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."

"That's a shame. Levi needs someone, and you need someone, you would make a lovely couple," Rita concluded as she stood and moved to a stall. "I find it interesting that you only felt the need to defend yourself against Levi just then and not Levi and Josiah. It gives me hope."

"Rita!" Trinity said in shock as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"It's the truth," she called from the stall.

Trinity shook her head then made a move towards the door before Rita could say more.

"Scaredy Cat!" Rita yelled as she exited the bathroom.

It was true, the idea of being intimate with Levi scared her. She paused halfway down the hallway as her body grew warm at the idea of Levi holding her, kissing her, making love to her. Her heart had accelerated and her knees were a bit wobbly as she admitted that, while the thought scared her, it also excited her.

*******

Trinity took a moment to enjoy the quiet snow falling outside her window. The office was empty, everyone had left hours ago, but she still had much to do, and the day had passed quickly because of it.

It was apparent that Dorthy was as clueless as Trinity had feared. She had been nice to the girl, but it had required all of her patience. Trinity was especially glad that the girl was nowhere near her when she saw the mess she had made of the books; it would take a lot of late nights to straighten it all out.

Although, she had to admit that the work kept her mind from dwelling on her feelings for Levi.

"Everything alright, Trinity?" Levi's voice asked from the doorway of her office.

Trinity's toes curled at the way he said her name in his deep voice. She had never noticed how he said the second t in her name. Most people made the second t sound like a d.

She looked over her shoulder. "Sure."

"That doesn't sound very convincing." He moved to stand next to her at the window, looking at the snow with her.

They were silent for a while, and she realized it was a comfortable silence and that she enjoyed having him next to her. "You know, I thought I would hate it."

"Hate what?' Levi sounded confused.

"The snow. We don't have it in Savannah. I never really liked the cold." She shook her head at the thought.

"Then why on earth did you move to Wyoming?" Levi turned to look at her, taking in her profile.

"I wanted to be far away from Savannah, and you offered me a job." Trinity turned to look at him, and their eyes met. She had met his eyes plenty of times, but she had never felt like she was falling into them before.

"Was it to be far away from your ex-husband?" he whispered as if he was afraid that the question would scare her away.

"Yes, he was not a nice man," she cleared her throat as she admitted that fact.

Levi wanted to push for more she could sense it, but he surprised her instead. "You were lucky to escape a bad marriage. Not everyone can." This time he looked away, and Trinity stared at his profile.

"But you loved your wife, so it wasn't an issue for you," Trinity reminded him.

"Hmmm." The sound was noncommittal and could go either way. "Tell me about Dorthy?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Clueless, and now I have twice as much work to straighten out the mess she made." Trinity was honest. She had to be. There was no escaping the amount of overtime she was going to have to put in the next few weeks.

"Sorry," Levi apologized with a grin. "Remember, j-"

"Job security, I remember," Trinity finished in a droll voice.

Levi patted her on the shoulder then turned to leave. "I'll help tomorrow. I promise."

"He says as he leaves the room today!" Trinity called at his retreating form.

*******

Levi moved at a brisk pace to his office, closing the door behind him and leaning against it as he took a few deep breaths. Something had changed.

It had been a hell of a few months between them. Enough had happened to make her think of him differently, but was that wishful thinking? Their stay in the hotel room had been awkward, but they had survived it. Levi thought she had gone to the cabin alone, making him eager to get to her. However, finding Trinity there with two men had created doubts.

The funny thing was that her brother and Rainer had seen his reaction right away; that was why they had played him. Levi understood it. Trinity was still clueless though, of that he was sure.

The only reason Levi had hired Dorthy was to make her jealous. He knew Dorthy didn't know one end of a financial statement from the other, but she was pretty. He didn't know she could do so much damage in two weeks. He felt slightly guilty that he had created more work for Trinity, but he was also glad because it proved the point that he needed her. It had gutted him when she had asked him if he was going to fire her.

Levi had spent the last week on the phone with lawyers, trying to see if she could sue the Savannah paper for libel. He wanted a retraction for her at the very least. Then he wanted to get his hands on her ex-husband and show him what would happen if he ever so much as thought Trinity's name again.

But tonight, the air between them had felt different.

There had been a strange intimacy between them that had made him almost open up and share too much.

He pushed away from the door as he rubbed his forehead, trying to figure out what had changed and when. He had wanted Trinity since the moment he had laid eyes on her, and if it hadn't been love at first sight, then it had been love at second sight.

Had her feelings finally caught up to his? And if so, was he brave enough to be the one to step out on that limb and ask her to trust him? Was he strong enough to trust her?

Last time he had trusted a woman, it hadn't worked out well.

That was something they did have in common.