Her expression was almost amused.
“I’m taking care of my son.”
I frowned.
“By rubbing his feet?”
“They’ve always bothered him after a long day.”
I looked at Eli.
He finally glanced away from the television.
“It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal?”
I laughed once.
It came out sharper than I’d intended.
“I’ve been on my feet since sunrise cooking for everyone in this room.”
He rubbed the back of his neck.
“I know.”
“And somehow your feet are the emergency?”
A few relatives shifted awkwardly.
One of his sisters quietly looked down at her drink.
Gladys continued kneading Eli’s foot as though I wasn’t standing there.
“I don’t see why you’re making such a fuss.”
I stared at her.
“You’re massaging my husband’s feet in my living room.”
“Someone has to take care of my son.”
She sighed dramatically.
“Ivy, honestly.”
That tone, the one that suggested I was the unreasonable one.
“My son works hard.”
“So do I.”
She looked me up and down.
“Do you?”
The words hit harder than I expected.
She gestured toward the kitchen.
“You spent half your time running around because you didn’t prepare properly.”
A quiet chuckle came from somewhere behind the couch.
I couldn’t tell who.
My face burned.
“I prepared enough food for 14 people.”
“And yet you still couldn’t keep up.”
“I was overwhelmed.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t volunteer to host.”
“I didn’t volunteer.”
That slipped out before I could stop it.
Gladys’s eyebrows rose.
“Oh?”
I looked at Eli.
He looked away.
Of course he did. Gladys smiled.
“I simply suggested it.”
“You announced it before either of us had agreed.”
“Oh, don’t be dramatic.”
I took one slow breath.
“You’ve criticized everything I’ve done today.”
“I offered advice.”
“You inspected my food, questioned every decision I made, and somehow decided I was the problem.”
She folded her arms.
“If you were more confident, constructive criticism wouldn’t upset you.”
Then she smiled.
It wasn’t kind.
It was victorious.
“You clearly can’t cook properly.”
The room fell silent.
She wasn’t finished.
“And judging by how exhausted my poor son always looks these days, you don’t seem very interested in your wifely duties either.”
Nobody moved, and nobody spoke.
I slowly turned toward Eli. He looked embarrassed.
“Say something.”
He shifted on the couch.
“Mom didn’t mean it like that.”
My heart sank. Those six words hurt more than everything she’d said all afternoon.
