface."
"Aren't they?" he mocked. "You did marry my brother."
"Do you know why?" Alanna gazed at him, silently pleading for him to give her the benefit of doubt. "The real reason?"
"Alanna," he sighed in irritation, "what would be the point? What would it change?"
"I hope it would change the way you think of me," she answered honestly. "It hurts to have you thinking I'm some kind of tramp."
Kurt turned his head away, staring at the blank corridor wall "Okay, so you want to talk, explain whatever it is. Go ahead, I'm listening."
"Not here." Alanna glanced around, conscious of the people in the offices along the hall. "It's too public. Besides, Rolt will be coming shortly."
"You want to meet me somewhere, is that it?" he inquired with a faintly mocking smile.
"To talk, yes," Alanna qualified. "I'll meet you for lunch tomorrow at twelve-thirty."
Alanna didn't want to be seen with Kurt at a public restaurant. The word of her meeting would spread too quickly back to Rolt.
"Could we meet at the Iron Range Interpretative Center?" she asked.
"You don't want Rolt finding out, is that it?"
"Yes," she admitted.
He shook his head as if questioning the wisdom of what he was agreeing to. "I'll meet you there tomorrow." Without another word, he walked past her.
THE SKY WAS OVERCAST, a gloomy pearl gray with darker, threatening clouds on the horizon. The whispering wind carried the warning of an approaching storm, chilling the temperature.
Alanna buried her hands deeper in the pockets of her yellow windbreaker and watched Kurt's car drive into the Center's parking lot. Behind her was the striking concrete and glass building of the Iron Range Interpretative Center.
The site, atop the crest of the old Glenn Iron Mine, held a commanding view of the inactive, open-pit mine with its man-made gorges and canyons. Nature trails wound around the base of the modern building.
When Kurt got out of his car and walked to meet her, Alanna turned to stare at the impressive structure.
It didn't seem to matter that her marriage to Rolt was not one born out of love. The sting of guilt was still there to make her feel uncomfortable about meeting Kurt.
She chided herself for being so rigidly moralistic. She was nervous, though, when Kurt stopped beside her,
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Her angle of view provided a glimpse of the bridge jutting out over the mine. "Have you been inside?"
"
No."