The morning had already gone sideways before I set foot outside the house.
I mean, I’d been up before the sun, my head still heavy from lack of sleep. Running the morning shift as head baker was exhausting enough, but with my second job later that day, I was barely holding it together.
A woman in a bakery | Source: Midjourney
All I could think about was the massive checklist ahead of the day: bills, groceries, laundry, breakfast, and more. But it wasn’t until I was halfway through shaping dough that it hit me.
I’d forgotten to leave lunch money for my son, Caleb.
I swore under my breath and wiped the flour off my hands, fumbling for my phone. Of course, just as I grabbed it, the screen lit up with a text from Caleb.
A woman baking | Source: Midjourney
Mom, no lunch money?
My stomach sank immediately. Instead of replying to his text, I called him. I needed to hear his voice and know that I had made a mistake.
“Hey, Mom,” Caleb’s voice was soft, too soft for a twelve-year-old who should be worrying about his favorite video game, not lunch money. “I did text you. There’s no money for lunch today.”
I leaned against the counter, guilt hitting me. I already felt so bad that I didn’t get a chance to make Caleb homemade meals for lunch, making him get cafeteria food instead. I’d been forgetting things more and more lately, barely keeping up with everything.
A boy at a school cafeteria | Source: Midjourney
“Caleb, I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” I said. “I completely forgot. I just wanted to get the laundry done before I had to leave.”
Lately, it felt like everything was slipping through the cracks. Especially the things that mattered most. I wanted to cry over the batch of babka I was making.
“It’s okay, Mom!” Caleb said in a calm voice. “I’ll just check the cereal box where Dad keeps money. I don’t need much anyway.”
An upset woman standing in a bakery kitchen | Source: Midjourney
I froze.
“What?” I asked.
“You know, the cereal box,” he repeated. “The Cheerios? Dad keeps money there sometimes. Sometimes inside the box, sometimes underneath.”
For a second, I didn’t know how to respond. My husband, hiding money? I almost asked Caleb to explain, but I didn’t want to open a can of worms. Not before Caleb had an entire day of school to get through.
A box of cereal on a shelf | Source: Midjourney
“Right,” I said. “Well, you do that! And I’ll see you later, sweetheart. Love you!”
“Okay, love you!” Caleb chirped before hanging up, leaving me standing at the back of the bakery, mind spinning.
A cereal box with money in it? In my pantry? Why?
An upset woman | Source: Midjourney
I could barely get through the rest of my shift. My hands moved on autopilot as I pulled loaves from the oven, but my mind was racing.
How long had Marcus been hiding money? And why? We were scraping by, every dollar carefully counted. I had gotten Caleb his new pair of sneakers from a discount store because Marcus said that we didn’t have enough money to spend.
We were behind on bills, the car needed repairs, and I was working two jobs just to keep us afloat. I was head baker at the bakery, and when the majority of my load was over, I went over to the 24-hour deli across the road and made all their sandwiches.
A pair of sneakers | Source: Midjourney
It was killing me. My back ached more than it ever did during my pregnancy.
How could Marcus stash money away like this and not tell me?
The bakery was empty by the time I finished my shift, and I headed to the deli, still reeling from what Caleb had said. All I could think about was the envelope tucked away in a cereal box, and why I’d had no idea it existed.
The exterior of a deli | Source: Midjourney
When I finally made it home later that evening, I didn’t even bother taking off my shoes. I went straight to the pantry, my heart pounding. Sure enough, there it was. An envelope, tucked beneath the box of Cheerios.
I pulled it out with trembling hands.
Boxes of cereal on a shelf | Source: Midjourney
Inside was more cash than I’d seen in months. Hundreds, maybe more.
It wasn’t just Caleb’s lunch money fund for when I forget about it. No, it was enough to cover our car repair, the rent, and probably even some of our bills.
I looked at the stack of cash, trying to process it all.
A stack of dollars on a table | Source: Midjourney
Marcus had been sitting on this while I was breaking my back working twelve-hour days, thinking we were on the verge of drowning.
I could have shouted for Marcus, but
