“He gets super drunk the night after he sees you and then he’s a hungover mess the next day at the office,” Piper said with a nod. “I’ve gotten really good with the hangover cures.”
Whitney hadn’t known that. She knew she was always shook up after seeing him, but he’d always acted cool when they’d run into each other. He even seemed angry at times. Like seeing her was a huge, annoying inconvenience.
“So,” Piper said. “I don’t think that he’s wanting revenge. I think he’s still got feelings and now that he’s here, he’s probably thinking that he wants to see where things stand.”
That had been, essentially, what he’d said. But wow, hearing someone else say it made it feel really real.
“The question now is, what do you want?” Piper asked.
To not mess up this chance to make Hot Cakes great and to be a part of that. To earn the respect and trust of the men who had come in and saved the company, and her family’s reputation. To have a job because she was good at it and not just because her grandmother told her grandfather and father that they had to make a place for her in the company.
And Cam.
But she couldn’t have it all.
Thankfully, before she had to answer, Dax took the stage. He had been one of the partners in Hot Cakes, but then he’d met Jane. She had refused to date one of her bosses. She didn’t like how that looked. Whitney should talk to Jane. Jane would surely see her side with this whole Cam thing.
But Dax being, well, Dax and the master of the grand gesture, had simply sold his shares so Jane would say yes to a date. She had said yes. And they were now madly in love and planning to get married next summer.
Would Cam be willing to give Hot Cakes up to be with her? Maybe. Cam was known for bucking convention. But she didn’t want that either.
She was a businesswoman, whether her family saw it or not, and she understood the importance of having talent. Cam was not only a great attorney, but he cared about Hot Cakes more than any other attorney they’d ever be able to hire. He would protect the company from any threat because he was protecting Aiden, Grant, and Ollie too.
“Welcome everyone!” Dax said into the microphone with one of his incredibly charming grins. “We are so excited to have the town of Appleby, Hot Cakes’ home, as a part of this process,” Dax said.
Dax might not have a financial interest in Hot Cakes, but he had an emotional interest in it. Because of Jane and because of the four men who were like brothers to him. It made sense that he would use the term we. He’d weighed in with advice and ideas throughout the rebuilding of Hot Cakes.
“Come on,” Whitney said to Piper. “Let’s go convince Henry and his friends to bid on Ollie before things get really going.”
They made their way toward Henry and his group.
“Hey, Henry,” Whitney greeted.
“Hi.”
Henry knew her. He had been born their senior year of high school. She hadn’t spent time with Cam’s family. Their romance had been a huge secret from everyone but Aiden. The McCafferys wouldn’t have been any happier about their relationship than the Lancasters had been when they found out. But Appleby was a small town and Henry at least knew who Whitney was.
“I have a treat for you,” she said.
Henry looked interested and his friends turned to pay attention as well.
“How would you all like to spend an hour tonight with Ollie Caprinelli?”
Henry’s jaw dropped open.
They of course knew who Ollie was. In their world, he was a god. And someone they watched on YouTube regularly. He and Dax were celebrities in Henry’s corner of the world.
“Really?” one of his friends, Hunter, asked. “We could do that?”
The truth was, Henry could get an hour with Ollie any time. His big brother and the man who was practically a brother were Ollie’s best friends. She was shocked Ollie hadn’t been invited over for dinner at the McCafferys’. Aiden had already been a regular guest, dating back to even before his mom had died and Maggie McCaffery had become his surrogate mother. Zoe’s two best friends were regulars around that table as well.
But Whitney wondered if maybe the McCafferys had told Henry that he couldn’t have his own friends over when the Warriors of Easton guys were there. That could have become chaotic.
This was a chance for Henry to be a big shot with his friends.
“Yep.” Whitney pointed at the stage. “He’s going to make one of the desserts and then people are going to bid on eating that dessert with him. You get a whole hour.”
“But it’s like a date, right?” Jack, another of Henry’s friends asked.
“Nope,” Whitney said. “It’s just an hour of time. With dessert. Anyone can bid and the highest bid is the winner.”
“But a bid takes money,” Henry said.
“Right.” Whitney had to swallow hard as she met Henry’s gaze.
He had Cam’s eyes.
Or they both had their mother or father’s eyes.
But she definitely saw Cam in Henry’s face and she was struck by a twinge of sadness that she hadn’t gotten to know Henry. She’d love to see Cam as a big brother. She’d never really seen him with any of his family except from a distance. When they’d been at school events or social events around town, she’d had to stay away and pretend they were nothing more than classmates. But it had been clear that the McCafferys were close and that Cam loved his family deeply. He’d been loyal to his family’s legacy with Buttered Up and had stubbornly believed every bit of the story about how Didi had stolen the first Hot Cakes recipe from Letty.
They’d argued about it only once. Then they’d agreed to not talk about it.
But the feud between their
