A Younger Man (Mount Faith Series: Book 7) (17 page)

Anita folded her arm. "Okay. Shoot."

"I know your secret," Vanley stared into her eyes, "and I don't care!"

Anita shook her head. "You don't know my secret or you would care."

"I know you were a lesbian!"

"I was never a lesbian!" Anita said indignantly.

"You were in a relationship with Carol. She practically told me that herself when I was here, but I was too dimwitted to understand what she was saying, maybe because the thought had never crossed my mind."

Anita nodded. "I was in a relationship with Carol."

"So?" Vanley looked confused.

Anita shook her head. "This is pointless."

"No, it's not," Vanley said. "I know about Anton."

Anita inhaled sharply. "You do?"

"Yes." Vanley scratched his chin. "How old is he? Who is his father?"

Anita leaned on the doorjamb in relief and laughed mirthlessly. "Anton is dead. Leave him out of this."

Vanley started pacing. "Anita, don't lie to me. I can deal with you having a secret son or a past colorful life. I know and I'm not going anywhere. See, here I am. Your big old secrets are safe with me."

Anita rubbed her arms, feeling all shivery inside as Vanley passionately declared that he knew her secrets.

"How did you find out about Anton?" She asked, puzzled. "Did your uncle say something to you?"

"No," Vanley said. "It doesn't matter how I know, does it?"

"You've been snooping in my past?" Anita asked, feeling somewhat let down. She had expected him to keep the boundaries regarding her past life that she had laid out.

"Yes," Vanley said. "I have, because you won't tell me about your big secret. I was dying to know."

Anita's eyes clouded over. "Yesterday, when Davia mentioned Anton to you, was she searching for a reaction? Is she snooping in my life too?"

Vanley clamped his mouth shut. Davia didn't want to lose her job.

Anita mumbled. "What do you know, Vanley?"

"I know that Anton was emancipated from Maud and Felix parks. I went to visit their house. I met Maud Parks. She's quite a character."

Anita laughed harshly: the sound was devoid of humor. "You went to visit the Parks?"

"Yes. This is what your secret is doing to me."

"But why?" Anita asked plaintively. "Why can't you leave me alone? I am the wrong woman for you. I always knew that. I have told you that from the beginning." Anita inhaled tremulously. "Listen to me, Vanley." Vanley looked at her; she had tears in her eyes. "I know what I am talking about. Okay? I have been around long enough to know when something will not work. You and I will never work. Am I getting through to you?"

Vanley felt warm under his collar. He could read her beseeching look and see the finality in her eyes: the plea for him to leave her alone. He felt small. She had never sounded like this before. He was willing to let her past rest. He was willing to overlook their age disparity, but now she was rejecting it. A frustrating finality was speaking to him from her eyes.

"Let it go," she said harshly. "And stop snooping in my life. Anton Parks is none of your business. Got that?"

She was willing him to say yes. He wanted to say yes. His heart was breaking in pieces and yet he couldn't say that one little word. It was extremely hard to let go of a dream. He stared at her as if he was staring across a chasm. Anita was literally trembling from her head to her toes. Little reactionary bursts of nervousness even had her lips trembling. She waited for Vanley to speak.

This was it. He had to admit that he would have nothing to do with her again. She had never definitively told him in so many words to leave her alone. They were both giving up something here tonight. They stared at each other, the only sounds being the soulful cries of the weeping willow trees in the distance.

"Yes," Vanley said and nodded. "I will leave you alone. Happy?"

Anita nodded uncertainly. "Thank you."

Vanley made a rude sound and stomped off the veranda. He headed to his car. That was it. He had promised himself that this would be it. He had laid it all on the line. Told her that he knew and didn't care and she still rejected him. His Anita era was over. It could have been over much earlier if he had listened to God, and move on; he realized that now, but it still hurt badly. Her rejection was terrible. He felt like howling like a lost soul.

*****

Anita went into the office earlier than usual. She glanced at her watch: it was seven thirty-five. She hadn't slept a wink all night. She was in battle mode. She first marched to Bancroft's office.

The secretary hadn't even come in yet. She pushed opened his door without knocking and marched to his desk. He had just come in, she could see. His briefcase was still on his desk, and he was just about to sit down.

He looked up at her barging towards him and sighed. "What's wrong?"

"I want to go to Dominica to head up the school there. I can do it."

Bancroft sank into his seat. "Why? I thought you were gunning for my job here. I thought that you wanted to prove to the establishment that a woman could be president at Mount Faith."

"Stop kidding. We both know that this is not going to happen anytime soon, unless you unexpectedly kick the bucket, like Edward Carlisle did. With all the exercising, eating right, and clean living you are doing, you wil be here until you retire." Anita said urgently, "You have most of the board members in your corner. Just speak to the board; push my name for Dominica. I know they've been looking at Joe Masters; make them consider me as well."

Bancroft shook his head. "I like you here."

"Your nephew knows about Anton," Anita said, a sliver of panic attacking her anew when she thought about it.

"He does?" Bancroft looked appalled. "How?"

"He doesn't know anything much," Anita said huffily, "but he knows Anton existed and he thinks he is my son. I am going to fire Davia this morning. She snooped in my files."

"Hold on a second," Bancroft said, holding up his hand. "One thing at a time. My nephew doesn't really know anything and you want to run off to Dominica? That's not logical."

"It is," Anita said, sighing. "I have feelings for Vanley as well. I've always had."

Bancroft shook his head. "No you don't. You can't."

"Yes, I do," Anita said, "I listened to you. I stayed far away from him but I still loved him. I really pushed him away last night, but I think I need to move away for his sake."

Bancroft leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "That is probably for the best."

"What is so wrong with me anyway?" Anita asked. "I told him that I cannot have children. He thinks I was a lesbian and that I had a son, and he still wants to be with me. There is something there."

Bancroft snorted. "No, there's not. There can't be anything there."

"We are playing God with his life," Anita said sadly. "Maybe he can deal with my secret if we let him."

"Maybe," Bancroft said. "Maybe he can but..."

"But I am not good enough to be a part of your family." Anita folded her arms. "I am supposed to be your friend, but when it comes to family the buck stops there."

Bancroft opened his eyes and looked at her through a slit and inhaled. He rubbed his nose bridge. "Anita, Vanley loves his ministry. You are not compatible with that. One day he'll want to have children. One day he'll regret this madcap decision to marry a woman far older than himself and he'll be trapped."

Anita shook her head. "Or he'll be miserable with someone else."

"He'll cope," Bancroft said. Then he contemplated her. "So, you think you can handle a small university?"

Anita looked at him incredulously. "Of course. Fifteen years ago when you came here and we just met, you knew I was competition even then."

"You are right; you are competition. "I'll talk to the guys." Bancroft rocked back in his chair. "Maybe D.M. Carter will give me a hard time as usual. He is Joe Masters' friend; that will make the whole selection process even harder, but you are in a higher position than Joe. He'll look petty choosing Joe over you."

"You can make it work," Anita said. "If it comes through, I would have to move in three months. That would barely give me enough time to sort out my business here but I'll make it work."

"Yes." Bancroft sighed. "Do you have to fire Davia? You'll be leaving anyway."

"Yes, I have to fire her," Anita said, "I can't trust her after this. She snooped in my files, and she has feelings for Vanley..."

"And you are jealous," Bancroft intercepted before Anita could list all of Davia's faults.

"Something like that," Anita admitted.

"Well," Bancroft said, "before you crush Davia's spirit, send her to me."

Anita nodded. "I wasn't planning to crush her spirit. I actually like the girl."

She marched out of Bancroft's office and headed to hers.

*****

"Good morning, Anita." Davia was at her desk.
Early as usual and perky
, Anita thought resentfully.

"You are fired," Anita said flatly, filtering all emotion from her voice. "Nobody snoops in my private files and shares them with somebody else and still works with me. I can't trust you anymore."

She headed for her door. She needed to call HR for a replacement, and she had a whole lot of work to do.

She turned back and saw Davia's crestfallen expression. "Luckily for you, you have friends in high places. President Bancroft wants to see you."

Davia nodded. "Look Anita, I am..."

"Sorry?" Anita asked snarkily. "Save it. Just don't do the same thing with your other job okay? No snooping."

She went into her office and closed the door. Her late night was catching up with her. Her head was throbbing. She took two aspirins and sat at her desk staring into space. Once again, she would escape if Bancroft came through for her with the board. The thought depressed her. Would she be spending the rest of her life running from her emotions, denying her past? Was she doomed to be unhappy forever?

*****

Bancroft tapped his fingers on the desk after Anita stormed out of his office and glanced at the phone. He knew within himself that Vanley was not going to give up on Anita so easily. If hearing all the things he had about Anita hadn't turned him off, then he wasn't going to give up pursuing her until he was broken.

He needed to show Vanley what was at stake for his ministry if he pursued this Anita thing further. He called Jeremy Glenville, President of the Central Conference of churches, and waited for him to answer the phone. Glenville owed him several favors. Every year he sent a student or two to Bancroft who couldn't afford school fees, and Bancroft had personally financed those students through school.

Glenville was always grateful to him, and he figured that was why Vanley had gotten his own church so fast as a young man in the ministry. The appointment that Vanley got was a test to see how well he would handle himself in a medium size country church. He didn't want his nephew to fail before he started at the one thing he was most passionate about. He was a good young man, and he didn't want him derailed by Anita Parkinson's secret.

Jeremy answered the phone with a yawn. "Hello."

"As the pastor's pastor you need to do better than that," Bancroft said, laughing.

Jeremy chuckled. "We are running a series of evangelistic meetings and I got home extremely late."

"Intemperance," Bancroft said teasingly.

"Look who's talking." Jeremy chuckled. "I know Celeste has given you an intemperance lecture more than once."

Bancroft laughed. "Listen, I called you to ask a favor. Could you talk to Vanley for me, here's why..."

When he hung up the phone, he felt better until he had to handle a tearful Davia who entered his office apologizing and ringing her hand.

Bancroft wondered if Vanley would ever know just how much he had already invested in his personal life for the day.

He had called HR earlier and had gotten the all clear to send Davia to the Visual and Performing Arts Center and send a temporary replacement for her to Anita's office. All in a day’s work, he thought as he watched Davia walking out of his office after he put her mind at ease.

Chapter Sixteen

Vanley considered himself an automaton. He had difficulty sleeping so he was up far earlier than usual. He didn't know why he couldn't shake the constant down feeling that had been dogging him since Anita had stared at him with her icy cold eyes and told him to leave her alone.

The sting of rejection was still hanging over him like the dark clouds that were forming on the horizon. He sat on his veranda reflecting. This happened in life more often than he knew. People are rejected in love all the time. It paralyzes them for a while and then they moved on.

He had prayed about it and had gotten his answer years ago. As Pastor Peterson had reminded him the other day, "Trust in the Lord with all of thine heart, and lean not to your own understanding." He had been leaning to his own understanding where Anita was concerned, but up until three nights ago she hadn't given him the big push to stop thinking about her, and even after that, he still hadn't wanted to let her go.