Making Whoopie

by Erin Nicholas

  And she was a romantic. If she was crazy about Grant, and they were having a fling that resulted in him staying at her place most nights, then she would be spilling to Zoe and Jane.

  “Something is going on with you,” Jane said. “You love romance. Now you have a big, hot, rich guy whisking you away for the weekend and living with you… and you’re not saying anything? Come on. Did something bad happen in Chicago?”

  Oh crap. Now they were worried. Jane looked sincerely concerned while Zoe was starting to look mad. “Seriously, Josie,” Zoe said. “Do I need to call Aiden? Do I need to go over there and yell at Grant myself?”

  Josie took a deep breath. “I think I’m in love with him,” she confessed.

  That took her best friends a couple of seconds to digest. Then Zoe blew out a long breath. “Thank God. Okay, that’s more like it.”

  Jane agreed. “We figured you had to be by now.”

  Josie couldn’t argue with that. She wasn’t the weekend-away type. Not only because she didn’t date guys who went away for the weekend—unless it involved camping and fishing. “We had an amazing time in Chicago. Very romantic. Fun.” She paused. And sighed. “Hot. Very, very hot.”

  Jane and Zoe grinned. Then frowned. Clearly confused by what had to be a morose look on Josie’s face.

  “Why don’t you seem happier about it though?”

  “He… we’re very different,” Josie said. She was going to give them as much truth as she possibly could. She could use some advice, and she really did want them to know what she was going through. She could tell them everything without mentioning that she and Grant had already said I do. Probably. Though actually if it came down to it and she ended up spilling that too, she wouldn’t completely mind.

  “You are,” Jane said. “But Dax and I are totally opposite and it’s great.”

  “You’re not though,” Josie said. “Not in the really important ways. You both take care of people. Making the people in your lives happy and lightening their burdens is always what drives both of you. You do it in very different ways, but that’s the bottom line for both of you.”

  “She’s right,” Zoe said to Jane. “Like Aiden and I—we’re very different in that I love tradition and routine and the comfort of the familiar, while he’s more of a big-picture thinker and a risk-taker, but deep down, we’re the same in the important ways. We both care about the people around us, our families and our community and serving others.”

  Josie frowned as she thought about her two friends and their loves. “And the things that are different about you, make you each better,” she said. She looked at Jane. “Dax’s playfulness and adventurous nature makes you take things a little less seriously. While your serious side makes him buckle down when he needs to.” She glanced at Zoe. “Aiden has made you take some chances you wouldn’t have otherwise because he is the comfortable familiar that you need, and you’ve given him the roots and home that he needed to settle down.”

  They both just nodded.

  “Grant and I are just different.” She shrugged. “It’s not bad. It’s just… not going to last.”

  “You seem different in that he’s serious and gruffer and more intense while you’re sweet and sunny and fun,” Jane said. “Is that true?”

  “Yep.”

  “But that should mean that you can make him take things a little less seriously—like what Dax does for me,” Jane said.

  Josie sighed. “Okay, the thing is, he’s very into people being independent, self-sufficient, not at all dependent on anyone else. He thinks everyone, especially women, need to be able to completely make a life on their own. He’s not really into partnering up. And I’m, obviously, very into wanting a partner, someone I can lean on and share things with.”

  “So he’s cool with dinner and sex and a weekend together in a hotel and stuff, but not full time?” Jane asked.

  “Yeah. I think he’d be really happy if I had my own place, my own accounts, my own everything, and we just got together once in a while for… fun. Sex. Trips. Dates. I mean, he likes spending time with me. He’s sweet and takes care of me and likes to do things that make me smile. But he hates that I don’t like spreadsheets and don’t balance my checkbook every month”—actually, she hadn’t told him that part—“and that I’m kind of paycheck to paycheck.” She winced and looked at Zoe. “I don’t mean anything by that.”

  Zoe shook her head. “I know. But I can see why that would bug Grant. It bugs Aiden too.”

  “I don’t need anything more,” Josie said. “I don’t owe on the house. I paid my car off. I don’t have any debt really. I’m fine.”

  Zoe shook her head. “But if something would happen—”

  “I have a little savings, and I have friends and family I can rely on,” Josie said quickly. But, of course, the voice niggled in the back of her mind that when she’d needed her gall bladder out, she’d had to go to extreme measures. Measures that wouldn’t be available the next time. Unless Grant was up for getting married again if she needed her appendix or tonsils out. There were a surprising number of internal organs that a person didn’t actually need.

  “I’m just saying it’s sweet that he just wants to be sure you’re okay,” Zoe said.

  Josie shrugged. “Yeah. He just wants me to be okay in a different way than I want to be okay.”

  And that was her bottom line. It wasn’t that Grant wasn’t a great guy or didn’t want her to be happy. It was just that his idea of how she should be happy was different than her idea of that. She didn’t need his money, but she did want to rely on him emotionally. She wanted hugs when she’d had a hard day and foot rubs when she was tired and someone to tell silly stories to and someone to play in the kitchen with. And she wanted it full time. Hell, they could have separate checking accounts if that would make him happy. But she didn’t want him bugging her about budgeting, and she didn’t want him feeling like she needed him for health insurance when really she needed him for… him.

  “What do you mean that he wants you to be okay in a different way?” Jane asked.

  “He actually teaches women to be self-sufficient and to not need men,” she said. She laughed softly. “I—the most romantic person you know—am falling in love with a guy who would very much like it if every woman decided that she didn’t want to have anything more to do with men than sex and fun weekends and maybe a movie marathon on the couch once in a while.”

  “He teaches women this?” Jane asked.

  Josie told them about Grant’s seminars and about his sister and grandma. “I mean, he comes to it from a really true place,” she said. “I can’t fault him for any of it. But I want the marriage.” She felt a jab near her heart. She had the marriage. She just didn’t have the marriage that she wanted. “I want the Mr. and Mrs. I want melding everything together. If I’m going to do a weekly budget, I want to do it together, to figure out where the movie date will come from and if we can afford the popcorn and Junior Mints or if I should make some cereal mix at home and sneak it in.”

  Zoe smiled at her. “You’ve romanticized being broke,” she said. “That’s going to be hard to pull off with Grant, even if you can talk him into a real relationship. Seeing how he’s a millionaire and all.”

  Josie frowned slightly. “That’s true.”

  “You’ve seen the romance with your parents because they had to come up with little ways to show each other how they felt,” Zoe went on. “They couldn’t buy stuff, so they made up for it in gestures.”

  “That made it more obvious,” Josie agreed. “I mean, coming up with unique, fun, sweet date nights takes more thought and emotion than making reservations at a fancy restaurant and booking a room at a hotel.” But she had a little niggle at the back of her mind when she said it, causing her to frown.

  Grant had booked the restaurant because it had the best view. For her. He’d booked the hotel instead of taking her to his apartment because he’d wanted to give her that experience. It might have been easy for him to
make the phone call and to afford the final bill, but it had still been done for a sweet reason.

  “I don’t know,” Jane said. “Dax has a ton of money too, but he still does little sweet stuff that means a lot more than buying me things.”

  “He bought your dad’s nursing home,” Zoe said with a laugh.

  Jane grinned. “Yes, he did. And that was over the top. But he did it because he cared about me and my dad. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s also about the intention behind what they’re doing.”

  That was so much like what Josie had just been thinking about, she sucked in a quick breath.

  Zoe was nodding. “It’s true. And now that I think about it, I think Grant’s rubbed off on the guys. In a really good way.”

  Josie perked up at that. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, Aiden’s got millions too. But he’s never offered to buy the bakery or buy me an insurance policy or give me money to do anything with it. He’s given me advice and gone over the books with me, when I’ve asked, but he’d always been really respectful of it being my business and not just throwing money at my problems for me.”

  “That’s true,” Jane said. “Dax has never said a word about me not working at the factory or him supporting me or anything. He didn’t buy the nursing home just to impress me. He really wanted to work there and because it was a challenge for him. I’m sure if I wanted to quit and live on his money, he’d be okay with it, but I’d be willing to bet that’s never even occurred to him.”

  “And you think that’s because of Grant?” Josie asked.

  “I think Grant’s taught the guys, either actually or by example, to respect other people being independent and working and doing their thing their way. I think he’s instilled a definite sense of respect for women,” Zoe said. “They treat Piper really well.”

  “They do. They tease her like a friend, but they listen to her and include her almost like she’s a partner,” Jane said.

  “And they’ve brought Whitney in on a lot of stuff,” Zoe said. “Even though she worked for Hot Cakes before they bought it and was part of the family that basically ruined it, they’ve given her a chance to stay on and help rebuild it. I think that’s pretty great.”

  Josie did too now that they pointed all that out. Grant’s respect for women and his support of autonomy was not a bad thing.

  “So you guys are making it work,” she said. “The being your own woman but still in a relationship.”

  “We are,” Jane said.

  “Of course,” Zoe said. “The guys would never expect us to suddenly change.”

  “Well, Grant does want me to change,” Josie said.

  “How?” Jane asked.

  “He wants me to be more responsible and more aware of my budget and more careful with my money.” Okay, when she said it out loud it didn’t sound so bad.

  Zoe agreed. “And that makes him a jerk?”

  “No. It makes us incompatible long term though,” Josie said. Then she winced. “That makes me sound like I really want to be irresponsible and poor, doesn’t it?”

  Jane laughed. “A little bit. I know that’s not what you mean though.”

  “But would it be terrible to let him teach you about spreadsheets or whatever?” Jane asked. “I mean, Dax has taught me more about Frank Sinatra than any person on the planet should know besides Frank himself.” She shrugged. “Making him happy is worth a little painful boredom sometimes.”

  “And maybe he could teach you about filling out spreadsheets while cuddling on the couch,” Zoe said. “You both get a little of what you want.”

  Josie sat up a little straighter. Curled up against Grant would make learning about budgeting better for sure.

  “Or you move the spreadsheet session to the bedroom,” Jane said. “Tell him you’ll listen about formulas and columns and rows, but he has to be naked while he teaches.”

  Josie laughed. “I won’t be concentrating very hard. I won’t retain a thing he tells me.” But she liked this general idea. She could meet him partway. That was very real relationship-ish.

  “I’m just saying, learning spreadsheets is a lot more fun that way, and it will limit the amount of time he makes you practice,” Jane said with a grin.

  “Well, that sounds good when you put it that way,” Josie agreed.

  “And hey, anything that has the words spread and sheets in it, at least has the potential to be dirty and fun, right?” Zoe asked.

  “You’ve become downright naughty since Aiden came back and took care of your V-card situation,” Jane said with a grin, lifting her glass.

  “Yes, yes, I have,” Zoe said, leaning back with a very satisfied look on her face.

  Josie smiled. She was feeling more satisfied than she had for a few days. Maybe there was a way to make this work with Grant. Give and take. Compromise. Teaching each other something new.

  And if all else failed with the spreadsheet cuddling, she could always mix up some chocolate cake batter.

  17

  “We need to rethink everything.”

  Grant couldn’t agree more. Though he didn’t think Whitney was talking about the same thing he was. Namely his marriage to Jocelyn.

  Whitney took the seat behind her desk and opened the folder she’d brought in with her.

  Grant was seated in front of her desk. He’d been waiting for about five minutes, but Piper had told him Whitney was on her way. He’d arrived early, needing to get out of the house. That sounded terrible. But he’d wanted to leave Jocelyn’s house because he wanted nothing more than to stay in Jocelyn’s house. With her. Forever.

  He was going a little crazy.

  Especially since finding the plate of whoopie pies in the kitchen that morning.

  Jocelyn had, apparently, gotten up either in the middle of the night or very early that morning to make them.

  He’d made the mistake of tasting one.

  The whoopie pie was the fifth best thing he’d ever had in his mouth.

  Right after Jocelyn’s pussy and her nipples and her tongue and well, any other part of her body. In that order.

  It had been killing him to not touch her, not kiss her. He’d been keeping his hands to himself as she recovered from the surgery, letting it be her choice when they were intimate again.

  She hadn’t initiated anything yet.

  That was also driving him crazy. Not only because he was dying to be with her again, but because he was afraid that she was pulling away. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. And he’d never been afraid about that with any other woman. Ever.

  Needless to say, he’d been thrilled to get Whitney’s text last night that they needed to meet ASAP about the new snack cake they wanted to add to their product line.

  He needed something to take his mind off the fact that he wanted to stay married to his wife. He was sure that would sound as stupid out loud as it did in his head. Which was why he hadn’t said it to anyone. Including his friends. Including his wife herself.

  “Okay,” he said, trying to focus on Whitney and his job. “What specifically do we need to rethink?”

  “This contest is completely nuts,” she said bluntly.

  Grant grinned in spite of his tumultuous thoughts about his wife. His wife. Damn, he liked calling Josie that. “My understanding is that it’s nuts, at least in part, because of you.”

  Whitney groaned and slumped back in her chair. “Oh my God, it is. I don’t know what happened. I go in to have a short conversation with Ollie about something, and two hours later we’re talking about food trucks and if you can hire acrobats for community events.”

  “Acrobats?” Grant repeated. “Piper didn’t mention acrobats.”

  Whitney nodded. “Ollie said we shouldn’t tell her.”

  Oh damn. Ollie knew enough not to tell Piper every plan? What else was he keeping from her? From them? How much had he kept from them all over the nine years they’d been working together? Grant started to feel his head start to ache and knew
he’d be heading for his top left desk drawer after this. That’s where he kept the bottle of antacids with DAX written on the side in Piper’s handwriting. OLLIE was written on the side of his bottle of ibuprofen.

  “And can you hire acrobats for community events?” Grant asked.

  “You can. But they can’t do tightrope or trapeze stuff, of course. They can just do tumbling and juggling and things like that.”

  “So how many acrobats do we have coming?”

  “None. If they can’t ride a unicycle across a tightrope then what’s the point?” Whitney asked. “That’s a direct quote from Ollie, by the way.”

  Grant sighed. Partially in relief, for sure. “How did this circus theme happen anyway?”

  “I made the mistake—in hindsight I realize it was a mistake anyway—of saying something about the whole thing turning into a circus,” Whitney said. “He just took off from there. But”—she hesitated and sighed—“I got caught up in it. It was fun. Just letting the ideas run wild, not having any restraints. I didn’t realize that he’s actually serious about everything he says.”

  Grant chuckled. “He’s not. He depends on the rest of us to tell him no or that it’s getting crazy. I’m sure that when he saw you were on board, he figured he was on track and coming up with brilliant plans.”

  Her eyes widened. “He was waiting for me to pull him back?”

  “Yep.”

  She chewed on her bottom lip. Finally, she sat forward in her chair and shook her head. “I don’t want to. I don’t want to be the person who says no or that we have to slow down or that he’s thinking too big. I—” She swallowed and then met Grant’s eyes. “That’s pretty much all I’ve heard from my family about any idea I’ve ever had here. I don’t want to do that to someone else.”

  Grant nodded. He’d figured there was something like that going on. “That’s fine. We’re a team. The rest of us have your back. You keep right on brainstorming like crazy with him, and we’ll take care of making sure we don’t have elephants and people being shot out of cannons at our snack cake baking contest.”