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The car was quiet except for theshh-tikkof the windshield wipers. “Care for some music?” Darius asked, breaking the silence. “I always let my passengers pick the station.” He gestured to the radio.
“No, I’m good. Thanks.” Addisyn didn’t understand why she felt so awkward around Darius. She straightened the hem of her workout top, wishing she looked more presentable.
“I’m a little sweaty.” She laughed self-consciously. “Hope I don’t ruin your seats.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. As you can probably tell, I’ve been working out myself. Hope my deodorant’s doing its job.” Darius laughed, and Addisyn joined in. Really, it seemed impossible to feel uncomfortable around him. He had such a nice way about him—slow and easy, like his smile.
“You work out a lot?” His lean frame attested to that, but she needed a conversation starter.
“Most days.” He came to a halt at a red light, the wipers flashing frantically as the downpour intensified. “Actually, I usually go to Cardio City, across town, but they were closed today because of a major water leak, so I came here.” His smile sparkled in the dim interior of the car as he gazed at her. “I sure am glad I did.”
Addisyn dropped her eyes to her lap, but she couldn’t keep from smiling all the same. Darius seemed so kind.
The light switched to green, and Darius accelerated, tires sloshing in the water. “So, Miss Addisyn, how are you enjoying Whistler?”
“Very much.” It was true. Love for the city was growing in her daily, even in the midst of her perplexities.
“So you’re from America.” Darius cocked his head. “What brings you to Whistler?”
Addisyn hesitated. She wasn’t ready to tell the whole truth—not yet. The story of shame and regret and crazy uncertainty was still too raw. She fumbled for some excuse, some impersonal reply that wouldn’t give him a window to her within.
But for some reason, the words slipped out before she could catch them, fence them in behind walls of perfection. “I came here...looking for answers.”
Instantly she regretted her comment. But when she glanced apprehensively at him, he was slowly nodding, as if he could understand totally. He kept his eyes on the road. “And have you found them?”
“Them?”
“The answers.”
Addisyn looked out her window. The streetlights were in full bloom now, radiant in the dark but illuminating nothing. The headlights caught a green road sign that saidWHISTLER OLYMPIC VILLAGE ?
“No.” She sighed. “Do—do you think I’m crazy?”
“Crazy? No way. Everybody needs answers at some time.” Oh, his voice was so gentle. His eyes met hers for a second, and they shone with a compassion she didn’t expect. “Lots of question marks floating around in this big old world, huh?”
She thought of Brian and skating and Avery and dreams and wishes and sorrows. “Yes.” She waited for her voice to steady before she spoke again. “Are there—do you think there are answers? Out there somewhere?”
“I do.” The resolve in Darius’s voice was a rock, a fortress. “I believe in answers. I mean—at least—”
His words suddenly broke off, and Addisyn peered quizzically at him. Even though the car interior was mostly dark, lit only by the light off the street, she could see a pained expression in his eyes for a moment. He bit his lip silently, as if wincing at the ache from an old wound.
They were turning onto the street that led to the hotel, Addisyn noticed with surprise—and a little bit of regret. Darius pulled up to the breezeway outside the Gold Aspen. “Here we are.”
“Thanks.” She’d already paid for her ride through the app, but now she pulled out a tip and laid it quietly on the console, then grabbed her umbrella and opened the door before Darius could offer.
“Addisyn?”
“Yes?” She stopped, the door handle in her hand, rain chattering on her umbrella.
“Keep believing in your answers. Just ask the right questions and wait for the responses. They’ll come.”
Addisyn drew a long, deep breath—the first one in many days. Answers were coming. She believed it. “Okay.” When was the last time anyone had been this kind? This compassionate? “Thank you.”
“You have a good night.” He smiled and gave her a little wave.
After Addisyn ate her dinner in the hotel dining room and took a warm shower, she sat cross-legged on her bed, finger-combing her wet hair and thinking about the evening. When she remembered Darius’s face and the caring in his voice, she felt a wonderful sense of peace and comfort. He was such a kind man—strong but gentle. How sensitively he had held her soul tonight.
Yet something about him still perplexed her. She had seen him before. She was so sure of it. And why had he looked so sad when he spoke about answers?
