Dorothy had joked that she had “fallen in love” with him.
But she hadn’t meant romantic love.
Not in the way I had assumed.
She meant that she had grown deeply attached to him.
She cared about him like the grandson she had never had.
And Alex, apparently, had grown just as attached to her.
But there was another part of the story I knew nothing about.
Why Alex Needed Dorothy Too
Dorothy had noticed that Alex kept most of his belongings inside his old car.
She eventually learned why.
He had lost his mother as a teenager.
He had never really had a permanent place to stay.
He worked delivery jobs and moved from one temporary situation to another.
He was trying to survive.
Dorothy didn’t see a suspicious young man taking advantage of an elderly woman.
She saw a young man who needed somewhere to belong.
