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Lakelyn smirked. “Sounds like him.”

“The important part,” Miss Veda continued, “is that it was real. He had a physical body for those two hours. Nothing about what happened between you was a dream. When you woke up, he had already returned to his spirit form. I kept you asleep long enough so you wouldn’t wake up and watch him disappear with no explanation.”

Lakelyn turned toward me. “You could’ve told me.”

“Baby, you barely believed yourself when you woke up sore.”

Willow made a choking sound.

Lakelyn shot her a playful glare.

I laughed, and even Lakelyn eventually joined in.

When the laughter died down, she studied me for another second. “So let me guess. The money was all your doing?”

“I thought you had just one more question,” I teased.

“Sue me. Every time y’all answer one, I find out I should’ve asked three more.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, baby… all ninety million dollars.”

“Oh, wow. The bank told me it came from one of your accounts, but I couldn’t understand how.”

“The money already belonged to me,” I explained. “I handled the transfer myself once I had access to what I needed.”

“What about the groceries? Kaidence’s room? You did that?”

“Groceries were all me. But Kaidence’s room?” I smiled and glanced over at Miss Veda. “I had a lil’ help making that surprise happen. I’ll explain why later.”

“That’s it!” Willow blurted. “I’m getting me a ghost financial adviser!”

Everyone laughed.

Willow raised one finger. “And before we move on, I would still like the record to reflect that this nigga stocked an entire refrigerator but refused to give me crab legs when I asked.”

I chuckled. “Because yo’ greedy ass had just eaten breakfast.”

“I was planning ahead!”

Miss Veda shook her head. “Lord, Caspian has been dead six years and somehow still surrounded by the same level of foolishness.”

That earned another laugh from Lakelyn, and hearing it after everything she had gone through that night did something good to my chest.

Then her attention shifted to the dress she was still wearing. “Well, no need to ask if you were responsible for this laying on the bed. But you brought this back. How? I threw it away.”

“With my help, of course,” Miss Veda bragged, smiling. “Objects with strong emotional connections are easier to influence under the right circumstances. That dress mattered to both of you, so Caspian was determined to get it back.”

I smiled at Lakelyn. “You looked too damn good in it for that shit to stay gone forever.”

Her eyes filled again, but that time she smiled before leaning over to kiss me.

For a few seconds, I forgot we had company.

Then Willow cleared her throat. “Ladies and gentlemen, Gomez and Morticia Black!”

Lakelyn pulled away. “Willow!”

“What? I’m happy for y’all.”