My Parents Invited 20 Guests To My Lake House Until I Refused To Fill The Fridge

did not have her usual final word as she left, just a tight look at the windows as though she expected the house to reconsider.

My father was the last to go. He stood in the gravel for a moment with his phone in his hand, as if waiting for something to change. When nothing did, he got in his car.

The gravel absorbed the sound of their departure.

I should continue reading …