After lunch, Josiah walked Tessa to the Shaw building on Main Street and took her to meet his father, Levi, and the company's Director of Operations, Rita, who they found together in Levi's office.

"Levi, Rita, I would like you to meet Tessa Baker. I just hired her as the General Manager of the hotel. Tessa, this is my father, Levi Shaw, and our Director of Operations, Rita Hille."

Josiah watched as Tessa stepped forward, shook their hands, and then took the seat Josiah had motioned toward.

"Welcome, Tessa," Levi greeted.

Tessa noted that he was also a handsome man, a bit larger than Josiah, and whereas Josiah was dark, Levi was blond with blue eyes. The two did not look like father and son, but she could see how the handsome, rugged widower was in just as much demand as Josiah.

Tessa turned her attention to Rita, who had started talking about the paperwork that would need to be completed. Despite her business suit and oversized glasses, she looked motherly.

"OK, you two," Levi said. "I want to speak to Ms. Baker alone for a few minutes."

Josiah shot his father a narrowed-eyed look while Rita looked amused.

"Come on, Josiah," Rita said as she stood. "If he screws it up, we can always get Trinity to fix it when she gets back."

"Trinity?" Tessa asked, looking at Josiah's jaw clench in response to her name. There was some bad blood there, and she would need to learn more, so she didn't put her foot in it. Josiah had assured her he didn't date anyone in the company, which meant it couldn't be a lovers' spat.

Josiah and Levi stared hard at each other. A tense, silent battle of wills ensued, and Rita was forced to answer.

"Yes, Trinity is our CFO, but her side gig is pulling Levi's butt from the fire when he screws up." Rita stood. "Come on, Joey, let's grab coffee while we catch up. Tessa, take a left when you leave here. I'm the last door on the right."

Josiah stood and followed Rita out of the room, his tense shoulders blocking the view to the hallway and the people calling out a greeting to him.

"Is there something that I should know about?" Tessa asked in a hesitating voice. Part of her knew it wasn't her business, but she also knew she really wanted this job, so she should learn as much as possible to avoid any pitfalls.

"You picked up on that, did you?" Levi asked, leaning back in his seat and assessing her with his sharp blue eyes.

"It's hard to miss." Tessa looked around the office, taking in the beautiful view behind Levi as he watched her.

"It's personal and nothing that you need to worry about." His voice was calm but firm.

"Josiah assured me that he doesn't have personal relationships with the women who work for the firm, so I don't see how it could be personal," Tessa said bluntly. "If it's business and I can know about it, I would like to, so I don't land in any snags as I learn the ropes." Honesty had worked with Josiah, and she hoped it would work with Levi, too.

"That must have been some interview," Levi smiled and shook his head.

"No, I asked about mixing business and personal relationships at lunch when all the women were vying for his attention. I had second thoughts about taking the job if all it consisted of was dealing with cat fights and broken hearts." Tessa shrugged. Mentally acknowledging that she had gotten into an unusual conversation and was over-explaining.

Levi gave a low chuckle. "I think I underestimated you based on first appearances."

Tessa thought it was best not to ask what he meant by that comment. She didn't know if he would give a response that would calm her nerves or not.

Taking a deep breath, she figured she was in too deep to turn around, and the question she had asked Josiah held just as much merit where Levi Shaw was concerned. "What about you, will I have to deal with cat fights and broken hearts, Mr. Shaw?"

"Oh, please, with such a personal question, you should call me Levi." He grinned, not taking offense, and she relaxed a little. In fact, Tessa got the feeling that her forthrightness amused him.

"No, Ms. Baker. There is only one woman for me." He gave a contented smile, not a sad one, at the thought of his love.

It wasn't his dead wife then, maybe the mysterious Trinity?

Tessa couldn't help but wonder if any man would smile like that when he thought of her.

"Please, call me Tessa, Levi," she offered, and he nodded in agreement as he reached for his ringing phone.

"I can see why Josiah hired you, and I think he made the right choice. You'll fit in fine here."

It was a dismissal, and Tessa read it as one as she stood and reached for her bag.

"Ben, is Trinity alright?" She heard Levi ask as she closed the door behind her.

"So, it was Trinity. Maybe Josiah was jealous of Trinity and Levi's relationship. Maybe that was what the angry look had been about. Had Josiah lost the woman to his father?

She would have to be careful. Was the job worth taking if there was infighting between the two heads of the company? Her gut told her that this wasn't the case. Josiah and Levi had been pleased to see each other when they arrived, and things hadn't gotten tense until Trinity's name was mentioned.

Realizing she would probably be held up in Rita's office for a while doing paperwork, Tessa decided to find a restroom before she joined her and Josiah. There, she heard a lot of office gossip about people who were only names. After using the restroom, it only took a moment to find Rita's office, and she noted the location of both Josiah's and the mysterious Trinity's on the way as well.

As she approached Rita's office, she saw Rita standing outside the door looking at her phone so she paused, thinking there must be a reason she wasn't in her office. Suddenly the door flew open and Levi came storming out. That he was livid was evident, but she couldn't imagine why, unless it had something to do with the mysterious Trinity.

Pushing herself back against a wall as he walked briskly past her seemed the best course of action to keep her from getting run over. Tessa let Rita go back into the office and close the door, then waited a few minutes to give Rita and Josiah time to discuss what had transpired before she knocked on the door and was told to enter. She found Josiah perched on a windowsill and Rita behind her desk sorting papers.

"Good, you're still here. Your meeting with Levi must have gone well. Come on in and close the door so we can get started." Rita smiled at Tessa, soothing her confusion. Rita seemed almost chipper, but Josiah was harder to read. She felt tension from his side of the room, but not anger.

"It was short anyway, he got a phone call," Tessa supplied as he sat opposite Rita, deciding that playing dumb was the best course of action.

Rita nodded as if that was a usual occurrence. "Unless it's a scheduled meeting, time with Levi or Josiah is always short."

Josiah spent a few more minutes in the office before he excused himself and left Rita to help Tessa figure out all the paperwork. An hour later, Rita filed the last bits of paper and stood. "Let's get some coffee."

She led Tessa down the hallway into a well-appointed employee break room.

"You're staying in the hotel, now, aren't you?" Rita asked as she pulled creamer from the fridge.

"Yes, it's very nice," Tessa assured her.

"But it's not a home, is it? I'm guessing you won't want to live where you work." Rita stirred her coffee, then sipped as she eyed Tessa shrewdly. "We need to find you a permanent place to live, and I think I know where."

Tessa hadn't even thought about a place to live. Everything had moved so fast. She would need something. Rita was right. If she lived at the hotel, she would always be on call.

Rita pulled out her phone and sent a text. "I think I know just the place, and it's empty. We'll take a look. I've texted the agent to meet us there in half an hour."

Tessa nodded with a shaky smile. Things were falling into place a little too easily. Either it was meant to be, or she had fallen into her own personal horror movie, and it was just getting started.

Rita laughed as if she sensed her thoughts. "Don't worry," she said as she threw her arm around Tessa's shoulders and squeezed her. "We're not crazy, only desperate."

It was not a reassuring statement.