One chaotic Thanksgiving morning, my husband Kyle went out to pick up our pre-ordered turkey while I stayed home prepping dinner. He was gone much longer than expected and returned looking stressed and disheveled. Before I could question him, he rushed out again, claiming his mother needed help. I brushed it off and got back to cooking. That’s when Max, our usually chill dog, started barking uncontrollably at the turkey sitting on the kitchen counter. No matter what I did, he wouldn’t calm down.

Thinking he was just desperate for scraps, I finally gave in and inspected the turkey. When I removed the plastic wrap and lifted it, I noticed a strange lump inside. Reaching in, I pulled out a sealed plastic bag filled with stacks of cash—thousands of dollars. Max wasn’t barking at the turkey for food—he was alerting me to something suspicious. Shaken, I called the police, not knowing if this was a mistake from the butcher shop or something more sinister.

Two officers arrived quickly and asked where we got the turkey. Just as I explained Kyle had picked it up, he returned—with his mom—and froze upon seeing the police. After some tense questioning, and a few nudges from his mother, Kyle admitted the money was his. He had cashed out his savings as a surprise to book a trip to Hawaii for us. Worried I’d find the cash early, he panicked and hid it in the turkey. He never considered that I might have put it straight into the oven.

After verifying his story with a bank receipt, the officers left, chuckling over the bizarre call. I was equal parts embarrassed and furious. Kyle’s surprise almost turned into a disaster, but it gave us a Thanksgiving no one would forget. Max, our four-legged hero, got extra turkey scraps for saving the day. And yes—we did make it to Hawaii, where we ended up conceiving our first child. So in a way, I owe everything to our dog’s nose and my husband’s ridiculous (but well-meaning) idea.