Page 98 of The Baking Games

CHAPTER 25

SAVANNAH

It is time yet again for the judges to come around and look at what we've made. They were very impressed with Rhett’s lemon and blueberry pavlova. I have to admit, it looks delectable. I'm hoping I can sneak over and have a bite once they announce who's going home. They come over and look at my tropical pavlova and rave about it. Tessa says that she would expect to have it on a tropical island at a fancy restaurant, which makes me feel good. Marco says something similar, and he eats an extra helping of it.

Then, it's time for them to go over to Connor. He's standing there with a smile on his face like he's just invented the wheel or something. "So what have you made for us, Connor?" Chef Alain says, looking down at his pavlova with a questioning look on his face.

"I have made a matcha and red bean pavlova."

Red bean? He made a dessert with red beans in the final competition? What on earth is he thinking? I look over at Rhett, who is stifling a laugh. We both know that this can't be good.

"Exactly what is this?" Tessa asks, looking down at it.

"Well, I made a matcha meringue base infused with matcha powder for green tea flavor."

"Green tea meringue?" Marco says, looking at him quizzically.

"Yes, and then I made regular whipped cream with vanilla flavoring. But the unique thing about my dessert is that I made a sweetened red bean paste and then dolloped it over the whipped cream. And then I topped it with fresh strawberries," he says as an afterthought.

"Oh, my," Tessa says as she goes to take a bite. "I guess I must also try some of this red bean paste.” She puts the bite in her mouth, and then the camera zooms in so that we can see it on the big screen. This isn't good. My heart starts to race. We might've pulled this off. They don't look like they are enjoying Connor's dessert, which would mean that Rhett and I get to battle this out in the wedding cake competition.

Chef Alain takes a bite. "Oh my goodness." For a moment, I think that he might be impressed, that he will say that Connor thought outside the box and made a dessert that should go down in history. Instead, he turns and spits it into the trash can. They've never done that with anyone during this competition.

"You don't like it?" Connor says.

"No, I don't like it," Chef Alain says, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "What on earth were you thinking, Connor, using red bean paste in a dessert during a final competition?"

"I thought it was very outside the box," he says, crossing his arms.

"Yes, it was outside the box and down the street. It was outside of this universe. It was not good."

Connor's face starts to turn red. "I'm sorry, Connor, but this is terrible," Tessa whispers as if everybody on national television can't hear her.

"I think it's pretty clear that we have our two finalists," Chef Alain says, pointing across the room at me and Rhett. We both stand there staring at him like we don't understand the words. "Congratulations, Savannah and Rhett. You will battle it out in the wedding cake competition tomorrow, and we'll find out who wins The Baking Games!”

SAVANNAH

"We did it! We did it! I can't believe we did it!” I yell as Rhett and I reenter the house alone. We're the only two people here. We could run around like crazies if we wanted to.

I can't believe we started with so many contestants, and now it's just the two of us ready to battle it out. At the beginning of this whole thing, I thought I would be miserable being in the house with Rhett. I don't know how I never saw this side of him when we were in pastry chef school, but I'm glad I got the chance to do so.

Life will return to normal in a couple of days. I’ll be back with my sister, and Rhett will be back on a cruise ship sailing in the middle of the ocean. I don’t know which of us will win, but honestly, I would be happy for either of us.

Sure, I want the money. I want an easier life. I want to be able to breathe when the bills come in. I want to pay for college for my sister. I want to buy equipment and put down money on a lease for my very own bakery. I want so many things, but right now, I only want to spend as much time with Rhett as I can. Even if it's make-believe, it's been fun. He's very good at pretending.

"I know. I can't believe we did it either," he says as we sit down in the courtyard.

"Of course, you can. You believed you would win this whole thing from the moment you walked in the house."

"Yeah, some of that was a little bit of false bravado," he says.

"I can't believe you're admitting that."

“It's true. When I first got in here, I was really surprised at the amount of skill that our fellow contestants had."

"Really? Well, you certainly didn't let on at the beginning.”

“It would've ruined my reputation if I seemed like I was the least bit daunted by these other people."

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