Love Me Dear (Love Me Book 3)

Chapter 11

Here she was again, in a bathroom stall hearing what she didn't want t to hear. Last time this had happened, it had made her think about things she had been preferred not to. With a sigh, she leaned against the wall of the stall and waited.

Trinty closed her eyes as she listened to the women talk. It was Shana again, but she wasn't sure about the other voice.

"She wasn't what I expected," the unrecognized voice said.

"Who?" Shana asked.

"Trinity Emerson. Levi talked about her like she had been around forever, so I thought she would be much older." Trinity knew who the other voice was. It was Dorthy. She could take the higher road and leave the stall now, nothing bad had been said.

"I know, she's lovely but cold," Shana said. Now that Shana wasn't the new kid on the block, she was happy to pass on all of the wisdom she had.

"What's her relationship with Levi?" Dorthy asked.

"I don't believe there is a personal relationship there." Shana was singing a dramatically different tune then she had been six weeks earlier. "Levi is still in love with his dead wife."

There was a long pause. "I didn't know Levi had been married."

"Yes, and Josiah is his stepson. He adopted him years ago." Shana was sharing all that she knew.

"How do you know he is still in love with his dead wife?" Dorthy asked, obviously not willing to give up hope.

"Every woman here has tried, and he has worked closely with Trinity Emerson all of these years. I think if something were going to happen, it would have. He could have any woman here, but he remains single and never dates. Why else would he do that if he wasn't in love with his wife?"

Trinity heard the water turn on and then off again.

"What about Trinity, you said she was cold, but is she nice?" Dorthy asked.

"You mean, will she fire you when you don't know what you're doing? Probably. We call her the Gatekeeper because she had an amazing talent for keeping us all away from Levi and Josiah."

"Really, Josiah too? Does she have a thing for him instead?" Dorthy sounded hopeful.

Trinity heard the door to the bathroom open, and the ladies grew quiet as someone else entered, they greeted Rita and then left quickly.

As soon as she heard the door close, Trinity exited the stall and found Rita watching the closed door. "Was it something I said?" Rita asked when she saw Trinity.

"No, they were talking about me, Levi, and Josiah again," Trinity informed her as she walked over to the sink and started washing her hands.

"Again?" Rita questioned.

"I heard a similar conversation at the hotel on New Year's Eve, remember?" Trinity looked at herself in the mirror. It was only her first day back, and she looked tired. However, it probably wasn't all that odd since she had also discovered she loved Levi and had never loved her husband all in one day.

"What conversation was that?" Rita asked, leaning against the counter and watching Trinity.

"Oh, the one where they try to determine if Levi is available, if he and I are having an affair, or if Josiah and I are having an affair."

"Are you? Having an affair with either one?" Rita clarified.

"No!" Trinity hissed. Levi is in love with his dead wife, and that's the same answer they came up with as well."