CountryCore Series: Her Lady of the Lake (WLW)

Transfixed Minds

Trinity sat in her hotel room listening to Leah's voicemail for the seventh time since last night. She wanted nothing more than to call her back and talk things through. She'd royally screwed everything up and knew it, yet Leah had been the bigger person and extended a hand.

No more apologies. Trinity repeated in her mind, but it didn't help. She knew she needed to repair the damage she'd caused no matter what Leah said. There was no way she could let her take all the blame when she knew full well they both carried some of it, but her more so than Leah.

Trinity laid back in the unfamiliar, uncomfortable motel bed, feeling her skin crawl with the need to call her back, but if she did she knew that eloquent voice would lure her back home. She needed to stay in Houston. If she didn't show up for her father's birthday party, she'd never hear the...

Trinity sat up and stood, fixing the wrinkles in the suit her mother had given her two years prior for events such as this. Her mother needed to control every little aspect of her visits down to what socks she wore. However, this time it would be different.

She lifted the end of her tailored pants to gaze down at her colorful socks and smirked. They were a present from Leah after she realized just how much Trinity liked crazy socks with real character, not those drab gray or black pairs her mother always wanted her to wear. Leah and Ruth made a visit into town to grab some for her a few days back and now they were like a security blanket reminding her of what waited for her back home.

Trinity could do what she sought to accomplish and this time it would be her way and on her own terms. If she was going to wish her father a happy birthday, it would be her way. If she was to step in front of press cameras and forced to eat strange food whose names she could never pronounce, it would be her way and only for as long as she desired.

She was tired of all of this. Exhausted of walking on eggshells around her parents. Worn out from being so darn timid around them as if she had no real voice. They'd walked all over her since she was a child and that was finally going to stop.

Trinity was twenty-five and had a great career. She was even thinking of opening a warehouse and hiring other carpenters aspiring to begin a new apprenticeship, make a name for themselves. Her investments were going well, extremely well actually, and her business even better.

She'd managed to save plenty of money and taken business management courses online as soon as her homeschooling was over at the behest of her grandfather. Now she was happy she'd always, even if it took some time, listened to his advice and was thankful she even had such a guiding spirit in her life. However, now that guiding spirit had a new name. Now her life was rich. It was brimming and more vibrant than that icy time she would rather not recall, preferring to think of the past when she had her grandfather and the present when the latest saving grace came into her life. Now Trinity was ready.

However, that guiding spirit didn't carry the name many would have thought.

Trinity could have thanked Leah for it all, but she began this before she ever met her. She could have thanked her grandfather again, yet in the end, she was the one who pushed him to teach her so hard. She could even have thanked her parents for at least providing a home for her throughout her youth, but that home wasn't necessarily where she flourished most.

Her home in Athens was where she'd grown into her own. Her skills with her hands were what projected her forward. Her perseverance and strength in her own abilities and what she wanted were what made her who she was today. She had become her own savior and felt humbled and thankful to have come so far, especially in such a short time.

That being said, Trinity would probably always thank her grandfather in some way. Though, she knew exactly why and didn't mind. It was because he pushed her to be herself and loved her unconditionally. Just like she felt Leah could one day. Just like she knew, without a doubt, she would someday soon as well.