A Place in the Sun (5/?)
Chapter Five
“You ready to go, buddy?” Booth asked.
They’d been sitting there for over an hour. It was time to find the others. Booth hoped they hadn’t gone far. But if they had…that’s why God invented cell phones, Booth thought wryly.
Parker got down of the bench and reached for his father’s hand. Together they set off in search of the Brennans. Looking out over the sea of people Booth searched intently for the chestnut hair of his partner. Every time he saw a likely candidate his eyes would travel down in disappointment. It was never her; the curves were all wrong. Hold it. When did those become so familiar to me? Shying away from that thought, Booth shook his head slightly to clear it. They kept walking.
Booth and Parker were passing the Fahrenheit when Parker tugged on his hand. “Dad, look.”
Booth looked in the direction Parker was pointing. No Bones. Or Max, Russ, Amy or girls. Just a game. “They’re not over there, Parker.”
Parker looked up at Booth with exasperated eyes. “I know, Dad. I want to get one of those for Bones.”
“One of what?”
Parker pointed again. Then Booth saw it: a small stuffed dolphin. Booth was well aware of Bones’ love of dolphins; it was one of the things she shared with her mother. Booth smiled. She’ll love it. He looked down at Parker. “I think she’d like that, Parker. Let’s do it.”
Father and son headed over to the game. It looked simple enough to Booth. Get fifteen out of twenty golf balls in the glass fish bowls. A half hour later Booth, with some help from Parker, was on his third attempt. I used to be a sniper, for God’s sake! This shouldn’t be this hard, he thought as another golf ball bounced away. Booth groaned in frustration. He had two balls left. They needed to drop both of them or they’d have to start over.
“Dad, let me try.”
Booth looked down at Parker. “I don’t know, bud. We’ve only got two left.”
“I can do it,” Parker said confidently. “Please.”
Booth sighed. “Alright.” He handed Parker the two balls and stepped back. Parker took one of the balls and weighed it in his hand. The boy looked seriously from the ball to the waiting bowls judging the distance. Booth had rarely seen his son so determined. Come on, Parker. You can do it. Parker took a deep breath and tossed the ball in his hand. To Booth’s surprise it went in one of the bowls cleanly.
“Great throw, Park!” Booth said as he ruffled his son’s hair.
Parker tried to shrug him off. “Dad! I still have one left!”
“Right. Sorry,” Booth chuckled to himself.
Parker repeated his ritual. On this throw, the ball bounced precariously up into the air before dropping into one of the bowls.
“Yes!” Parker shouted. He turned and jumping into Booth’s arms. “We did it, Dad!”
Booth hugged Parker tightly. “You bet we did. Now you have to get your prize.”
“What’ll it be?” the proprietor asked.
“I want that one,” Parker said pointing at the dolphin.
Two minutes later the Booth boys resumed their search for Bones with Parker carrying the dolphin tightly. They found the Brennans emerging from the exit of the Canyon River Rapids. Everyone was soaked, even Max.
“Bones!” Booth shouted when he spotted them. She looked around at the sound of her nickname but didn’t see him through the throng. “Bones!” Booth shouted again. She still didn’t spot them. “Bones!” By now people were starting to stare at him. Booth glared at one guy who was giving him an odd look. Haven’t they ever heard a nickname before? “Bones!”
She spotted them finally. Grinning, she waved. Booth and Parker crossed the crowded space to reach the others. The guy who’d annoyed Booth turned to his wife and muttered something about wretched nicknames. Wretched? Bones? You’ve got to be kidding. It seemed perfectly natural to Booth. She worked with bones; therefore, he called her Bones. Although admittedly, he’d come up with it just to annoy her at first. Booth had lost count of the number of times she’d protested. Gradually though it stuck. No one else called her that; only Booth. She was his Bones. The nickname that had originally been intended to wound and annoy was now said with a great deal of affection.
“Are you feeling better, Parker?” Bones asked, water dripping from her hair and clothes.
Booth swallowed. It had to be a water ride, didn’t it?
Parker didn’t notice his dad’s sudden discomfort. “All better. Look what we got for you!”
Bones’ eyes fell to the dolphin. Booth saw the tears well up as she reached for it. “You got this for me?”
Parker nodded emphatically. “It was my idea. Dad helped though.”
“Thank you, Parker,” Bones said as she drew the boy into a tight hug, the dolphin clutched in her fist. She released him with a sniff. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get you all wet.”
“I don’t mind,” Parker replied. He was grinning widely, happy that his gift was a success.
Bones stood, raising her eyes to Booth. Hugging the dolphin to her chest, she stepped over to him and gently kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Booth,” she whispered as she pulled away.
Booth’s cheeks reddened. “It was nothing, Bones.”
The moment was broken when Russ said, “Now that the heartwarming reunion is over, can we get some more rides in?”
“Russ!” Amy admonished.
“What? They’re acting like they haven’t seen each other in ten years! It’s ridiculous.”
Amy smacked Russ on the arm. “Don’t start, Russ.”
“OK, OK, geez.”
Booth cleared his throat. “So what do you want to do now?”
“We were just about to get on the Wildcat,” Russ informed him.
“Sounds good to me.”
The eight of them wove through the crowd to the entrance to the Wildcat. Everyone started to file in when Max tapped Booth on the shoulder. “Booth, could I have a word?”
“Can it wait?”
“Not really. Do you mind?”
Mind? Of course he minded. But Booth decided it was better to remain on Max Keenan’s good side, for Bones’ sake anyway.
“Bones? Could you keep an eye on Parker?”
“Sure. Here, hold Aeneas for me.” She handed him her dolphin.
“Aeneas? You named your stuffed dolphin?”
Bones rolled her eyes. “Are you gonna take him or not?”
“Give it here.” Booth took the dolphin and followed Max over toward an empty bench.
“Are you thirsty?” Max asked. Booth nodded. “I’ll be right back.”
Booth settled himself on the bench and waited. A few minutes later Max was back. The older man handed Booth a beer as he sat down.
“Thanks, Max.”
The two men sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking their beer. Then Booth turned to Max. “So what did you want to talk about?”
Max sat his drink between his legs. “You’re in love with my daughter.”
Booth nearly choked on his beer. “What?”
“You’re in love with Temperance,” Max said calmly.
After s few seconds of shocked silence, Booth found his voice. “Where did that come from?”
“Please. It’s obvious to anyone who sees you two together. I’ve seen the way you look at her.”
“And what way is that?”
Max smiled. “Like she’s the most precious thing in the world.”
“She’s my partner. Of course she’s important to me.”
Max didn’t look convinced. “You took a bullet for her, son.”
“I’m a former Ranger and an FBI agent. I’m trained to take bullets for people,” Booth said defensively.
“That may be.” Max paused, sizing him up. “Would you do it again?”
“Yes,” Booth said without hesitation.
“Then my point stands.”
Booth contemplated that. He knew that he’d give his life to keep her safe. But he also knew that desire didn’t stem from his training. It came from her. Booth shook his head. “There’s a line.”
Max look at him confused. “A line? What line?”
“People who work together in high risk situations can’t get involved. It’s a line that can’t be crossed.”
“Why?”
That, of course, was the sixty-four thousand dollar question. What did he impose that line? Why did it exist? It dawned on him in a rush. “For protection.”
Max didn’t miss a beat. “Protection for whom? Temperance? Or you?”
“I don’t know. Her. Me. Does it matter? I can’t cross it even if I wanted to.”
“Why not?”
Booth remained silent. The truth was he didn’t know and it scared him to death.
Max took a swig of his drink. “I think I know. You’re afraid that Temperance doesn’t feel the same way about you that you do about her. You’re wrong about that, you know.”
Booth looked at Max in astonishment. There’s no way. No way. If I’d have thought for a second it was possible… then to hell with the line. “No way. I’d know. I know her.”
Max sighed. “She’s terrified. Just like you. That’s mostly my fault, I know. She’s gotten good at walling her emotions off. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel them. This isn’t something she can quantify in her lab and it’s scary.” Max paused. “I saw her after you were shot. Trust me, she’s every bit in love with you as you are with her.”
Booth closed his eyes and sighed. If Max was telling the truth then he had two choices: keep the status quo or confront this head on. The first was familiar and comfortable. The second scared him to death. “What should I do?”
“I don’t know, but if it were me…I’d take a chance.”
To be continued…