Page 82 of Protected By West
"I was walking back to my office when I heard your call." Tracy toed off one shoe and then the other, stretching out her legs under her desk. "So I did the hundred-yard dash in two-inch heels."
Her mother's maternal sigh made it feel like she was right there with her. "Two inches? Tracy... Do you want me to send you a catalog from that shoe company I buy from?"
"No, mama. I'm good."
"I know you think they're orthopedic-"
"Mom!" Tracy laughed out loud. "The store is called MIDWEST ORTHOPEDIC SHOE COMPANY!"
"That's just a selling point, but they look amazing!"
"I'm good, mama. Seriously though? I have my eye on a pair of Converse high tops. I hear you can have them customized with pictures on them. I'm thinking of putting the credit union logo on them."
The silence on the other end of the phone became a little unnerving after a few seconds.
"Mom?"
She heard some whispering and then.
"Tracy Louise Fagan, are you serious?"
"As a heart attack, Mama. I wore them in high school."
"And you'd always scribble on them."
"Sketch, Mama. I'd draw on them to personalize them."
"How's our girl doing?"
"Is that Stan? Send him my love?"
"Stan, hush... I'll ask her."
Tracy closed her eyes and listened to her mother and her husband talking on the other end of the call. It was always good to see them together. Or in this case, to hear them together. They were an amazing couple.
"Stan wants to know if you want us to bring you anything special from our stops on the cruise."
"Wine! Liquor! Oh, maybe-"
"A hot foreign guy?"
Tracy laughed along with her mom. It was exactly what they'd talked about when she'd picked them up to take them to the airport to fly across the Atlantic. At that point, she hadn't met Weston yet.
"You don't need to worry about sending me a guy, Mama, I-"
"Oh. My. Goodness! Did you... Stan! Get back here! Tracy, have you-"
"I'm dating a guy, Mama."
"Dating a guy..."
Tracy wished that her mother hadn't said it in the same wonder that Steve Irwin used to talk about observing wild species.
"My baby is dating a guy..."
"I'm a grown woman, Mama. And it's not unheard of for a woman of my age to date."
"Oh, Tracy, stop! I'm not saying you're old."
