“What is it?” He searched her expression for a clue to her topic.
“From the discussion during the Books and Bakery Halloween celebration, I had the impression that Simon didn’t introduce you to Noah. You searched for him.”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
Darius was taken aback by Peyton’s question. When he’d first told his friends about Noah, whom he’d been visiting practically every weekend for the past six years, they’d wanted to know all about his brother and June, and why he’d never mentioned them before. His parents wanted to know why he’d destroyed their family by bringing Noah into their lives. No one had asked why he’d searched for his brother.
“I don’t have an answer.” Darius shrugged off his discomfort. “The rumors were all over town.”
“That your father had another son?”
“Yes.” He took a sip of his iced tea. “When I first heard that I might have a sibling, I wanted to know what his life was like. Was he being well cared for? Was he a good student? Did he like sports? Was he like me?”
“It sounds like you cared about him even before you met him.” The admiration in Peyton’s eyes made Darius squirm. “You’re a good man, Darius.”
“I just wanted to know.” He shrugged again. “My father was too busy denying Noah’s existence. So I tracked them down and found out for myself. That was six years ago.”
“I’m glad you did.” Peyton smiled. “Noah and June seem like wonderful people.”
“They are.” Darius sat back on the booth bench. “But I don’t want to talk about myself.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“You.”
Peyton met Darius’s gaze. The look in his eyes was like a deep caress. She felt it to her core.
“Your water.” Agnes reappeared. Her blond curls shivered around her head. She served Peyton a glass of water, then gave Darius his iced tea. “Are you ready to order or do you need a few minutes?”
They both ordered the roasted chicken. Agnes again disappeared, leaving Peyton alone once more with Darius.
“So?” he prompted.
“What would you like to know?” Peyton searched his chiseled features.
“Why were you so opposed to my interviewing you for the Monitor?”
Peyton hesitated. Now that she’d returned from New York, his question was easier to answer. But what would he think of her? Would he consider her a coward? Beca
use that’s what she was.
She drank her water. “When I moved to Trinity Falls in July, my parents didn’t know I wasn’t returning to New York. I’d told them I was only staying for the fall semester.”
The look of surprise on Darius’s face would have been comical if Peyton wasn’t so anxious for his reaction. “Why did you lie?”
She winced. “My parents’ ambition for me was to become a full, tenured professor at New York University. But I was weary of the competition.”
“Why didn’t you just tell them that?” He sounded genuinely confused.
“That’s what you would’ve done.” Peyton recalled the Books & Bakery Halloween celebration. “I’m stunned by some of the things you’ve said to your parents. I wish I had the courage to say things like that to my parents, but I don’t.”
“What did your parents say when you told them you’d moved here?”
“They weren’t happy.”
“Did they try to change your mind?”