My Mother-in-Law Invited 20 and kertati Extra Guests to Thanksgiving – She Didn’t Know I Had Changed One Small Detail
Harley came up behind me, kissed the top of my head, and glanced at the clock.
“You okay?” he asked. “You’ve been quiet all morning.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Everything’s ready.”
He studied me a beat longer than usual, then let it go.
By ten, the driveway had turned into a parking lot.
Aunts I’d met twice, cousins I’d never seen, a neighbor of Diane’s from three streets over. They came through my front door carrying casseroles wrapped in foil, pies balanced on oven mitts, and cheap wine in gift bags.
“Oh, Madison, your home is stunning,” a woman I didn’t know said, kissing my cheek.
“Thank you,” I said. “Please, make yourself comfortable.”
Another cousin patted my arm. “Diane said you insisted we all come. So generous of you.”
I smiled and didn’t correct her.
Diane arrived last, of course.
Her coat was still buttoned when she stepped inside, cheeks pink from the cold, eyes already scanning the room like a general inspecting her troops.
“See?” she announced to no one and everyone. “I knew this house was big enough for everyone.”
She shrugged off her coat and dropped it into my arms without looking at me.
“Madison, dear, hang that up somewhere it won’t wrinkle.”
