“The company isn’t failing,” Aiden inputted. “The grandfather, who was the head of the company, died about a year ago, and the son wants out. His big project now is in Texas. He wants to get rid of this part of the company quick and focus his time and energy in Dallas. They’re still in the black. Profits were down this past year a little, but they’re still doing well.”
“Then someone will come in and buy it up. The Peanut Butter whatevers will be safe. If it’s a solid product they shouldn’t have any worries,” Grant said.
“If it’s a solid product?” Ollie protested. “Peanut Butter Pinwheels are the best thing anyone ever did with a nut butter.”
Okay, that was not true. Hot Cakes were great, but they were individually packaged snack cakes sold in grocery and convenience stores. They were bought in boxes of twelve or twenty-four and stuck in lunch sacks that spent the day in school lockers. They were tossed up on counters with beef jerky and energy drinks when paying for gas. They were great. But they were hardly changing the world.
Nor were they anywhere near as amazing as the peanut butter chocolate bars Zoe made at Buttered Up.
The crinkling of the plastic wrapper around Dax’s second cinnamon curl seemed extremely loud in the microphone suddenly.
“Someone will buy it,” Aiden agreed. In fact, he was afraid someone might just come in and do that today. Right out from underneath him.
That’s what had prompted him to get in his car yesterday and head straight to Appleby after he’d read about the news. “But it will likely be a competing food company. They’ll absorb the products into their existing lines and probably move production out of Appleby. That would mean over three hundred people out of work and a huge hit to the town.”
“But the Fudgie Fritters will be safe?” Ollie asked.
“We can’t let someone else buy it,” Aiden insisted. “They… uh… might change the recipe.” He had to get the guys on board. He could do this alone, but he’d feel so much better if he had his partners with him.
“What?” Ollie said, looking horrified. “No. I won’t let that happen.”
Yeah, Aiden needed Ollie’s drive and fuck-it-let’s-make-this-amazing attitude. He needed Dax’s laid-back, fun attitude. He needed Cam’s who-do-I-need-to-call-and-yell-at attitude. And he needed Grant’s let’s-look-at-all-the-possible-scenarios attitude. They were all pieces to one big whole.
The kind of overnight success they’d experienced as a bunch of young twentysomething guys had, predictably, come with a few hiccups. Aiden had kept them together through it all and made sure their friendship was always the top priority. He made them work together as a team that, frankly, when they were all at their best, kicked major ass.
“Why do you really want to do this?” Grant asked, watching Aiden carefully.
Grant always paid attention and never missed details. Like the fact that Aiden cared about more than Fudgie Fritters.
“Appleby is our hometown,” Camden said before Aiden could respond. “And that factory has been there since 1969.”
He was lounging on his sofa, his feet propped on his coffee table. In a t-shirt instead of his usual dress shirt, his tattoos were on full display. He looked completely nonchalant. But Aiden knew better.
Besides being Letty McCaffery’s grandson and Zoe’s big brother, Camden had a long, not-great personal history with the Lancaster family. Primarily the family’s one and only granddaughter and heiress apparent, Whitney.
“No shit?” Ollie asked.
Camden shook his head. “No shit. It’s been for sale for about two days now. I’m sure everyone in town is panicking.”
Technically, it had been for sale for three days, and it was starting to make Aiden itchy. He wanted the company. He would have had this meeting three days ago if he’d known Eric wanted to sell. But he wasn’t plugged into anyone who would have told him the news. Because they wouldn’t have known he wanted to know the news. He hadn’t seen the announcement in the Appleby Observer until yesterday because his hometown newspaper was a weekly publication, and he had to wait to get it in the mail. Two days after, everything in it was old news. But he still liked to flip through it. After all, it didn’t really matter that he missed the notice of the chili feed for the football cheerleaders or that the dentist was changing his office hours.
Getting the news from Appleby two days late had never mattered. Until yesterday.
Now, the company he hadn’t even known he needed until twenty-five hours ago, had been on the market for three days, and he was certain another food company had their eyes on it. Maybe more than one. Hot Cakes was no Hostess, but they did fine. Like millions of dollars’ worth of fine every year. They were not going to be unclaimed for long.
They were not going to be unclaimed by him for long. He was giving his friends about thirty more minutes to get on board here.
“I need you to do your numbers thing right away, Lorre,” Aiden told Grant.
“My numbers thing?” his much more serious partner asked.
“The thing where you add and subtract shit until you say, 'Yeah, we can do that,'” Aiden told him.
“It’s only been up three days,” Grant said. “Why don’t I call over there, feel them out? Maybe they’re willing to negotiate—”
“No,” Aiden said simply. “I want you to make this happen. Today.”
“Why are you in such a hurry?” Grant asked.
Zoe was never leaving Appleby. So Aiden was now never leaving Appleby. So he needed a job. And now, especially after talking to everyone last night, including one of his soon-to-be employees, it needed to be this job.
It was pretty simple, really.
It had gotten that simple over the past few months after realizing he was in love with Zoe. Or maybe it had always been that simple and he’d just been very slow realizing it.
Zoe had been ten when Aiden’s mom had died, and he’d more or less moved in with her family. She’d been his little sister as much as she’d been Cam’s.
Until she hadn’t.
Until that Fourth of July almost two years ago when he’d walked in on her ironing a dress in the kitchen wearing only a bra and panties.
Until he’d finally admitted she was the funniest, most interesting, most amazing woman he’d ever known, and that he could no longer shut down his inappropriate thoughts about what she looked like without her clothes on once he’d actually seen the sight. There was no forgetting that.
Or the way she’d confidently faced him in only her underwear, not acting embarrassed or like he should not be seeing her that way. But also not at all like someone she thought of as a brother who had just walked in.
But she was also the reason this was all so fucking complicated.
Instead of all that, he said, “Someone has to save the factory and all those jobs. If that factory closes because some other company buys them out and relocates the production, it will devastate my hometown. I can’t let that happen.”
“Yeah, I definitely want in on this,” Cam said. He was sitting forward now. He looked serious.
Aiden sighed. He’d been expecting this.
Cam cared about the impact to the town, no doubt. But Cam would want to buy the business for the same reason he’d donated money to build a new baseball field—that had turned into an entire youth sports complex. And the same reason he’d donated money to the school for a scholarship. A full-ride scholarship. In his name.
Appleby was a small town. The kind of small town you never truly, fully escaped.
Cam would want to do it to be a big hero and to show the Lancasters up.
Which was very complicated.
“You sure?” Aiden asked. “Really sure? This won’t be easy.”
“Totally sure,” Cam said resolutely.
“You both want to be the big hero,” Ollie said, grinning. “You small-town boys are so cute.”
Aiden felt a mix of relief and trepidation. He wanted his friends and partners with him, but it wouldn’t be a
cakewalk for him and Cam… pun intended.
“Oh, I’m totally in too,” Ollie said. He pointed into the screen. “Lorre, you won’t want to be around me if I can’t have Fudgie Fritters.”
“What makes you think I want to be around you anyway?” Grant asked, sounding bored.
He was almost always bored with Ollie’s big ideas. Except when those big ideas were costing him money. Which was often. Or when those ideas ended up with Ollie and Dax stranded in a foreign country and needing money for plane tickets. And new shoes. That was a great story though.
“You do,” Ollie said confidently. “Without us you’d be sitting on Wall Street, hating your life, drinking every night, and wondering why you don’t have any cool friends.”
Grant didn’t say anything to that. Aiden thought he was maybe thinking he should give the Wall Street thing a try.
“Snack cakes and video games… seems like a great combo for our brand,” Dax said.
Aiden frowned. Is that really making the world better? a voice asked in the back of his head. Getting kids who were sitting around playing with virtual people instead of real friends to eat more sugar?
But it was bigger than just the snack cakes. People depended on that factory for their livelihood, to keep their families supported. If those people couldn’t work in Appleby—something he knew all about—then they’d move. They’d take their tax dollars with them. They’d take their money from the grocery store, from the hardware store, from the cafés, from the gas stations. The whole town would be affected.
“Can we find a potato chip factory to buy too?” Ollie asked with a grin. “Or soda. We should absolutely own a soda factory. Fluke Soda. That has a ring to it. Hell, we should start a soda company.”
Grant sighed and finally set his cup down and leaned in. The sign things were serious now. Because in spite of the grin, Ollie definitely now wanted to start a soda company.
“Okay, gentlemen, let’s dial it back,” Grant said.
Everyone knew that “gentlemen” meant Ollie and Dax.
Dax was, no doubt, quietly thinking of the different flavors of soda he’d want them to offer. At least one would be something bizarre like Unicorn Piss. Dax was very proud of the fact that he made Grant reach for his antacids more often than anyone else. He kept a tally of Grant’s Tums ingestion on the whiteboard in his office.
Grant wasn’t wrong—Aiden had no idea how to run a company like Hot Cakes. Fluke had literally started in a dorm room and had grown with them. They had employees, but they had been relatively small, and things had always been very casual. They’d recently sold to a bigger company which had reduced all their roles, and now they were all trying to figure out what to do next with their time and energy. This was the perfect thing.
Probably.
Maybe.
Aiden wanted to shrug out of his jacket. He was suddenly hot. This idea was complicated. He didn’t even really know where to start, but he had to hope a company that had been running for this long would be easier to step into than starting something from scratch.
Of course, the McCaffery family feud with Hot Cakes made it more complicated. And for Aiden and Camden to come in and save Hot Cakes would be… yeah, complicated.
But he wanted to do this. He wanted to be in Appleby, and this was his shot at having an actual purpose here. He wasn’t a farmer. He couldn’t open a business fixing anything or selling anything—they had everything they needed there already anyway—and he wasn’t a doctor or teacher. That was why he’d headed out when he’d turned eighteen. He’d wanted to own his own company but one that served more than the seven thousand people who lived in and around Appleby. He wanted to do something bigger.
“Don’t call anyone,” Aiden said to Grant. “I’m going to go meet with them in person and make an offer. Just figure out how to make the money work.”
“You’re really moving there?” Dax asked. “For good?”
Aiden nodded. “I’m not leaving Fluke. Just Chicago. I’ll come back for meetings and things as needed. But”—he took a breath—“yeah, I’m moving back to Iowa.”
“Okay, I changed my mind,” Ollie said. “Let go see some pigs and wide-open spaces and save the Fudgie Fritters.” He picked up his phone and started tapping it. “Piper,” he said a moment later. “I need to reschedule Thursday.”
Their executive assistant also didn’t start work this early. Though Ollie called her at all hours.
“Ollie, no,” Aiden said firmly. Of course, Ollie was ready to just pack up and go to Iowa.
Ollie looked up, his phone at his ear. “What?”
“Let me start on this. Just me. Quietly,” Aiden said, trying not to look like he was panicking at the idea of Ollie charging into Appleby and announcing they were there to save the day. He had to hope no one gave Ollie the idea to ride into town and down Main Street on a white horse.
“You want to make the announcement?” Ollie asked. He nodded. “I guess that makes sense. Hometown boy comes home to save the day.”
“Actually, no. I just need a little time to…”
“Figure out how to keep my mom and sister from hating him when he tells them that we’re their major competitor now,” Camden said.
“Wait, Hot Cakes is your family’s major competition?” Grant asked, frowning.
Aiden sighed. Camden was a McCaffery through and through. He might not live in Appleby anymore, but he’d been ingrained to hate the Lancasters. Even when he’d been kissing Whitney Lancaster and trying to talk her into running away with him after graduation.
Aiden wondered if Cam knew the story about Didi offering Letty a partnership. Or her naming it Hot Cakes to rub it all in when Letty turned her down. Or that everything in the bakery was exactly the way it had always been because everyone was now completely scared of trying anything new because of the risk of looking like fools.
“It’s… a long story,” Aiden told Grant. “But yes, this could be a little complicated with Cam’s family. Just let me… ease them into the idea.”
“You can do that?” Grant asked. He looked at Camden. “You sure you want to do this?”
Cam shrugged. “I’m not gonna lie to you—the idea of coming in and buying Hot Cakes away from the Lancasters and then making it even bigger and better is like fucking karma filled with cream and wrapped in chocolate.”
“But your family.” Grant looked legitimately concerned.
Camden looked at Aiden. “The Golden Boy can deal with them. They like him better than they like me anyway. Let him hang out with my family for a couple of weeks. I’m sure he’ll find a way to sugarcoat the news.”
All he really wanted to coat in sugar was Cam’s little sister. Again, probably no need for him to share that.
But if anyone could convince the McCafferys that this would be okay, it was Aiden. He really was their favorite son—Camden could be a rebellious pain in the ass, and Henry had only had eleven years of charming them. Aiden could make them understand that this was a good thing. He and Cam were saving the town. Maggie and Steve could even end up proud of what Aiden and Cam were doing.
Of course, Zoe also needed a lot more sweet-talking before he dropped the, “Oh, by the way, I own your major competitor.”
The kitchen orgasms were a great place to start.
He could easily follow that up with, “I’m in love with you.”
Then maybe a, “Take your clothes off.”
Then, “I’m now your business rival.”
Sure. That would be a piece of cake.
9
Aiden grabbed another cup of coffee on his way out the door, feeling good about the meeting with the guys. With them on board with him, everything was going to work out. He’d written an email to Eric Lancaster as soon as he’d hung up with the guys, making the official offer. He expected the deal would be finalized by the end of the day.
On impulse, he pulled his phone out. It was still early. But he could leave a voice message.
Much to his surpr
ise, Whitney Lancaster answered on the second ring.
“This is Whitney.”
She didn’t sound like he’d awakened her either. He’d grabbed her number from the company information before he’d left Chicago. He knew it was a cell number but wasn’t sure if she used it for business only and what hours she kept. Still, he’d figured he was the best one to make the first contact. They knew each other. They’d gone to school together. He’d known her in kindergarten, and they’d walked across the stage to graduate together. He’d been a friend of the family that hated her family, but he’d also been the best friend of the man who’d been head over heels in love with her. Aiden had been the only one who’d known about Whitney and Camden for a very long time. He’d like to think, even with how things had turned out between her and Cam, that she would consider him a friend. Or at least a used-to-be friend.
Aiden had been plenty pissed on Cam’s behalf when things had gone to hell between him and the woman he’d thought he was going to run away with, but they were all grown-up now.
He hoped.
“Hi, Whitney. It’s Aiden Anderson.”
He heard her take a deep breath. “Hi, Aiden.”
“We should probably chat.”
“Yeah.” She didn’t go on.
“Is this a good time? I know it’s early.”
“I’m not in the office yet, but yes, this is probably the best time actually.” She paused. “I thought someone from Fluke would probably be calling. I’m glad it’s you.”
Aiden lifted a brow. “You thought it might be Cam?”
“He’s your attorney. It wouldn’t be crazy.”
But it would be crazy to think he’d want to have personal contact with her. Camden would deal with her attorneys, but Aiden couldn’t imagine Cam would want to talk to Whitney herself.
Then again, this was his never-back-down best friend. He loved to push buttons. He loved a good fight. He probably wouldn’t get a better fight or bigger buttons to push than he would with Whitney Lancaster when he was helping Aiden buy out the business that had kept them apart once upon a time. The business she’d chosen over being with him.
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