Page 125 of Protected By West
"It wasn't all that fun on my end either." She smiled and tried to keep her voice light, but she didn't know if she'd succeeded. "I know this is awkward for both of us."
"It's beenyears."
She was suddenly blinking back tears and hoping her father didn't see it.
He'd never been a man that could deal with tears.
"It's been a long time."
He nodded.
"I didn't know you were the Chief in the Rangers."
She saw his jaw tense and she huffed out a breath. She hadn't meant to say it like that.
"I mean... I don't follow anything involving law enforcement if I can help it. My friend Jamie tells me it's a trauma thing. Or an approach avoidance thing."
He cleared his throat and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, leaning on the door frame.
"I can see how that might happen. Tracy, I-"
She heard him say her name for a moment, her ears popped as if she'd changed altitude.
Hearing him say her name had sent her back years and years, comparing the difference in tone.
"I want to see if we can... talk. Maybe we can clear the air- And by that, I mean, maybe I can answer some questions you might have about the past. About me."
For a moment, the little girl that she was popped up in her head. And the raw emotions surging through her shook her to the core and left her nearly gasping for air.
"Tracy?"
"Yeah."
She saw him looking at her. The expression on his face was something she'd never seen on his face before.
He was unsure.
It put her off balance inside. Confused, too.
She managed a little bit of a smile. "I'd like to talk."
His eyes widened and his mouth tilted up on one side. "Yeah?"
She found herself fighting off a yawn.
The world, it seemed, was still weighing heavily on her. And the energy that had surged through her during the standoff at the credit union was starting to fall away.
He shifted from one foot to the other again and swallowed. She heard the sound, and it tugged at her heartstrings, making an odd sound in her ears. "Can I... Can I get your phone number?"
Tracy reached for her phone and remembered she didn't have it with her.
He smiled and took his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it as he walked across the room. When he held it out to her, she took it, and it wasn't lost on her that this was the closest she'd been to her dad for more than half her life.
She took the phone from his fingers and added in her phone number, finishing by putting in her name. She handed it back to him trying to blink back sudden tears. "I've got lunch with Weston on Saturday. Maybe... if you've got some time," she swallowed and felt her throat scratch with pain, "what if we meet then?"
"Sunday." He nodded. It wasn't a question, but an agreement. "I'll see you th-"
"Don't." She swallowed again. There was a knot in her throat. "Don't promise me. Just... just in case."
