Page 88 of The Baking Games

Still, I don't see him anywhere. For a moment, I fear that he has left the competition and quit out of embarrassment. I honestly don't understand why he's embarrassed about working on cruise ships. I've never been on a cruise, but it seems like something that people with money do. People who have the means for that vacation. After all, I had never even seen the beach. I didn't get to go on cruises.

I would consider it a high honor if Rhett cooked for me on a cruise. I value our budding friendship. I miss him. I miss him talking to me, and I would gladly be chained to him again if I could. That sounds so silly when I think about it.

I finish my bowl of cereal and start walking around, looking for people. I see Lainey and Connor sitting in the hot tub and want to gag, but I don't see Rhett. I don't know where he could be. I walk around the house until I finally find him. He's in the side parlor where we originally all met as contestants. None of us ever go in there. It's a stuffy room with bookshelves. It looks like a place where a man would sit and smoke a cigar by the fire.

The lights are dim, and he's just sitting by himself in a chair in the corner. It’s like the first time I ran into him in the bathroom. He likes chairs in corners.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm sitting in a chair," he says dryly, not making eye contact.

"Why aren't you in the courtyard or your room?"

"Maybe I wanted to be alone."

"I get that, but can we talk?"

"Well, I really don't have an exit plan, so I guess I don't have a choice."

I enter the room and shut the two French doors behind me. I sit in a chair on the opposite side of the room. This feels awkward and uncomfortable.

"Rhett, I didn't tell Connor anything."

"That's impossible, Savannah. You're the only person—literally the only person in the world—who knew that information."

"I know it doesn't make sense. He had to have overheard us."

"How? We weren't wearing our microphones. We weren't even standing near the door. We were whispering."

"I know that. It doesn't make any sense to me either, but I can promise you I didn't tell him anything. I don't even talk to Connor."

"I thought that was true, but maybe you and Connor have a separate friendship that I don't know about. Maybe you’ve been working with him to win this competition.”

"Seriously? Connor and me? No. I can't stand him. That doesn’t even make any sense. You know that.”

"I thought I knew a lot of things, Savannah."

"I hate this. I didn't do anything wrong, and now you hate me."

"I don't hate you. I could never hate you," he says quietly. There's something about his voice. It makes me think about what Maggie said, that maybe she's right.

"Then you have to believe me. I didn't do this."

He looks up, a pained expression on his face. "I wish that I could believe you. I wish that I could trust you. I wish that I could trust anybody, actually. I opened myself up to you, and what did I get? Embarrassed on national television. Exposed to my family, who already judges me."

"You have to believe me, Rhett. I didn't do this."

"Can I just be alone?" He says it with such finality that it's jarring, but I want to respect his wishes. I stand up and walk to the door but turn back just before I exit.

"I've really enjoyed getting to know you, and I wish you all the best in the final, but I promise you, you can trust me. I didn't do this. All of this was real to me.”

He says nothing, and I walk out the door, wondering if that's the end of my friendship… or whatever it is… with Rhett.

SAVANNAH

With nothing else to do, I decide to go to my room and start packing. No matter what, I’m leaving this house within a week. It will give me something to do while I worry about the upcoming challenges and what’s happening with Rhett.

Unfortunately, Lainey is in the room, still wearing her bikini from the hot tub. She’s painting her toenails a hot pink color while she sits on Maggie’s old bed.