“Annie, darling! We had such a wonderful time yesterday. The children are still talking about those ribs.”

“I’m glad they liked them,” I said.

“And we’re all coming for the Fourth of July,” she continued. “The whole gang. We’ll make a weekend of it. Won’t that be fun?”

My hand tightened around the phone.

“The whole weekend?” I asked.

“Yes! We’ll arrive Friday afternoon. Make sure you get plenty of those little sausages. The kids devour them. And Sarah has not stopped talking about your potato salad. Don’t forget the ribs, dear. Juicy, like last time.”

Part 2:

Then she hung up.

She did not ask. She did not offer to bring anything. She simply informed me that I would be feeding her entire family for three days.

That evening, I told Bryan.

“She’s coming for the Fourth.”

He looked up from his laptop, already nervous. “That’s… nice?”

“With everyone. For the whole weekend.”

He closed the laptop. “Are you okay with that?”

Was I okay with spending another three hundred dollars on groceries for people who treated my house like a free vacation rental? Was I okay with being criticized while I cooked, cleaned, served, and smiled?

I looked at him and smiled sweetly.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Absolutely fine.”

And that was when my plan began.

Friday afternoon arrived with three cars in the driveway and zero grocery bags.

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