Tanner asks about Kalle instead.
As we ride into town, Tanner peppers me with questions about my brother. I recap Kalle’s hockey career, try to rememberthe reasons he switched to baseball (other than “because he could”). I’m at a loss when it comes to Kalle’s curling, though, but I’m very knowledgeable about The King’s Hat pub.
It’s good that I’ve kept up with my brothers’ lives, even though I never expected to be quizzed on a date about what Kalle is up to.
Hockey players. I guess there’s a bond that never goes away.
Once we make it into town, we spend some time walking around the stores, tiny shops showcasing Saint Pierre’s history and French past.
And a few really good bakeries.
We visit the candy store, and apparently, Tanner has a huge sweet tooth. He insists that we pick something out to give to Tema.
The downtown area of Saint Pierre is cozy and quaint, with enough colourful homes and fishing boats to remind me of Battle Harbour. There’s another pang of homesickness. It’s a surprise because mainly I focus on what’s in front of me rather than what I’ve left behind.
Maybe it’s time to spend some time at home.
That’s definitely my mother’s imaginary voice, because I like my life in Chicago.
But that might change, depending on whom I end up with.IfI end up with anyone.
Could it be Tanner?
Tanner is sweet and nice and fun, with a personality like a favourite teddy bear that you have to hug.
I do hug him a lot throughout the afternoon: when he presents me with a bouquet of wildflowers, bought, not stolen from a yard; when we get silly trying on hats in a little shop; and when we get splashed as we walk through the waves at the beach.
I do the big, throwing myself at him hug for that—Tanner lifts me up and I wrap my arms and legs around him. It’s a perfect Suitorette shot.
So is us running through a flock of seagulls, sending them flying with loudha-ha-hacalls.
I know the viewers will be comparing Tanner to Asani, and Tanner is going to come out on top. It’s also going to come out that I like to terrorize birds when they’re minding their own business, but seagulls can often be an annoyance from the sixth level of Hell and I think they can handle it.
The entire date is like an interview for Tanner as the next Suitor. I keep Grayson’s words at the forefront of my mind, and I make sure the cameras get the best of Tanner.
I ask the questions about past relationships—he’s had two serious ones, and the last one resulted in a broken heart about a year ago. I get him to admit that it was tough when he injured out of hockey and how he felt lost for a few years until he fell into coaching kids.
He confesses that he really wants to be a father.
I’d marry him in a minute if I wasn’t thinking of Spencer all the time. It’s like my mind has divided, quite neatly, into Suitorette/Tanner/ignore the cameras but play to them, and Spencer.
I want to talk to him so badly that it actually hurts.
Other than that, it’s a good day and we stay in town until the sun dips low in the sky. A pickup truck collects Tanner and the bikes to take them back to the hotel, and Grayson picks me up in the convertible. I’m happy we don’t need video of us riding back to the hotel; on the show they neatly segue the casual events of the afternoon into the romantic part of the evening, when the reality isthere’s a few hours in between when we separate and change before meeting up again.
“Don’t mess up your lipstick,” Alexa warns as she helps me get ready back at Camille’s.
For the evening date, I wear a strapless, lilac maxi dress, the gauzy fabric flowing around my legs, with my hair up. Alexa does subtle makeup, making me look sun kissed, not sunburnt—which my nose and shoulders certainly are—with a dramatic plum lipstick.
If I get to take anything from my time on this show, it might be Alexa and her boxes of tricks because she always makes me look amazing.
“Isn’t the point of it to get messed up?” I tease, sounding more light-hearted than I feel.
I’m going to have to kiss Tanner sometime tonight. After I get vulnerable and open up with insights and personal anecdotes about my life. I’m going to have to kiss him, and I already know I’m going to be thinking of Spencer.
When I’m ready, the car takes me into town where the show has booked the tiny French restaurant over-looking the water.
I’ve watched the show enough times to know this is where the romance will happen. Over a quiet meal, we’ll have private time to share our thoughts and feelings.
