in their behaviors.
“I’m going to go… check on the llamas,” Whitney said.
She for sure couldn’t be right up front for this. Watching Cam baking would be hard enough, but no way was she going to watch him get auctioned off.
Piper gave her a knowing look.
“They’re actually alpacas,” Henry told her.
With a surprised laugh, Whitney nodded, “Right. Alpacas.”
“Let’s go, guys. You want to be right down front,” Piper said, nudging them in the direction of the stage.
Whitney watched them weave through the crowd and took a second to appreciate that there was a crowd.
Then her eyes wandered to where Cam was standing on stage. He was behind the middle cooking station. He was wearing a bright yellow apron over his fitted black t-shirt now—a not-really-that-subtle nod to his family’s bakery which was all yellow and white from their décor to their take-out boxes to, yes, their aprons—but his tattoos and muscles and the black stud earring he wore in his left ear and his this-is-gonna-be-fun grin were all still on full display.
His eyes met hers, and even from the distance she felt the jolt of awareness.
“When we decided to introduce a new product, for the first time in the company’s history, we knew it had to be something special,” Dax was saying, having just explained how the baking competition and auction were going to work. “We wanted to make a big deal out of it, because it is a big deal. The new product represents the new directions and plans that we have for Hot Cakes. But it has to fit in with the Hot Cakes history and story. And who knows that better than the people of this town who have been a part of it?”
Whitney felt her throat tighten unexpectedly. She hadn’t known what Dax was going to say but that was so… nice.
It was no small thing that her family had owned Hot Cakes for the past three generations. And that it was her father who hadn’t cared about the business and as soon as her grandfather passed away had been ready to let it fold.
Her family had almost caused three hundred and forty-seven people to have to find new jobs and, in most cases, uproot their families and move. Appleby was a very small town. There were only so many jobs. Those people would have all had to seek employment elsewhere. In some cases it would have meant taking their entire family away from Appleby. Many of those people had grown up here, had raised their families here. This was their home. Leaving because the factory closed would have been huge.
Of course, it would have affected the town in general too. All of those people leaving would have meant many would have taken spouses with them. That would have caused Appleby to lose teachers and nurses and business owners, daycare providers, community volunteers. The entire community would have felt it.
“And just so you all know,” Dax continued from the stage. “The guys up here have a bet as to who will go for the highest amount.”
The crowd laughed and Whitney had to smile. That sounded just like them. Max, who wasn’t an owner, but a Hot Cakes employee, was just as cocky and fun-loving as the other guys. According to Aiden, he was thrilled to be included and was ready to ham it up for the crowd.
“And whatever that highest bid is, Hot Cakes is going to match it,” Dax said. “That means our local food bank is going to get an even bigger check. So be very generous. These guys will earn it.”
She really liked them all. Whitney took a deep breath. She really did. She liked the guys who’d taken over for so many reasons, and she particularly liked them all together. She loved sitting in the meetings and just watching them interact.
She really liked Cam.
That was why she would love to be his friend. Be someone he joked with and teased like he did Piper. Someone he could laugh with and brainstorm with and even argue with like he did the rest of the guys. They all butted heads at times but it never affected their relationship and it was always with the ultimate goal in mind. They all were also pretty good at admitting when someone else had a better idea. They encouraged each other even as they sometimes disagreed.
She wanted that. She wanted to work with a group of friends that she respected and knew respected her. She wanted to be proud