The cashier scanned the final barcode on the stuffed puppy and looked up with a cheerful customer service smile.

“Your total comes to fifty-two dollars and fourteen cents, ma’am,” she announced cheerfully.

As I reached into my purse, the cashier looked at my face more closely, and a spark of sudden recognition flickered across her eyes.

I could tell she clearly remembered the frantic mother whose card had been declined months ago, the woman who had stood there trembling while her mother in law screamed through the phone.

I offered her a bright, genuine smile, pulling a deep navy debit card from my leather wallet that bore my real name, Paige Callahan.