Page 62 of The Baking Games

“It is something I will never forget.”

"I need all the contestants over here!” Dan yells out, holding his hand up and looking directly at us. He doesn't care that I'm having a moment over here.

Dan isn't dressed in his normal suit today. Instead, he's wearing a pair of khaki pants and a pink golf shirt, as if heading straight to the golf course after leaving us. Maybe he is. I don't know Dan. I don't know what he does in his off time.

"This area of the beach tends to accumulate a lot of trash,” he says when we walk closer. "Today, you're just going to walk up and down the beach, using this stick and putting trash into these big bags."

"Well, I feel like I'm literally on community service now,” Rhett says, holding up the stick with one hand and the chain with the other. I laugh, but nobody else does. I guess they don't get our humor.

"We will be here for a couple of hours, so feel free to take your time walking around and picking up trash. I'll be over here looking at my phone,” Dan says, sitting on a folding chair. I guess he's not going to participate.

"Well, I guess we should get started,” I say.

We start walking around, and I can’t help but continue looking at the ocean repeatedly. I kick off my shoes because they are way too hard to walk in on the sand, and Rhett does the same.

"People are so dirty,” Zara complains as she walks by with her stick. “Who leaves trash on the beach...” Her voice trails off as she passes us.

I use my stick to spear a plastic water bottle, and Rhett pulls it into the bag. We do this over and over for what seems like the whole day, but I know it's probably only been an hour.

Finally, I need a break. "This is exhausting work. Zara's right. Why are people so dirty?"

"People are lazy, generally speaking. That's what I've found."

"Oh, yeah?”

“You know I am the lead pastry chef on the yachts?" He adds the word yachts as an afterthought, as if I've forgotten where he works.

I want to say, Yes, Rhett. We all know that you work on yachts, but I refrain. “I know.”

"I have to hire people occasionally, or the boat captain does, and people are generally lazy. They don't want to do the work."

"Well, that's not been me. I've never had the luxury of being lazy." He nods his head.

"We have two totally different situations, but I've never had the luxury of being lazy either. Nobody in my family supports me in what I do."

"So why did you decide not to go be a lawyer or a doctor?"

"I didn't love it. I tried. I worked at my mother's medical office in high school. I went with my dad on legal cases when I was off for summer breaks from prep school. It just wasn't for me."

"How did you tell them?"

"Oh, that was a big argument. During one Sunday dinner, I sat down with my parents and brothers and explained that I wasn’t going to medical school even though I had a scholarship, and I wasn't going to law school either. I was going to go to night school to be a pastry chef. I thought my mother was going to pass out."

I chuckle under my breath. "That must've been great to have those options in the first place."

"I'm sorry that you didn't, Sunny. I don't want you to feel bad for me. I would've made a terrible doctor. I'm a hypochondriac. I would've thought I had every single illness somebody came in with." He laughs. "Hey, do you want to walk down by the water a little more?" He points toward the waves, breaking against the shore as they come in.

"Sure." We put down our spears and bags and walk over to the water’s edge. I allow the warm liquid to wash over my feet for the first time. I'm so glad I got a pedicure before I came here. My red toenails are visible through the water as it washes over my feet. "This is amazing,” I say, smiling like a child. It's probably weird to him that I'm so excited about water on my feet. Instead, he just smiles back.

"I'm glad you got to experience this today."

"Me too." Just then, he looks down and sees something. "Oh, look, there's a crab…”

Before he can finish saying the word crab, the creature runs across my foot. I scream like I've been attacked by a bear and instinctively jump in the air, Rhett catching me. My legs are around his waist, and I have nestled my face in the crook of his neck. I didn't know I was scared of crabs until this very moment.

"It's okay, Sunny,” he says, sounding like he's trying to draw a breath and someone's choking him. Oh, it's me. I'm the one choking him. His hands splay across my back, moving in circular motions.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry,” I say, suddenly sliding down back to my feet again. But I'm still against him. He still has his arms around me, and I still have my arms around his shoulders. "What happened?" I say as if I forgot what I just did.

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