Page 169

“Mm-hmm.”

“Well, make sure you call the bank. Hopefully, it’s not a glitch or something. But in case it is, let me finish making these pancakes before somebody calls back and ruins the whole damn breakfast.” Willow turned toward the stove, took two brisk steps, and then abruptly stopped in her tracks. Her head tilted straight toward the ceiling. “Caspian!”

I lunged and grabbed her arm. “Girl, what are you doing?”

She completely ignored me, yelling louder. “If this was all your doing, thank you, brother-in-law! We appreciate the groceries!”

“Willow!”

“I’m being respectful!”

Right on cue, the kitchen chandelier lights flickered twice.

Willow froze mid-step. The spatula slipped completely from her limp hand and clattered loudly against the hardwood floor.

I almost jumped out of my skin, Granny straightened up in her seat, and for several long, suffocating seconds, nobody in the kitchen said a damn word.

Willow slowly bent down, retrieved the spatula, rinsed it off, and returned to the stove with her shoulders tense. “Well… apparently, breakfast is on Caspian.”

“Girl, what?!”

“I’m just saying!” She lifted her face toward the ceiling once more, taking a reckless chance. “And since we taking requests, I wouldn’t mind some crab legs later!”

The recessed light directly over the stove immediately snapped completely dark.

Willow screamed at the top of her lungs.

I jumped backward so hard my hip slammed into the island corner.

“Okay! I was just joking! Maybe!” she yelled, clutching her chest.

The light came back on.

Kaidence burst out laughing.

Willow stood there for a second, breathing hard, then cautiously tipped her chin toward the ceiling again.

“What about twenty-five hundred in my checking account?”

“Willow!” I hissed.

“What?” She shrugged. “The crab legs clearly struck a nerve, so I’m switching categories. Maybe it ain’t even Caspian. Maybe we really got some random petty-ass ghost in here with strong opinions about seafood.” Willow raised her eyes cautiously toward the ceiling one last time. “Whoever you are, thank you for the bacon.”

The light overhead flickered once in silent acknowledgment.

I decided right then that I needed to sit my ass down before my legs gave out completely.

Granny finished eating while sitting comfortably at the table enjoying a second cup of tea, Willow moved briskly around the kitchen putting leftovers away as if mysterious groceries routinely appeared in people’s kitchens overnight, and Kaidence had already moved on to asking what we were having for lunch.

They all seemed to had comfortably accepted the fact that we had somehow been blessed with a fully stocked kitchen and enough money to buy the damn grocery store chain.

Meanwhile, I remained frozen at the island with my phone sitting in front of me, constantly refreshing the banking transaction and waiting for somebody from fraud prevention to call and say there had been some terrible, catastrophic mistake.

Willow passed by me carrying an empty plate. “Girl, stop looking at that money before you scare it back out your account.”

“Okay, Mrs. Know-It-All. What would you do if you were in this situation?” I questioned, eager to hear her response.

Willow barely had to think about it. “If I were you? I’d leave that money right where it is and give whoever sent it a fair chance to realize what they did. I believe in giving people room to correct themselves before I step in and do it for them.”