A Younger Man (Mount Faith Series: Book 7) (20 page)

"Good." Vanley released her fingers and got up. "When do you leave?"

"In five weeks." Anita dabbed her eyes dry.

"I wish you all the best life has to offer, Anita." Vanley looked at Anita intently for one last time. It was going to take him a long, long time for him to process that she had been a man, but for now, all he felt was compassion and a curious sadness that she hadn't trusted him with her secret.

When he left her office, he walked past his uncle's. His uncle was standing in the lobby speaking on his phone.

"Vanley," Bancroft waved to him when he spotted him. "We need to talk."

"No," Vanley said, "we don't, not about the secret. However, we might have a conversation about your meddlesome ways anytime you want to."

His uncle looked baffled. "But you were so gung-ho to hear about the secret. What changed?"

"I moved on," Vanley said teasing him.

"How is Davia?" his uncle walked closer to him.

"She will be my guest at your Friday night supper next week."

Bancroft laughed. "Good for you, Vanley Bancroft. Good for you. "

Vanley walked through the door and outside onto campus grounds. He had several things to do today. He past the notice board at the library and noticed a quote on it: "Carpe Diem. Seize the day." That's exactly what he would do.

The End

Did you enjoy reading this book?

Please take a few seconds to share you thoughts on it. You can do so by leaving a review on Amazon.

Here's a Look at the Next Book in the Series:

Just To See Her

"I can't believe it," Jessica said, walking into the science lab where her best friend Ramon was writing his lab paper.

"What?" Ramon removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Did someone die? You look like you were crying."

"I am devastated." Jessica slumped on the stool facing Ramon's and tried to blink away the tears. "I am shell-shocked. I can't believe it."

Ramon was quite used to Jessica's melodramatic ways, so he patiently waited to hear what was the latest event in her life.

"I just can't process it," Jessica said, bowing her head and shaking it vigorously. "It's like the end of the world, the end of an era, the end of—"

"Just tell me," Ramon gritted out, "I have to finish this lab report."

"Khaled is retiring from publishing music, and from performing," Jessica said tremulously. "They just announced it on entertainment news. I heard it while eating lunch, and I couldn't swallow another bite of my turkey burger. It's as if a piece of my heart were ripped from my chest and thrown to the floor with all its bloody tissues fluttering and I sat there watching as it slowly stopped beating."

Ramon grinned. Not only was Jessica melodramatic, but she was poetic as well.

"I swear, my life is over!" A tear actually slipped down her cheeks. "I spent three years doing music, hoping that one day I would meet Khaled and write his songs or produce something for him."

"And you dreamt that you could be with him and have his babies," Ramon said grinning. "Boohoo hoo."

He bent back over his lab book and continued writing, not an ounce of sympathy in him for Jessica and her sadness.

"You are supposed to be my best friend," Jessica hiccupped, "I can't stand you."

She looked around the lab. Two guys were in the farthest corner; one of them was looking at her sympathetically. He waved when her eyes met his. The other guy was quickly scribbling in a book. Like Ramon, he looked like he was writing a lab report.

Jessica looked away from the one who was watching her with sympathy in his eyes. She watched his reflection in the glass; he was still staring at her, though she had turned away her head.

She closed her eyes. She couldn't process having a new guy checking her out right now. This must be the worst day of her life to date. Everybody thought that she was a little bit too obsessed with Khaled. Maybe she was, but she loved his music. At times the music seemed soulful and profound. His lyrics spoke to her.

They had been speaking to her from she was fifteen, and now, at twenty-one, her precious Khaled was retiring. It was as if she was losing her other best friend.

There would be no more new Khaled songs, no more reporting on him by the media so that she could keep up with what was going on in his life, and no more fantasies that one day they would meet and she would marry him—as Ramon so snidely pointed out. His retirement meant that she would lose touch, and it devastated her in a way that nobody would understand...

OTHER BOOKS BY BRENDA BARRETT

Mount Faith Series

Saving Face (Mount Faith S
eries- Book 1)
- Mount Faith University drama begins with a dead president and several suspects including the president in waiting Ryan Bancroft.

Tatter
ed Tiara  (Mount Faith Series-Book 2)
-  Micah Bancroft is targeted by femme fatale Deidra Durkheim. There are also several rape cases to be solved.

Private
Dancer (Mount Faith Series- Book 3)
- Adrian Bancroft was gutted when he returned to Jamaica and found out that his first and only love Cathy Taylor was a stripper and was literally owned by the menacing drug lord, Nanjo Jones.

Goodbye Lonely (Mount Faith Series- Book 4)
- Kylie Bancroft was shy and had to resort to going to confidence classes. How could she win the love of Gareth Beecher, her faculty adviser, a man with a jealous ex-wife in his past and a current mystery surrounding a hand found in his garden?

Practice Run (Mount Faith Series- Book 5)
- Marcus Bancroft had many reasons to avoid Mount Faith but Deidra Durkheim was not one of them. Unfortunately, on one of his visits he was the victim of a deliberate hit and run.

Sense of Rumor (Mount Faith Series- Book 6)
- Arnella Bancroft was the wild, passionate Bancroft, the creative loner who didn't mind living dangerously; but when a terrible thing happened to her at her friend Tracy's party, it changed her. She found that courting rumors can be devastating and that only the truth could set her free.

A Younger Man (Mount Faith Series- Book 7)-
Pastor Vanley Bancroft loved Anita Parkinson despite their fifteen-year age gap, but Anita had a secret, one that she could not reveal to Vanley. To tell him would change his feelings toward her, or force him to give up the ministry that he loved so much.

The Three Rivers Series

Private Sins (Three Rivers Series-Book 1)
- Kelly, the first lady at Three Rivers Church was pregnant for the first elder of her church. Could she keep the secret from her husband and pretend that all was well?

Loving Mr. Wright (Three Rivers Series- Book 2)
- Erica saw one last opportunity to ditch her single life when Caleb Wright appeared in her town. He was perfect for her, but what was he hiding?

Unholy Matrimony (Three Rivers Series- Book 3)
- Phoebe had a problem, she was poor and unhappy. Her solution to marry a rich man was derailed along the way with her feelings for Charles Black, the poor guy next door.

If It Ain't Broke (Three Rivers Series- Book 4)
- Chris Donahue wanted a place in his child's life. Pinky Black just wanted his love. She also wanted him to forget his obsession with Kelly and love her. That shouldn't be so hard? Should it?

Contemporary Romance/Drama

Homely Girl
- April and Taj were opposites in so many ways. He was the cute, athletic boy that everybody wanted to be friends with. She was the overweight, shy, and withdrawn girl. Do April and Taj have a love that can last a lifetime? Or will time and separate paths rip them apart?

The Preacher And The Prostitute
- Prostitution and the clergy don't mix. Tell that to ex-prostitute, Maribel, who finds herself in love with the Pastor at her church. Can an ex-prostitute and a pastor have a future together?

Love Triangle: Three Sides To The Story
- George-the husband, Marie-the wife and Karen-the mistress. They all get to tell their side of the story.

New Beginnings
- Inner city girl Geneva was offered an opportunity of a lifetime when she found out that her 'real' father was a very wealthy man. Her decision to live up-town meant that she had to leave Froggie, her ‘ghetto don,’ behind. She also found herself battling with her stepmother and battling her emotions for Justin, a suave up-towner.

Full Circle
- After graduating from university, Diana wanted to return to Jamaica to find her siblings. What she didn’t foresee was that she would meet Robert Cassidy and that both their pasts would be intertwined, and that disturbing questions would pop up about their parentage, just when they were getting close.

Historical Fiction/Romance

The Empty Hammock
- Workaholic, Ana Mendez, fell asleep in a hammock and woke up in the year 1494. It was the time of the Tainos, a time when life seemed simpler, but Ana knew that all of that was about to change.

The Pull Of Freedom
- Even in bondage the people, freshly arrived from Africa, considered themselves free. Led by Nanny and Cudjoe the slaves escaped the Simmonds’ plantation and went in different directions to forge their destiny in the new country called Jamaica.

Jamaican Comedy (Material contains Jamaican dialect)

Di Taxi Ride And Other Stories
- Di Taxi Ride and Other Stories is a collection of twelve witty and fast paced short stories. Each story tells of a unique slice of Jamaican life.