“Those,” Piper said. “But also the scholarships, the medical bills, the service dog training.”

Whitney glanced around the table and saw that Cam’s friends looked as surprised as she felt.

“The what?” Aiden finally asked.

Piper nodded. “He has a foundation where people can apply for funds for all kinds of things. Help paying medical bills or help buying a handicapped accessible van or anything like that.” She looked smug. “He never makes a big deal about that.”

Clearly. Whitney had never heard about any of that.

“He knows that the people needing the funds don’t want to make their needs public and he’s fine just helping out behind the scenes. Believe it or not,” she added with a little smile.

“Huh,” Ollie finally said.

“Sweet, right?” Piper asked. Her eyes met Whitney’s.

Dammit, that was sweet.

“Fine,” Ollie conceded. “One more.”

“You think he gets stupid drunk after seeing Whitney every time he comes home because he’s emotionless and cold-hearted?” Piper asked.

Whitney felt her chest tighten.

“Only a guy who’s sweet, down deep anyway, would still have get-drunk feelings for a girl ten years later,” Piper said.

Now Whitney’s throat tightened too.

She didn’t get drunk after she’d seen him, but she knew exactly how he felt.

“Fine,” Ollie said. “I guess maybe he has a sweet side.” He rolled his eyes.

Piper laughed. “He does. But he’ll be good with Didi. He won’t baby her and he won’t let her get away with anything that’s not safe.”

Ollie laughed. “Yeah, Cam is not the type to baby someone.”

Piper nodded. “He’ll make her behave.”

“How will she take that?” Dax asked Whitney.

“Well.” Whitney shrugged. “My grandpa was pretty domineering.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. But…” Whitney started actually thinking about the question. “Grandma kind of did whatever the hell she wanted anyway, honestly.”

“That sounds like Letty,” Aiden said with a small smile.

Whitney returned the smile. Aiden hadn’t been Letty’s grandson by blood, but he’d still been her grandson in the ways that counted. His mom and Cam’s had been best friends and the boys had grown up together. After Aiden’s mom had passed away when he was fourteen, he’d more or less moved in with the McCafferys. He’d spent as much time at the bakery and with Letty as Cam had, truly.

Whitney nodded. “Her motto was always it’s easier to get forgiven than get permission. She embezzled money from the company forever.”

All the eyebrows in the room went up. “What?” Grant asked. “How? It was her company.”

“Okay, it wasn’t really embezzlement,” Whitney said. “But she took money from the company that my grandfather and father never knew about. My grandfather took the business over early on, figuring he was better at the ‘money stuff’ than she was. He let her be in charge of the recipes and overseeing the bakers and production lines for the most part, but he was in charge of all the money and marketing. But she had employee loyalty and the company accountant paid money into a private account that was Didi’s alone, that my grandfather never knew about.”

They all laughed and shook their heads.

Ollie finally said, “Cam might have his hands full.”

Whitney nodded. “Seriously.”

“That’s awesome,” Dax said with a huge grin.

“Is it?” she asked. She wasn’t so sure. Not if she wanted him to stick around.

Then again, if she wanted him to leave her alone, this was maybe the perfect solution.

It did not feel like a good solution. Because she didn’t want him to leave her alone.

“Yeah, it’s awesome,” Ollie agreed. “Cam is pretty used to getting his way with beautiful women. I think having a couple he has to work a little harder with is perfect.”

A couple. Ollie had said a couple. That meant someone other than Didi.

Whitney did not ask him who else he meant.

12

The doorbell rang and Cam jogged to the front door. His mom was bringing some of her homemade cleaning solutions over. He needed something to get the upstairs tubs clean and he hadn’t been able to find anything good in the closets and cupboards at Whitney’s. He suspected she had a cleaning service come in or that Katherine had done the cleaning and had taken the supplies with her.

He hoped Maggie included some furniture polish too.

He pulled the door open with a big smile.

But it wasn’t Maggie.

He sighed.

Dax, Aiden, and Grant were on the front step. Grinning like dumbasses.

Aiden held up a plastic grocery bag. “Special delivery from Maggie.”

“She asked you to bring it over?” Cam asked.

“No. We totally volunteered when we heard where she was going,” Dax said. He took in Cam’s appearance from head to toe, including the yellow Buttered Up apron Maggie had dropped off to him yesterday and the rubber spatula he held in his left hand. “You have a little something…” Dax pointed at his right cheek.

Cam wiped at his cheek, his hand coming away with powdered sugar. He sighed.

Dax grinned. He turned to Grant. “Yes. This was definitely a good idea.”

Grant nodded. “Oh, yeah, this makes me very happy.”

“You’re all jerks,” Cam told them, turning on his heel and heading back into the house. “Come on. I’ve got cookies in the oven. I don’t want them to burn.”

His friends followed with laughter.

“Hey, Henry!” Aiden called as they all stepped into the kitchen.

Henry waved absently over his shoulder. He and Didi were on the couch in the family room playing Warriors of Easton.

“Maggie said to bring him home if he’s bored or driving you nuts,” Aiden said.

“He’s fine.” Cam grinned at the back of his little brother’s head. “He’s been kicking her ass, of course, for two hours, but he’s telling her she’s winning and she’s delighted.”

Aiden grinned as he set the plastic bag of bottles and jars on the counter. “Henry would probably let her win but I’m not sure he knows how to lose at Warriors.”

Cam chuckled. “Exactly.”

He pulled on an oven mitt and crossed to the oven, taking a dozen perfectly browned lemon cookies from the rack. He set them to the side and slid another pan in, setting the timer, then pulling the mitt off and tossing it to the side.

He turned to find his friends watching him, clearly amused.

“This is very… domestic,” Dax said.

Cam lifted an eyebrow and planted his hands on his hips. “And?”

Dax nodded. “I would never have guessed you’d be house-husband material.”

Cam shrugged. That didn’t bother him at all. “I’m good at everything I do.”

Dax laughed. “Touché.”

“I asked Maggie if we should bring some food over. Or dessert,” Grant said. “But she said you and Didi have been over for dinner every night and that you leave before dessert because you’ve been making stuff here.”