The girl’s eyes bugged out of her head. “I, uh, I’ll be right back.”
She disappeared behind the back wall and came back a minute later with a notepad and pen that she thrust at them.
They signed messages to Monica, Samantha, Emily and Tori.
“They’re going to lose their minds,” Monica said. “Thank you so much.”
“How about a picture to go with it?” Jordan asked.
Gigi wanted to stab her, but she posed for the photo that Big Mac took of them with Monica.
“Thank you so much,” Monica said, her eyes glistening. “You’ll never know what this means to us.”
“Thanks for watching,” Jordan said, nudging Gigi.
“Yes, thanks for watching.”
“We can’t wait to see the show from Gansett. No one can believe that I work where you guys are filming.”
“Let’s give the ladies a minute to enjoy their coffee before they’re needed.” Big Mac smoothly guided them out of Monica’s clutches and led them to a picnic table on the pier. “Although, I’m sure you’re used to finding adoring fans everywhere you go.”
“We’re very fortunate that people seem to like the show,” Jordan said.
“My wife and I love it.”
“Seriously?” Gigi said. “You’re not exactly our target demographic.”
Jordan scowled at her.
“Sorry, no offense intended.”
Big Mac laughed. “None taken. Watching two adorable, funny young women is certainly no hardship. We laugh our asses off at every episode.”
“That’s nice to hear.” Jordan pointed to Gigi. “She’s the funny one.”
“You’re both funny,” Big Mac said.
When Gigi took the smallest possible bite of doughnut, just to be polite, the greasy sweetness exploded in her mouth. Holy mother of God, that was good. “You gotta try this.” She broke off a piece of hers and handed it to Jordan, who popped it into her mouth.
“Damn, that’s delicious. Gimme more.”
They’d each eaten a full doughnut by the time Matilda came looking for them.
“We’re ready for you, ladies.”
“Duty calls,” Jordan said.
“I’ve been hired to teach you how to fish for crabs,” Big Mac said. “Let’s have some fun.”
“Can hardly wait,” Gigi muttered, earning an elbow to the gut from her BFF. “Ow.”
They followed Big Mac down a ramp to a floating dock that had smaller docks attached to it.
“Be nice,” Jordan whispered. “My sister is marrying into his family.”
“Duh. Thanks for reminding me. I might’ve forgotten that if you hadn’t.”
“I’m going to hire Cooper to sweeten you up.”
“Stay away from Cooper. He’s off-limits.”
“Hmmm,” Jordan said, flashing a mysterious grin that wasn’t so mysterious.
Maybe Gigi shouldn’t bring him to the dinner party if Jordan was in the mood to meddle. Before she could share that thought with Jordan, their attention was required to learn how to bait rusty hooks with raw, slimy hot dogs.
Disgusting. With the camera rolling, Gigi had to pretend she was deeply invested in this activity when she’d rather be anywhere else. She had no idea why she was in such a state today, but the dark moods came on her without warning and never for any good reason. Sometimes they were short-lived. Other times, they stuck around for a while.
“Crabs really like hot dogs?” Jordan asked Big Mac.
Was it Gigi’s imagination or did Jordan suddenly look a little green as the smells of diesel fuel and rotting seaweed filled the air. Huh, wonder what that’s about, Gigi thought.
“They love them. We’ve tried all kinds of other bait, but nothing gets their attention like a hot dog does.” He made sure the piece of hot dog was firmly attached to the hook. “Now, the secret to catching crabs is patience.”
Great. Gigi was fresh out of patience on a good day. But since she didn’t want to have to reshoot the segment, she feigned interest and went along as she and Jordan baited the hooks with hot dogs while trying not to retch at the gross feel of the raw meat.
“Okay, now drop your lines into the water,” Big Mac said.
Gigi looked down and was surprised to realize she could clearly see the bottom—and the crabs that were scurrying around like they were out doing their morning errands or something. As one of them approached her baited hook, she held her breath, waiting to see if he—or she, how did one know such things with crabs, anyway?—decided whether the bite of hot dog was worth the risk.
“I’ve got one,” Jordan said with a screech of excitement.
“Raise it up slowly,” Big Mac said. “Nice and easy. That’s it.”
Jordan’s line cleared the water with a gigantic crab attached to it.
Gigi instinctively took a step back, and only Big Mac’s hand on her back kept her from toppling off the other side of the skinny dock. “Keep that thing away from me!”
Big Mac took the crab by one of its claws and held it up for inspection. “That’s a good one, Jordan. He’ll be a competitor.”
“A competitor in what?” Gigi asked.
“The crab race we’ll have at the end.”
“We’re going to race crabs?” Gigi had never heard of anything crazier than that.
“Yep.” Big Mac put Jordan’s crab in a bucket of water. “That’s the best part.”
Gigi would have to take his word for that. As she looked down to check her hook, she saw a crab bigger than the one Jordan caught taking an interest in her bait. She held her breath, hoping it would come a little bit closer and then…
“Bring him up,” Big Mac said. “That’s a good one.”
Gigi slowly wrapped her line around the spool, barely breathing as she waited to see if the ginormous crab would hang on long enough to break the surface. He did! Big Mac grabbed him and held him up.
“That’s the granddaddy of crabs,” he declared.
Gigi felt inordinately proud to have caught the granddaddy. “I want another one,” she said, tossing her baited hook back in the water.
“I’ve got one!” Jordan said.
“This time, you have to take it off the hook,” Big Mac said.
“I don’t know about that,” Jordan said hesitantly.
“You can do it. They don’t eat much.”
As she watched Jordan’s intense concentration, Gigi had the most diabolical idea. She had to fight back the urge to howl with laughter. Not yet, she told herself. But soon. More determined than ever to catch another crab, she watched the activity below until she saw a crab approaching. “Don’t they figure out what’s going to happen when they see a hot dog suddenly appear down there?”
“They haven’t gotten wise to us yet,” Big Mac said.
“It’s safe to say that crabs aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed,” Jordan said.
Big Mac laughed. “Their pincers are pretty sharp, but their smarts? Not so much.”
Hearing that, Gigi briefly reconsidered her prank and decided it was a go. They were supposed to make good TV, and this would make for good TV.