“The town helped choose these,” Piper said. “We had nearly a hundred entries. I promise these are not subpar.”
“Well, we’ll see,” Didi said, moving toward Max.
Piper handed her another fork.
Max held his pan out.
Didi lifted a forkful of caramel crunch bar to her mouth and tasted it. She chewed. She swallowed. She thought for a moment. But there was no nose wrinkling.
“These are delightful,” she finally said.
Max’s mouth spread into a huge grin. “Thank you.”
“Very good,” she said, nodding and setting her fork down. “But—”
Everyone froze. Piper actually groaned.
“You shouldn’t let other people tell you how to express yourself,” she told Max. “I would have expected more from you. Something bolder. Something with more… flavor. Cinnamon and cayenne,” she said. “Or maybe raspberry and dark chocolate.”
Max lifted a brow. “Because I’m gay?”
Didi looked surprised. “You’re gay?”
“I am.”
“Huh.” She seemed to think about that. “No, I meant because you’re a big, bold personality,” she said. She studied him for a moment. “But if you wanted to put rainbow chips in something I suppose that would—”
“Grandma!”
Finally Whitney arrived in front of the stage.
Didi looked down at her. “What?”
“That’s… enough.” Whitney’s cheeks were bright pink.
“I’m being supportive,” Didi said. “If Max wants to express his sexuality—”
“He is a baker. Not everything has to be about his sexuality,” Whitney said. She cast an apologetic look at Max. “I’m sorry.”
Max shrugged one big shoulder. “It’s okay, Whit. This is how people learn.”
Whitney visibly sighed. “Grandma, let’s just focus on the baking.”
Didi put her hands on her hips. “Listen up,” she said. “Talking is how people learn. So I’m going to teach you something about baking. Baking because it matters to you is when it’s the best. If you’re making caramel crunch bars because they are your favorite, or because they were what your favorite uncle always brought on road trips, or because they were what your mom tucked into your lunch box, then that’s one thing. But if you’re doing it because other people told you to, they are going to lack something. If you want to make something with rainbow chips because it makes you happy because rainbows are beautiful representations of gay love and you want to help people see that in their everyday life, then that’s wonderful. Or if you want to make a dark chocolate raspberry cake because, dammit, people might need something more than chocolate and vanilla and strawberry cake with vanilla icing!”
Everyone, including Whitney, was completely quiet, staring at Didi.
“Buttered Up bakery does better baked goods,” Didi said. “They are made from scratch and are made with care and love. But Hot Cakes are a part of everyday life and little moments that people don’t even think about until later. They are just the cake that your dad pulled out when you were out fishing or the cakes that your mom put out on the little plates in your tea set when you had picnics in your backyard. Until one day you’ve outgrown those fishing trips and picnics, or your dad or mom is gone, and then you’ll pull out one of those cakes and suddenly it means something. So Hot Cakes have the potential to be important too and that’s something you better keep in mind as you’re going forward adding to the list of cakes we… I mean you… offer.”
Didi sniffed, lifted her chin, and then started for the steps on the end of the stage opposite of where she’d ascended.
After a stunned moment, Whitney seemed to shake herself and hurried after her to help Didi down the wooden steps.
Didi paused at the top and looked back. “And the caramel crunch bars win,” she said. Then she looked at Cam. “I’ll meet you beside the Roadster. I’m actually in the mood for pie.”
Then she descended the steps regally.
Piper turned wide eyes to Cam. “Um, wow.”
“Yeah,” Cam agreed. But he was already covering his pan of bars with the aluminum foil provided.
“So…” Piper said, clearly expecting Cam to fill in some blanks.
But he had no idea how to do that. Didi Lancaster was a force and it seemed that giving up Hot Cakes wasn’t something she was blasé about. He had to admit, the idea of spending a little time talking with the woman was intriguing. He’d never had a one-on-one conversation with her and she surely had some interesting stories.
Dax finally turned to the crowd. “Well, that’s that. The new Hot Cakes snack cake will be a caramel crunch bar!”
The crowd applauded on cue.
“Thank you all so much for joining us for this important event,” Dax went on. “We hope that you had some fun and that you know how much it means to us to be a part of the Appleby community,” he said. “We hope to be here for many, many years to come.”
More applause.
“Be looking out for the name announcement for the new snack cake and our big kick-off event for that!” Dax said. “You all, of course, will be the first to get a taste!”
Cam lifted a brow. They hadn’t talked about next steps. But now it looked like they’d be having a kick-off event. Well, okay, then.
But Cam was going to put his foot down about having alpacas at that event.
7
“I promise that I tried to talk her out of it.”
“Why’d you do that?” Cam asked Whitney as he helped Didi into the passenger seat of Dax’s Roadster.
“Because this is crazy,” Whitney said. She was standing by the front bumper of the car, watching them with a very worried expression.
Cam shut the door and turned to his ex-girlfriend. “Crazy because she’s your grandma? Crazy because she was my grandma’s nemesis? Crazy because she’s paying five thousand dollars for a conversation she could have had just by asking me?”
Whitney studied him for a moment, then said, “Yes.”
He chuckled and walked toward her, stopping right in front of her. “Maybe those are all the best reasons for us to have this conversation,” he said.
Whitney frowned. “What
