The Scavenger Hunt

Clue 2: Confessions

"So which park are we going to, you can't just tell me that we are going to 'the park'," your sister teases you, she knows which park you mean because she remembers you coming back from that walk the two of you took with a smile, telling her that he somehow liked you too, that you were going on a date together the next week.
"Backbone, we intended to go for a walk but we spent a couple hours sitting on the beach instead, watching the sun set that night.  We got some weird looks, being the only people in all black on the beach, but we had a lot of fun.  Wound up renting one of those paddle boat things and messing around in the lake.  At some point I lost one of my sandals in the water, remember the look on your face when I came home barefoot?" you ask, looking at her in the driver's seat with a smile.
"Oh yeah, I asked you if you lost your sandals when you beat him with them.  You thought I was nuts," she laughs at the memory, continuing the drive.
"You are nuts, but yeah I did.  You questioned me so hard that night, asking me if I was sure he was worth my time and everything," you say, thinking about that night.
"To be fair, the guys before Rick we're all duds, you never were much good at picking a decent man.  I didn't want you getting hurt by an idiot again," she admits. "Luckily he hasn't."
"Okay, you said that you have to guess the beach part? We are almost to that part of the park, you ready to figure out your next puzzle?" She asks you, pulling into the parking lot before she stops.
"Of course, but I have no clue where it would be.... Wait, is that Chris?" You ask her, noticing the tall man at the other end of the beach sitting there.
"Looks like it, maybe he has your next puzzle?" She asks you, both of you starting to walk across the sand towards him.  Luckily with it being early spring and not the warmest there isn't anyone else here, only the two of you.
"Hey, about time the two of you showed up. You look beautiful as always, are you ready for your next puzzle y/n?" He asks you, pulling you into a tight hug as you approach him.
"Yes, and thank you by the way, for helping with whatever the hell this is," you say with a smile, appreciating him taking his time out of his day to do this for you.
"Of course, I am always happy to help with things, but that is all you are getting out of me. Anyways, there are 12 hidden orange shells on this beach that you have to find and bring back to me, once you do I will have your next letter and rose.  You better start searching!" He says, his eyes meeting yours while he smiles. 
"I know you probably can't help, but do you want to walk with us? That way you aren't just sitting here watching me and bored?" You ask him, a slight giggle emerging as you think of him just sitting there by himself, watching you.
"Of course, after you," he says, starting to follow you as you begin to walk around the beach, finding a couple shells easily as you start but quickly realizing that some are going to be harder to find.
You notice a bucket laying upside down on the beach and walk over to pick it up, smiling when you find one underneath it and hand it to Chris, who has agreed to carry them all for you.
"That's 3, only 9 more to go," he says.
"Just because I am curious, did he hide them or did you when you came here to do this for me?" You ask Chris, continuing to walk through the sand as you keep looking.  Finding another one by a tree trunk that you hand to him.
"He did, I just showed up with what he told me to bring and waited for you.  All of this was set up by him, each puzzle is one he came up with for you and got together, we are just helping him with them.  He did send me a list of where they all are so if you take hours to find them I can help you but so far it doesn't seem like you are going to need my help." He teases you, nudging your side as you pick up your fifth shell, this one was was next to a pair of sandals, the same color as the ones that you lost when you two came here the first time.
When you laugh they both look at you like you are crazy, wanting the story of why you are laughing at where the shell was.
"Okay, so what is this laugh about," your sister asks, an amused smile on her face as she watches the joy that spreads across yours.
"Remember how I lost a sandal that day, it was a pink one.  I've given him shit ever since that he owes me a new pair of pink flip flops, I guess he replaced them for me today," you say with a smile. "I lost it down in the water, we had to take a couple steps to get into the paddle boat and I sank into the mud, we couldn't find it after that."
"I remember that, you came home with mud all over your legs that night, I didn't know that was why.  That is funny," your sister says, taking a sip of her coffee.
You find number six quickly, having made your way to the paddle boats after reliving that memory and finding one sitting on the seat of the number that the two of you had rented that day.  Number 7 was right on the edge of the beach, where you had fallen in the mud that time.
"Nice try Rick, not gonna fall in it this time," you mumble, making Chris and Kayla laugh behind you at your words.  Both of them mostly letting you do your thing while they chat behind you.
You see number 8 and let out a groan. "Ugh that little fucker, Chris, can you reach that one up in the tree? We both know that I can't," you ask, giving Chris a sweet smile and hoping that he will just help you with it.
"I guess, not sure if that breaks the rules or not but I can," he says, laughing and reaching it for you, quickly adding it to the bag that he has with him to put them all in.  You give him a playful shove before starting back on your mission again.
Number 9 is underneath a towel that you find down the beach a little more.
"3 left, you are getting so close y/n!" Your sister exclaims, her hand giving one of yours a squeeze, encouraging you.
Number 10 is on a log that is halfway in the water, number 11 underneath it where the log sticks up.  You let out a sigh, hoping that you find number 12 soon.  As much as you are enjoying this you just want to move on to the next thing, want to get this show on the road.  You have never been much of a patient person so having to do a task like this, that takes a lot of time and patience is starting to annoy you.
About 15 minutes later you finally notice a sandcastle in the middle of the beach, letting out a groan as you make your way over to it and notice that the last shell is sitting on the top of it, almost like it was mocking you.
"Thank fucking god, here Chris, your final shell.  Can I have my letter now?" You ask, making both of them laugh at how quick you were to ask for it, ready to read what to do next and what Ricky has to say.

Baby,
You have finished the second puzzle, you are getting closer.  I know this one tested your patience a bit, but I wanted it to.  That day seemed to test your patience, nothing was going how we wanted it to.  Both of us leaving covered in mud, you missing a shoe, me not having the guts to ask you on that date until we made it back to your house when I was dropping you off.  That day really tested both of our patience.
But when we did ride that stupid swan paddle boat I remember how much you smiled, how beautiful you looked with the smile on your face as we watched the sunset from the beach that night.  How well we seemed to get along despite the challenges of the day, that despite the fact most people would have been upset about the mud, about losing a sandal, you took it in stride and still enjoyed the day, that smile never leaving your face.  In fact you laughed when you fell into the mud before me trying to find your sandal, the laugh that is still my favorite sound in the world.
That night showed me who you are, how positive you are, and gave me the courage to admit I liked you finally, and breathed a breath of fresh air when you said you felt the same way.
To figure out where you are to go next the shells spell it out, arrange them into words and you will know where you are to go next.  When you are done let Chris keep them, he will make sure they get back to us but you have enough to carry and worry about today.
I love you, and can't wait for you to see what else is in store.
Rick

You look at Chris, who is handing you the bag of shells after you have read the letter out loud before you take a seat on the beach.  Lay them all out in front of you as you start to move shells around, figure out different words they could possibly spell before it hits you and you move them.
"Our First Date," you say softly, looking up at your sister and Chris who are watching you as you solve this.
"Well, tell me where we need to go," your sister says, helping you off the beach while you brush your sand off your dress.
You turn, pulling Chris into another hug and thanking him again for his part in this while he hands you your third rose. 
The tag on this one reads "I love that you love me, accept me despite all my flaws and baggage."