Darius tried again. “Why do you want me to cochair the committee? I cover the news. I’ll write articles about the campaign and what the committee’s doing. But I can’t do a balanced job covering the news if I’m part of the story.”
“You won’t cover this story. Opal will.”
Darius rubbed his eyes with his left thumb and two fingers. Opal Gutierrez was the Monitor’s rookie reporter. Darius questioned her training. He’d once accused her of being more like a Dictaphone than a newspaper reporter. Now she was assigned to cover a story in which he was involved. How would she approach it?
Darius gave a mental shrug. He didn’t need to worry. He wasn’t going to be part of the story. “I’ve never chaired a fundraiser.”
“But you can convince people to do things you think are right, whether they want to do it or not.” Jackson smiled. “You convinced Stan to get sober.”
Darius shook his head. “That’s not the same as talking them into giving me their money.”
“Close enough.”
“Come on, Jack.” Darius gave his boss a skeptical look. “What’s this really about?”
“The community center is very important to the town.” Jackson crossed his arms. “I want the Monitor to be represented on the committee.”
Jackson’s words were sincere, but Darius didn’t buy them. “Then why don’t you chair it?”
“It would be overkill to have the publisher on the committee.”
Darius wasn’t buying that one, either. “Then Opal can sit on the committee and I’ll cover the story.”
Jackson shook his head. “I want you to represent the paper.”
Is it possible he’d misjudged his friend’s intention? “I’m flattere
d, Jack. But I’m not qualified for this assignment.”
Jackson held up his hands, palms out. “You wouldn’t be leading the committee by yourself. You’d be working with a cochair.”
The muscles at the back of his neck tensed with suspicion. “Who?”
“Someone you know.” Jackson didn’t hesitate. “Dr. Peyton Harris.”
Darius shook his head in disbelief. “So this is another attempt at matchmaking. Don’t you have anything better to do?”
“No.”
“I’ve heard that when people are in love, they want everyone to be in a relationship. But this is ridiculous.”
“Why?”
Darius considered his boss and longtime friend. “Audra brought joy back into your life. Megan helped Ean reconsider his priorities. And Ramona is keeping Q from becoming an old maid. I’m happy for you guys. But don’t try to fix me up. It’s obnoxious.”
Jackson sobered. “D, I’m saying this as a friend. You’re becoming surly. You need someone to bring out your better side.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Darius stood.
“Just because your parents don’t have a happy marriage doesn’t mean you won’t.”
Someone had put Jackson up to this latest matchmaking ploy. Who was it? Doreen? Megan? Ramona? Quincy?
Darius frowned. “How did you jump from my dating Peyton to my marrying her?”
“She seems perfect for you.”
“Why?”