Quincy lowered his voice. He leaned closer to Darius as they sat beside each other at the Books & Bakery food counter Wednesday morning. “Are people signing your father’s petition because they think that he’ll make a good mayor, or because they want a real election?”
Darius almost lost his appetite for his half-eaten breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. “At least you waited until Doreen went into the kitchen before you asked.”
Quincy frowned. “I know better than to ask when she’s around.”
“Those doctoral studies are finally paying off, huh?”
Quincy ignored the insult. “So what do you think?”
“I think you should change the subject.”
“All right.” Quincy cut into his blueberry pancakes. “Did you do anything special this weekend?”
“No.” Darius dug into his breakfast, willing his appetite to return.
“You’re not going to tell me about her, are you?” Quincy’s look was chastising.
“Who?”
“Stop playing dumb. You’ve been visiting a woman in the next town every weekend for the past five years. All this time, I’ve respected your privacy. But now I’m leaving town. Are you going to tell me about her or not?”
Darius swallowed his final bite of toast. “No.”
Quincy’s sigh was heavy with exasperation. “Man, I’m leaving Trinity Falls in three weeks. At least tell me the name of your mystery woman in Sequoia.”
“You make it sound as though we’re never going to see each other again.” Darius eyed his childhood friend. “You’re moving to Philadelphia. You’re not going off planet.”
“Come on, Darius. Who is she? Your secret will be safe with me.”
“That’s good to know. How’s the search going for your replacement?”
“Fine.” Quincy sighed again. “I can take a hint.”
“That’s a first.” Darius mumbled into his mug of coffee.
Quincy ignored him again. “The search committee offered the position to the professor from New York. She accepted.”
Darius lowered his coffee mug. Curiosity stirred in him. “Why would she leave NYU for Trinity Falls University?”
Quincy forked up the rest of his pancakes. “You can ask when you interview her for the Monitor.”
“What do you know about her?” Darius bit into his bacon.
“She has an impressive CV.” Quincy referred to the professor’s curriculum vitae. “She graduated from Penn a couple of years after I did. But she got her Ph.D. from NYU.”
“Curiouser and curiouser. TFU is a good school, but it’s a stepping-stone. It’s not a destination—unless you have ties to the area.”
Quincy finished his coffee. “I don’t think she has family here.”
“What’s her name?”
“Peyton Harris.”
The name didn’t ring any bells for Darius, either. But he did love a good mystery, and this sounded like one. “I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
“She’ll be here next Tuesday.”
“That soon?” Darius pushed away his empty plate.