Page 21 of Booth

“I’m sick of talking to you about this.He needs to produce those tests so that I can see how my son did.”She told him she was sick of hearing about it from him, but if he thought they were in the house, then he was going to have to enter to find them.He looked at her with a squinting eye.“He doesn’t have them here.”

“He doesn’t have them at all.And right now, your son is more than likely stressing because you’re harassing his favorite teacher.Yes, he’s his favorite.When he came by here two days ago to tell us you were coming here, he told Booth that he’d never had a teacher like him, and he loved learning from him.But that’s all gone to shit now hasn’t it.Because of you, there is no Latin teacher at the school, and I’d not count on getting one as good as Booth was, either.He’s finished with teaching children who have overbearing parents who think he’s a liar all the time.”Mr.Sawyer said he’d never called him a liar.“Then why are you here at my house looking for paperwork that you’ve been told no less than fifty times has been destroyed?”

The man took a step back and looked at her before speaking.“I never meant for this to get so out of hand.But my wife is hounding me to find them.Or to at least get a grade from them.”She just stood there, not saying a word, and let him squirm a little bit more.“He’s a good kid, my son.And he’s smart too.”

“Perhaps you’re telling the wrong person about that.”He nodded, then looked around before turning back to her.“The paperwork was only to see how much Thad had retained over the summer.Like he does every year when he has second-year students coming into his classrooms.If you know that your child is smart and has been studying over the summer, why do you care what a test score is that matters little to anyone but you?”

“I don’t know, to be honest.”He looked defeated then.His shoulders slumped, and he looked like he’d gone a couple of rounds with a prized fighter and come out on the bottom.“I don’t know why she cares so much.Like I tried to tell her that it has nothing to do with his grade, why are we making such a fuss about it.”He asked if he could come in for a while and just sit down.

“Of course.I’m baking cookies for a cookie exchange, and you can help me decide which ones are better.I’m testing the orange dreams against the snickerdoodle that Booth likes.”She invited him into her kitchen, where she’d been working.“Actually, he likes all kinds of cookies, but these two are ones that no one else is baking, so I get to try.”

“I’ve not had a cookie since…well, I think since Thad was born.The wife said she didn’t want unhealthy foods around and got rid of everything that she deemed not good for him.I suffered for a bit, then I’d go to the office and have what I wanted.I wonder what Thad does to get what he wants to eat?”She told him that he should ask him.He’d probably enjoy sharing with him.“I think I will.It’s time he and I had some father-son time together and get some dinner together.Yes, I’m going to do that.”

When Booth came home, he looked shocked to see Mr.Sawyer in the kitchen with a plate of cookies in front of him.She’d decided on the snickerdoodles to bake and had nearly half of them finished when he came into the kitchen with them.Of course, he had to try them as well, and she thought it wonderful that Ben, the man’s name, asked for a glass of milk.And if they had chocolate, he’d rather have that with his cookies.

Ben’s phone rang twice, and he ignored it both times.When someone came to their front door again, she wasn’t the least bit surprised to find Thad there.He’d been sent to find his dad by his mother, and he was to report back to her when he found the man.Thad liked the cookies and had a glass of chocolate milk as well before the two of them were ready to go.

“I’m sorry.”Booth asked what he had to be sorry about.“Because I made you think that quitting your job was the way to go.Though in talking to your wife, I think you needed it much more than anyone that I know.You’re a good man, Booth.And the best teacher that I’ve ever encountered.Not many people will stand up to my wife and come out on top.You’re a good man, and I’m happy to make your acquaintance.”They shook hands and then hugged.Thad too shook hands with Booth and told him that he missed him.

After the two of them left, Booth sat on one of the stools in the room and took another cookie.Before biting into it, he looked at her with a smile.She smiled back and asked him what was going on in his head.

“I love you very much.”She said that she loved him as well.“You probably kicked Ben in gear to leave his wife, you know.I’ve never seen a person so happy about a cookie in my life, and I love cookies.”

“I don’t know.I think he’ll stay for Thad.”Booth shook his head and said no, not for Thad because he’d get to keep him.“You think?I don’t know.His wife seems to run the household.Not that I’ve ever talked to her but she seems like a real bitch.Eat this cookie, it’s messed up.”

“Mom said that you were willing to bake two different cookies for the exchange.Is that right?”She told Mrs.Amber that she wanted two dozen of her cookies for him.“Thank you.You do know that you more than likely saved Thad from a nightmarish home life from now on.Ben will stand up to her from now on, too.”

“Good for them.”She pulled the last tray of cookies out of the oven and put them onto the cooling rack.“Do you suppose we could go out to dinner tonight?I’ve been in this kitchen all day, and I’d like to—”

“You stayed in here because of Ben, didn’t you?”Her face turned a lovely shade of pink, and she said that he seemed to need it.“Yes, he did.Thank you for cleaning this mess up with him.I think that had he pushed much harder, I would have given him the papers.I still have them.”

“I know.”She turned and looked at him.“You kept his paper and no one else’s.You also graded it, and he aced the test, didn’t he?”

“He did.He’s a smart kid.And so are you.”She winked at him and she turned off the oven, and put the pans in the sink to be washed with everything else.“I’ll help you clean up, then we’ll go out to dinner.Someplace with cloth napkins, like you told Amy you needed, when you want comfort food.”

“You paid attention.”He said that he did because he loved her.“Thank you for that.I’m going to go up and shower some of this sugar off me and put on something sexy.What do you think about taking me to dinner and we come back here and fuck?”

“Fuck?”Dee nodded at him.“I’m all for that now if you don’t mind.”She told him that she was too hungry for it now.“All right, but I get to do whatever I want to you when we get back here.Anything.”

“All right.Then the next time I get to do whatever I want to you.Twice.”She left him in the room to go take a shower.When she heard him laughing, she knew that she’d surprised him once again.Before he got to the stairs where she was, Dee told him that his computer had come, as well as the other things that he’d ordered for his office.She could tell he was debating whether to go up the stairs with her or into his office to play around until she came down again.Letting him decide, Dee stripped down and got into the warm shower.She was going to tease him all night until he was ready to explode when they got back here.