My sister-in-law had already made the evening uncomfortable by pressuring me into paying for a dinner she invited us to. Then the waitress revealed Megan had been at the restaurant before the rest of us arrived, and someone else’s meal was buried inside my bill.
When my brother’s wife, Megan, invited the whole family to dinner, I didn’t think twice about going.
“It’s my treat,” she said in the group chat. “I just want everyone together for once.”
There were eight of us.
My parents, my brother, Jake, Megan, me, two cousins, and my aunt.
Megan picked a nice restaurant downtown.
She ordered like she meant what she said.
Appetizers for the table and two bottles of wine.
Steaks, seafood, and dessert.
Nobody worried too much about the price because Megan had invited us.
At one point, my dad even joked, “You sure you’re not trying to bankrupt yourself?”
Megan laughed. “Relax. I planned for it.”
That sentence came back to me later.
Dinner was actually great.
Jake seemed happy.
My mom told the same story about his eighth birthday that she’d told at least 50 times.
My cousin nearly choked laughing.
For about two hours, everything felt easy.
Then the bill came.
