Page 60 of Protected By West
CHAPTER 11
TRACY
After they'd cleaned up the backyard, the team left and headed on their way. The last one left was Fox. Tracy was a little surprised when he stopped beside her to talk on his way out the door.
"So, what do you think?"
She smiled up at him. "I have to leave a review on the Texas Rangers website or something?"
Fox shook his head and folded his arms across his chest.
He was a big guy, built like a brick wall, but he didn't put her on edge. Duval was a bit of a different story, he looked like a Mac Truck and seemed to have the pedal pressed to the floor all the time.
Duval was a little overwhelming, but Fox was different.
It might sound strange, but she felt comfortable with him.
Not at all like how she felt with Weston. That was... complicated. And then it wasn't.
"Looks like you're doing a lot of thinking."
She smiled at Fox's words. "It's a lot to get used to. Over a week ago I had sworn never to date an officer of any kind andnow I feel like I'm a mom to a bunch of badly behaved toddlers bigger than I am!"
Fox leaned in, bumping his arm against her shoulder. "I'm pretty sure Oxy wouldn't mind a spanking."
She rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall. "It's strange. At work it's mostly women. Here it's mostly guys. I don't know how Jack is going to manage it."
"Jack." Fox nodded thoughtfully. "It'll take time, but I'm sure that she'll find a way to deal with us."
Tracy shook her head. "You know, I think I have it wrong." She grinned, remembering the way that Jack just seemed to give as good or better than she got. "I think y'all are going to have to watch yourselves around her. She's not the kind to suffer fools lightly. I bet there have been clashes in her past at work, but I'm willing to bet a bunch of them happened because men tried to push her around."
Fox sighed, a long-suffering sound. "I bet you're right. There are bound to be some growing pains while our team works together." He tilted his head to look at her, his gaze moving over her face from chin to forehead and back again. "I hope you'll be around to help us keep the children in line?"
There was a moment of hesitation. "This is new, relatively new, with Weston. I'm still coming to grips with the whole law enforcement thing." She lifted her hand and settled it over her heart, expecting to feel the familiar ache in her chest when she talked about it. The subject always brought up memories of her dad. Well, not just of him, but of the pain that her mother went through.
"It can be scary at times. My family still has moments when they text me. They hear something on the radio, or in the news and if names aren't mentioned, I'll get questions."
Tracy drew in a breath as those words settled in.
Thatwas a part of dating an officer that she hadn't considered.
The first had been her aversion to the job because of all the suffering her mother had gone through, but in all of the years that they'd been alone, even before they'd divorced, she couldn't remember a time when her mother had worried about her dad.
She'd loved him, of course. One doesn't get that angry without other intense emotions on the boiler. Maybe those concerns had been wrapped up in the mix.
Tracy hadn't really been old enough to remember much detail.
Her life was divided into three sections where he was concerned. The first, with her parents married but with her father mostly absent. Then when her parents were divorcing, arguing all the time and making home a complete battle zone. Then the last and longest that she could remember, her life after her father and mother divorced. And he was gone from their lives again.
At this point, the only memories she had of her father were the few pictures that she'd kept in a shoebox that her mom didn't even know she had.
Now, before she'd even had a reason to worry, it was starting to feel all too real.
She heard Fox sigh beside her. "I'm going to get into trouble for opening my mouth."
Tracy shook her head. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm not... I don't have any reason to get mad."
"Then why do I feel like I will."
