Semi-Sweet On You: Hot Cakes Series

by Nicholas, Erin

  Didi seemed completely immersed in enjoying the pie.

  Letty hadn’t made it but it was her recipe and the girls never strayed from Letty’s recipes by even a half a teaspoon. Letty’s desserts really were the best he’d ever tasted and as he’d traveled extensively over the past few years with Fluke, Inc. he’d made a point of trying various desserts in all the places he visited. He’d never found better than his grandmother’s.

  It was a damned travesty that Didi had gone without Letty’s desserts for fifty-two years.

  “How long were you and Dean married?” Cam asked after a few bites.

  “Fifty-one years,” Didi replied after taking a sip of coffee.

  “So you and Dean started dating shortly after you started Hot Cakes.”

  She nodded. “It wasn’t even officially Hot Cakes then. Dean was the one who pushed to make it grow. I got to name it. That was about it.” She said it with a tone that clearly said what she thought of that.

  Cam knew the basic story. Letty and Didi had worked at Buttered Up together. Some of the local men wanted to take cake and pie in their lunches to the local factories and farms. Didi tried to talk Letty into individually packaging some of their best sellers. Letty had refused. Didi had done it on the side just so she could prove to Letty that it was a good idea. Letty had been furious. They’d broken up and Didi had gone on to open her own business individually packaging treats and selling them out of her house to start.

  “Of course, the business was why he asked me out,” Didi said, taking another tiny bite of pie.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He saw the potential in what I was doing. He knew he could make it into something big. And he wanted to hurt Charlotte that way.” Didi met Cam’s gaze. “That’s why I had to stay away from Charlotte completely after Dean got involved. He said we couldn’t risk having a legal battle, but I know he knew that I would have kept asking Charlotte to be involved. He didn’t want the complication of working together with the woman he was in love with and the woman he’d married.”

  Cam was almost speechless over this whole story. Almost. He really wanted to know more. “You think he was still in love with my grandma?”

  “Oh yes. At least a little. And he wanted revenge. He wanted to show her that she’d made a mistake not marrying him.”

  “That didn’t bother you?” Cam would have never imagined having this conversation with Didi Lancaster or pushing her for personal details about her marriage, but she seemed willing to talk. She could always tell him to fuck off. In a very sophisticated way, of course.

  “Well, I was naïve for a long time and didn’t realize it,” she said. “And when I did, we’d been married for nearly eight years. We had children. We had a business. I would have had to let Dean have Hot Cakes and everything that went with it if I left him. He wasn’t a bad husband, he just wasn’t that good at it. And I did, of course, enjoy the privileges that went along with the money and status.” She looked sad for a moment. “I liked that too much for too long. That doesn’t last.” She looked up at Cam. “When I realized that Dean was preparing the boys to follow him into the business and to continue to push it and make it bigger, I started to have regrets.”

  “Like what?”

  “Charlotte,” Didi said, her voice softer. “And Dean making my sons selfish, shallow men motivated by money.”

  Cam wasn’t sure what to say to that. She seemed truly sad and he wasn’t sure how to comfort her. Besides, he thought she probably should regret those things, at least a little.

  “And, of course, what almost happened with you and Whitney.”

  He jerked his head up and met Didi’s eyes. What had almost happened? “What do you mean?”

  “I know Whitney felt she had to choose us or you.”

  Cam swallowed hard. He hadn’t realized that anyone knew about that. He didn’t know how the conversation had gone with Whitney and her family. He didn’t know who she’d said what to. He didn’t know if she’d announced she was running off with him and they’d forbid it or if they’d somehow found out she’d been seeing him and they’d told her she had to break it off or if she’d asked for a job for him and they’d refused. All of those scenarios and a few others had gone through his mind over the years when he’d let himself think and wonder about it—usually after he’d been to Appleby for a visit and gotten incredibly drunk.

  But mostly he’d told himself that it didn’t matter and he didn’t care.

  It didn’t matter. The end result was the same no matter who had said what to who.

  He still wondered.

  “That was a long time ago,” he finally said.

  “I’m so glad you stayed together anyway,” she said.

  He blinked at her. “Um—”

  “The company was so important to Whitney. But I’m just so, so glad that you stayed together even if you had to keep it a secret. Love—true love—is worth whatever it takes.” Didi was staring off into the distance. “You don’t want to get to be seventy-two years old and realize that you completely missed it.”

  Cam felt his chest tighten. Didi hadn’t been in love with Dean. She’d missed out on true love and she was realizing it now, late in life. That was incredibly sad.

  But she thought that he and Whitney had stayed together.

  “The way you look at her is the way every woman should be looked at by the man she’s sharing her life with,” Didi told him. She sat forward and took the last bite of pie from her plate.

  Cam didn’t know what to think. Didi seemed so resolute about so many things, but she was clearly confused about a few things. A few important things. Like how long ago her husband had died. And Cam and Whitney’s entire relationship.

  “I’m not sure Whitney is convinced this is forever,” he finally said. That was true enough.

  Didi looked shocked. “Why not?”

  “The business is still very important to her,” he said. “She thinks us working together could make that complicated.”

  “No.” Didi frowned and leaned in, grabbing Cam’s hand. “No. You have to show her that’s not true. That business… it’s done some good things. It’s important to Appleby. But it can not be the reason that another couple spends their life without love.”

  Whoa. That was intense. Cam squeezed her hand. “I want to convince her we belong together.”

  That was his mission even before this.

  Didi’s eyes filled with tears and she squeezed him back. “You must. Whitney deserves love. She hasn’t had nearly enough of that. Her father was also completely involved in that company. I think he loves his wife, but he did not show that little girl enough love when she was growing up and he hasn’t respected her since she’s been a part of the company.”

  Cam’s chest got tighter. He’d suspected that Whitney had been working to gain her father’s approval and that Eric had been a workaholic at best and a neglectful father at worst. But hearing Didi say it, about her own son, made Cam want to punch Eric Lancaster. And made him want to go straight to Whitney, wrap her up in his arms, and convince her—however he had to—that she could have it all. She did not have to choose between Hot Cakes and love.

  “I will do whatever I can to show Whitney that this can work,” he said.

  Didi drew in a long breath and let him go, sitting back. “What are you doing each day between one and four p.m.?” she asked.

  “I’m… at work.”

  “But you’re one of the bosses, right?” she said.

  “Yes.”

  “And I’ll bet that you work until nine at night or on Sundays if needed.”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “So you can take a few hours off each day.”

  He could. Of course. His work wasn’t really eight-to-five work. Sometimes it was twenty-hours a day for several days in a row. Sometimes it was just a couple of intense days. Some days were very routine. Others, he had almost nothing to do.

  “What do you have in mind?” he asked.
>
  “Whitney has a woman come over each day. She makes our dinner, does some light housekeeping, runs errands for us.”

  “Okay.”

  “I want you to do all of that.”

  He waited for her to go on, but she didn’t. She simply finished her coffee.

  “You want me to come make dinner for you?” He could do that. It would give him a reason to see Whitney outside of the office. And he was a great cook.

  “I want you to come babysit me each afternoon.”

  Okay, that wasn’t what he’d been expecting. “Babysit you?”

  She nodded. “Whitney feels like I shouldn’t be alone for more than an hour or so at a time.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I set the kitchen on fire.”

  That was a good reason. He lifted a brow. “On accident or on purpose?”

  Didi laughed at that. “I accidentally set a kitchen towel on fire by setting it on the stove. But to hear Whitney tell it, it was a five-alarm blaze.”

  “It could have turned into a five-alarm blaze,” Cam said. A fire, of any kind, wasn’t nothing.

  “That’s what she said,” Didi agreed. “She was especially mad that I called her instead of the fire department.”

  Cam’s eyes got wider. “Yeah. 9-1-1 is always first.”

  Didi nodded. “I remembered that after Whitney told me.”

  After the fire was started and she’d wasted time calling Whitney. Yeah, that wasn’t good.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t use the stove when you’re there alone,” Cam suggested.

  “She reminded me of that rule after the fire too,” Didi said. “And then she had Katherine start coming over.”

  “That doesn’t seem like a bad idea. If it’s hard for you to remember things,” Cam said carefully.

  “I suppose. But she’s annoying.”

  “Katherine is annoying?”

  Didi nodded. “She wants me to exercise and she always wants to watch me do things like make my coffee and start the washing machine. She treats me like a child.”

  “Have you talked to Whitney about it?”

  “It makes her anxious. She wants it to all be good. She wants me to be safe and happy. That’s why I’m moving into Sunny Orchard,” Didi said. “It will be easier for Whitney to relax and concentrate at work once I’m living there.”

  Cam frowned. “You’re moving into the nursing home to make things easier on Whitney?”

  “Of course.” Didi dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. “But it’s fine. It’s a lovely place. I’ll have a new suite. And I know a lot of people who live there. I like to play cards and things.” She gave Cam a smile. “It’s a great solution. But my new apartment won’t be ready for another month. I can’t tolerate Katherine for another week not to mention a month. And this is the perfect chance for you to show Whitney what it would be like to live together and make a real life together. You can show her what being married to you will be like.”

  Cam was glad he was done eating. His throat was suddenly tight and there was no way he could have swallowed anything.

  Didi was simplifying this, of course. You didn’t just move in with a woman and her grandmother and start making dinner and entertaining that grandmother in the afternoons when that woman was still unsure how she felt about you.

  But that was the part that made him pause.

  He wasn’t so sure that Whitney didn’t know how she felt about it. He was pretty sure she knew exactly how she felt but knew that could be complicated.

  So he needed to show her it wasn’t complicated. Having him around could actually make things so much easier. She could have it all. Hot Cakes, him, and her grandmother safe and happy.

  Hot Cakes was important to her? She wanted to prove that she belonged there? That she could contribute to the company’s growth and success? She wanted a chance to be a kickass corporate tycoon? Fine. What did she need to make that happen? A partner. Not in business but in life.

  He wanted to know if they could still fit. He wanted to know who Whitney was now, ten years later, and how he felt about that woman. He wanted to know if they could have a relationship now. He needed to be with her to do that. They needed to spend time together for that.

  This was just about the most perfect setup for them both.

  “You’ve got a deal,” he finally said to Didi. “But I have to warn you… I’m not going to let you win at checkers or cards or whatever we’re going to be doing all day.”

  Didi lifted her chin. “I would be insulted if you did.”

  “Good.” He grinned at her.

  “And you’ll have to move into the house.”

  “Why’s that?” he asked. He wasn’t opposed to that at all. Didi’s house was huge. He was sure there were at least six bedrooms. He was currently staying in one of the rooms at Zoe’s house. But so was Aiden. Well, Aiden was staying in Zoe’s room with her.

  He was happy for his sister and his best friend, but it was a little weird being there with them when they were cuddling on the couch, or flirting in the kitchen, or coming out of the bathroom at the same time, wrapped only in towels.

  “I’m a night owl,” Didi said. “I always have been. But Whitney feels strange about going to bed before I do. So she sits up with me. Then gets up so early for work. She’s sleep deprived.” Didi frowned. “And grumpy because of it. It would be great if someone else could sit up with me. You can sleep in until noon if you need to. I do.”

  Cam thought about that. He didn’t mind staying up late at all. He wasn’t an early morning person. Thankfully, the Fluke guys all liked to get a later start in the morning so their team meetings were certainly not first thing in the day.

  And this was for a month. Just until Didi moved to Sunny Orchard. He could flex his hours for a month. Or work from Didi’s house. The Hot Cakes offices were a five-minute drive. If he needed to go in he could pop over there, not leaving Didi alone for too long. Or he could take her with him.

  “You have an extra room for me?” he asked.

  “I have five extra rooms.”

  “How many bedrooms does your house have?”

  “Seven.”

  “Good Lord.”

  “I know.”

  He grinned at her. “When do I start?”

  “Tonight.” Didi slid her chair back and stood.

  “Oh.” He got to his feet as well and dug his wallet out.

  Josie was there a minute later. “Don’t you dare try to pay for this,” she said, gathering up their plates and cups.

  “Oh, I’m not paying,” he said. “I’m tipping.” He slipped a one hundred dollar bill into the pocket of her apron.

  She lifted a brow. “You realize I’m in love with and living with one of your partners, right?”

  Yes, Grant had as much money as Cam did. He grinned and nodded. “Be sure to tell him I tipped you a hundred bucks. That will annoy the hell out of him.”

  She shook her head, but laughed. “Of course.”

  Annoying Grant Lorre was entirely too much fun and since he’d met and fallen for Josie, he’d gotten a bit more laid back, making it harder to rile him up.

  “Tell him I said you look hot in that apron too,” he added. That would irritate Grant.

  Didi slapped his arm. “If you’re going to marry my granddaughter you need to cool it with the flirting with other women.”

  Josie gave him a wide-eyed questioning look.

  Cam simply nodded. “That’s a good point.” He took Didi’s hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm. “At least when her grandmother is around.”

  Didi smacked his arm again, but she chuckled.

  Josie looked very interested.

  “Tell Zoe I’ll see her later. And we’ll see you all at dinner at mom’s tomorrow night.”

  “We?” Josie asked.

  Cam looked down at Didi. “Yep. We.” He was going to take Didi and Whitney to dinner at his mom’s house.

  That was really weird.

  He cou
ldn’t wait.

  8

  Whitney couldn’t believe she was actually pacing the foyer of her house waiting for her grandmother to get home from her date.

  With Cam.

  Where were they? They’d been gone for far longer than an hour. The auction had clearly been for an hour of time.

  Of course, she was sure that Elliot and Max were spending more than an hour together, and if Henry and his friends got Ollie going on Warriors of Easton, they could easily hang out the rest of the evening. Ollie might even come to the office with a bunch of new ideas for the game tomorrow.

  But Didi and Cam? What were they possibly doing for this long?

  She heard a car in the circle drive in front of the house and sucked in a quick breath. She started for the door. Then she stopped. She couldn’t meet them at the door. That would make it seem like she’d been waiting for them. And possibly pacing.

  Whitney bolted for the couch in the sitting room off to the side of the foyer and grabbed for the first thing on the coffee table just as the front door opened.

  Cam and her grandmother were laughing as they stepped into the house together.

  For a moment, Whitney felt her heart flip at the sound of her grandma’s laughter. Didi and Whitney used to laugh like that together when they played dolls or had tea parties or were reading books inside her princess tent.

  Didi had always been the one to play with Whitney. Everyone else had been too busy or not even home much of the time. But Whitney hadn’t missed anyone. Not until she was older and realized just how little time her parents actually spent with her. She’d always had Didi to go to the park with and to play dress-up with and to bake with.

  She felt her eyes stinging as she thought about how long it had been since they’d spent time like that—just silly, fun time enjoying something together. They hadn’t baked together in years probably.

  She blinked the water in her eyes away as Cam and Didi came around the corner. Whitney looked up as if she’d just heard them and smiled. “Welcome home.”

  “Hello, darling.”

  Whitney had to take a second look at her grandma. She realized Didi was glowing. Actually glowing. She looked happier than Whitney had seen her look in far too long. It made her seem younger.