Mari & Ilna-you're the best.

McRollers-thanks for reading.

Special shout out to Joni-we're all thinking of you.

Delivery

"Do you understand the task, Dad?" Annie Cuzzi asked.

"I think so." Al glanced at the tablet his neighbor was holding up and smiled at his daughter's image.

"Are you sure?" Annie repeated patiently.

Al read the task again. "Why wouldn't I be? Is there something I'm missing?"

"No reason." Annie shook her head. "It's just that with every other task you've told me how it wasn't fair because Steve was gonna have some kind of advantage."

"Not every task," Al huffed.

"Face it, Dad. He's living in your head rent free."

Cuzzi snorted. "Is he paying you?"

"Nope." Annie beamed. "This is all for my own amusement."

"You remember I outrank you, right?" Al teased. "And that we'll be seeing each other in a few days in Hawaii. I am not above telling you to drop and give me 50 pushups."

Annie laughed. "You're all talk. But speaking of seeing each other in Hawaii let's get this one final task completed and taped so we can both get packed."

Al stuck his chin out. "Maybe I've already packed."

"That'd be a first," Annie said. "Now read the task again and let's get started."

Al looked out at a small dinghy floating in the ocean about 200 yards off shore and saw his wife Chelsea, in a floppy hat and sunglasses, enjoying the peace and quiet. "Steve's gonna have home field advantage on this one because he has a beach in his backyard and we had to come to a public beach."

"There it is," Annie sighed.

Al's eyes twinkled as he got exactly the response he'd been expecting.

"Deliver this pizza to your wife." He waved at Chelsea. "You may not walk on the sand. You may not use any sort of boat or flotation apparatus. You must remain in contact with the pizza at all times. The pizza in the best condition, delivered to your partner quickest, wins. Your time starts now."

Al picked up the pizza. "I can't walk on the sand but that doesn't mean I can't belly crawl, right?"

"All the information is on the task," Annie said.

Al dropped to his stomach and maneuvered the pizza onto his back. "I got this."

John shaded his eyes and tried to gauge the distance to the dinghy floating offshore beyond Steve's house. Both he and Carrie had managed to get a few hours off so they could film the final task at the beach house while Steve and Catherine were at work. They'd managed to make it this far without either man seeing how the other completed a task, they didn't want to blow it now.

"Carrie hasn't had lunch yet," John told Elizabeth. "If we just wait a few minutes she'll swim in here and get it herself."

Elizabeth shared an amused look with Kathy Kayama who was helping film for the afternoon. "That's not really in the spirit of things though, is it?" she asked with a smile.

John read the task again.

"It says I can't walk on the sand. But can I use something else to help me get to the shoreline?"

"What were you thinking?" Elizabeth asked.

"I know Steve has one of those boards with wheels that he uses to get under his car when he's working on it," John said. "I could go to the garage and grab that."

Elizabeth smiled. "Do you think that's going to move fast through the sand?"

"Probably not." John ran through a couple of options in his head but discarded each as impractical. "But if I get sand in Carrie's pizza belly crawling across this beach, she isn't gonna be happy. Wait." His eyes lit up. "I have an idea."

He ran to one of the cupboards in the outdoor kitchen and pulled out a stack of paper plates.

"I'll buy them more," he promised as he returned to the mat that served as the starting point. One by one he tossed a plate down in front of him to step on and quickly made his way across the beach.

"I'm not actually walking on the sand," he called over his shoulder when he was almost there.

Very proud of himself for finding what he thought was a loophole, John waded into the ocean with the pizza held high above his head. When he reached a point where the water was at chest level he began to swim, gliding along with a one-handed stroke while using the other to keep the pizza aloft.

He made his way to the dinghy in what he thought was a reasonable time, with only a few small splashes visible on the pizza box. He placed it on the edge of the small boat with a flourish and threw his arms in the air triumphantly.

"I believe you ordered a pizza," he teased his wife.

He adjusted his sunglasses and for the first time got a good look at the person on the raft.

He slapped his hands on the water.

"You have GOT to be kidding me."

"It's the last task," Elizabeth said as she handed the envelope to Steve.

He smiled. "Finally."

"Admit it, you had fun," Jenna said, happy to serve as the camera person for the day.

"More than I thought I would," Steve conceded. "Has everyone else already done this one?"

"Yes." Elizabeth nodded. "Which should give us just enough time to get these all edited and ready to show before everybody arrives on Friday."

"It'll be good to see them." Steve smirked. "Especially when I win the trophy."

"It's a cheap, plastic trophy," Elizabeth reminded him with a laugh.

He grinned in return. "A win is a win. Let's do this."

He opened the envelope and read.

"Deliver this pizza to your wife." He glanced at the dinghy floating several hundred yards away.. "You may not walk on the sand. You may not use any sort of boat or flotation apparatus. You must remain in contact with the pizza at all times. The pizza in the best condition, delivered to your partner quickest, wins. Your time starts now."

He picked up the pizza, glanced one more time at the dinghy, then stepped up onto the deck and headed for the door into the house.

"Where are you going?" Elizabeth asked.

"To find Catherine," Steve said matter of factly. He pointed to the person floating offshore. "That's not her."

"I knew he wasn't gonna be fooled," Jenna said. "That's why I suggested we have Jess in the house as a backup videographer."

"Good call." Elizabeth barked a laugh. "Just wait until Friday when the others see this."

THE END

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