She thought quickly. “Can you check with Paige?” she asked Piper. “Maybe she could go over and open the bakery. At least for a little bit?”
Paige also filled in once in a while for her sister and Zoe. She liked to add zucchini and carob chips and almond flour and other healthy things to the recipes which drove Zoe a little nuts, but Paige wouldn’t be baking today. She could just run the register.
Piper nodded. “Oh, that’s a good idea. I’m sure she would. It’s a little later than they usually open, but we could put something up on the town Facebook page and send out a text to the community list.”
Whitney frowned. “There’s a community text list?”
“Yeah, Drew told me about it. It’s for announcements like the school closing because of snow. Things like that. But they also use it for things like announcing retirement parties for people. Funeral services. Birth announcements.”
See, that was why small towns were so great. “Do you think this qualifies?” Whitney asked.
“I think everyone will want to know that Maggie is in the hospital and that the bakery is open so people can go support the McCafferys,” Piper said, already typing into her phone.
Whitney thought about that too. The McCafferys were beloved in Appleby. That was just a fact. Her family had feuded with them for half a century, but that didn’t mean the rest of the town didn’t realize how loving and sweet and generous they all were.
She sighed. Wow, things had really been messed up for a really long time. She was so grateful that Aiden had started breaking those walls down and that now she and Cam could maybe help further the healing.
“You know what?” Whitney said. “I’m good here. If Ollie stays and represents the new partners with Gordon Perkins and his team, I think we can handle this. Could you go help Paige at Buttered Up? Then I could come over and help after this meeting.”
“You would help at Buttered Up?” Piper asked.
She nodded. “I actually did once before. When Aiden proposed to Zoe and swept her off her feet, literally, I got behind the counter and waited on customers. It was a great way to show the town that things were changing between the two businesses.”
“And this is all about the two businesses?” Piper asked.
Whitney blew out a breath. “No. Not anymore. This is about me supporting the McCafferys. But there are only so many ways I can do that. I can be here and make this meeting successful and I can then go help at the bakery and make that work.”
Piper hesitated. She opened her mouth. Shut it again. Frowned. Then said, “You could also just… be there. At the hospital.”
Whitney shook her head. “There are plenty of people at the hospital. But if I’m not here, there’s no one who can do this meeting and if we don’t go to the bakery, there’s no one there.”
“But being there for people… it’s about being there, Whit,” Piper said. “You don’t always have to do stuff or be accomplishing things or working.”
Whitney felt a shiver of… something… go through her. She was pretty sure it was that she wanted to believe Piper. But that she didn’t quite.
Cam took care of her by taking things off her plate, making it so she didn’t have to worry. That’s what she was doing here. Or trying to do here. She wanted to take care of Cam.
“It’s a work in progress,” she finally said.
Piper nodded. “Okay. Well then, I can go to the bakery with Paige and Ollie will be in there with you and… when it’s over we can go from there.”
Whitney nodded and looked down at the files in her arms. This she knew. This she was comfortable with. This she could pull off.
Ollie joined her in the conference room a few minutes later. “’Mornin’,” he greeted. His smile was a lot less bright than usual.
She understood. “Morning.”
He took a chair as his phone chimed. He pulled it out and opened the message. Whitney felt her heart kick. Was it news about Maggie? How was she? How was everyone else?
“They found a blockage in three vessels,” Ollie read. He scrubbed a hand over his face. “She’s going in for surgery.”
Whitney felt her throat tighten and she forced herself to swallow.
“Dammit.” He laid his phone on the table and took a deep breath. “Poor Cam and Aiden.” He looked up. “And Zoe, of course. And Steve and Henry.”
Whitney nodded. She knew he hadn’t meant to leave the rest of the family out. But Cam and Aiden were two of his best friends. Of course they were in the front of his mind.
“Who’s—” She had to clear her throat and try again. “Who’s texting you?”
“Grant.”
Her air swooshed out. She’d hoped it was Cam. That would mean, in her mind anyway, that he was taking some control by relaying the information and keeping people informed. But of course it was Grant. He was the calm, cool one. Of course Cam wouldn’t be calm and cool right now.
She imagined him pacing the waiting room, growling at everyone, and snapping at staff when they couldn’t give him the answers he wanted right now. Then again, she could also picture him sitting with his arm around his dad or holding his sister’s hand or taking Didi and Henry to the cafeteria for brownies at 8 a.m. as a distraction.
She would really love to know for sure how he was and what he was doing.
“Has Cam said anything more to you?” Ollie asked, leaning forward. His eyes were tired. He looked worried. Very worried. And Ollie never looked worried.
She shook her head. “I haven’t heard from him.”
Ollie was clearly surprised by that. “Oh. I just assumed he’d be wanting to talk to you.”
Yeah. Well, he was surrounded by people who could support him and make
