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A smile immediately spread across his face as he handed me the cookies.

I dropped them into the cart. “That’s it.”

“Okay.”

“No more snacks.”

“Okay.”

“And stop giving me that little face.”

“What face?”

I shook my head.

Caspian’s child… through and through.

By the time we reached the register, I had mentally added the prices at least three times.

The cashier scanned the final item. “Your total is seventy-two forty-six.”

Perfect.

I stayed under budget.

I pulled out my debit card and tapped it against the reader.

The machine beeped.

DECLINED.

I frowned. “Um, can you try that again?”

“Of course.”

I inserted the card this time, entered my PIN, and waited.

DECLINED.

My stomach dropped.

“No.” I stared at the card and then at the machine. “I know I have enough on here.”

The cashier offered me a sympathetic smile. “Sometimes the system acts up. Do you have another form of payment?”

“Yeah. Just give me one second.”

Kaidence looked up at me. “Mommy, is everything okay?”

I forced a smile. “Yeah, baby. Everything’s fine.”

But my face was hot.

I could feel the people standing behind me waiting. Nobody said anything, but somehow that made it worse.

I stepped slightly away from the register and opened my banking app.

My checking account loaded.