Chapter 1

1: 1

On my thirtieth birthday, my husband and his mother invited a crowd of relatives and friends over for dinner.

My parents made the trip too, more than a thousand miles from their village in the countryside.

But before they'd even stepped through the door, my mother-in-law's disgust was already ringing out.

"Don't just walk in! Your parents have been sitting on that bus for hours. Who knows how filthy they are?"

"Honestly, that whiff of poverty pollutes the whole apartment."

Garry Butler hurried to the shoe cabinet and dug out two pairs of slippers.

But before he could even hand them to my parents, Lucy Butler snatched them right back.

"Slippers? Who knows if country folk have foot fungus? Once they've worn them, how are we supposed to?"

"Don't we have those disposable shoe covers? Let them wear those."

My parents smiled weakly to cover the awkwardness, but they couldn't hide the hurt and disappointment in their eyes.

They still had the fresh vegetables and homemade country goods they'd brought, four sacks of it, big and small.

Two people, four hands, hauling all of it across more than a thousand miles.

And now they hadn't even made it through the door, hadn't even set anything down, and they'd already been stopped on the threshold.

Watching my mother-in-law lord it over them, watching my parents' faces bend into apology.

In that moment, I suddenly felt this marriage had gone completely dead.

1

My nose stung. I was about to speak when my eyes met my mother's.

Maybe she saw the look on my face, because she jumped in quickly.

"You're right to be so careful. We've been traveling all day, we really aren't clean."

"Shoe covers are good. Shoe covers are convenient. Throw them out when you're done, much easier than slippers."

My father caught on too and quickly set down the sacks in his hands, taking the covers Garry held out.

"These covers are brand new. Really nice."

Once my parents had them on, Lucy still looked sour, but at least she said nothing more.

To smooth things over, the moment they got inside my parents carried the sacks over to me.

"Sweetie, look, your mom brought your favorite smoked sausage and homemade biscuits. You can't buy these in the city."

"And these farm-fresh eggs, I went around the village to collect them fresh just for you. Best thing for you."

"Oh, and I brought two free-range chickens, already dressed, and some other vegetables. All good things you can't get in the city, so keep them and take your time—"

Before she could finish, Lucy, who'd barely been quiet two minutes, cut her off.

"Get that garbage away from here, would you? Look how filthy it is, tracking dirt all over my floor."

"Only people like you would think this is worth anything. What can't you buy in the city these days? Who needs your poor-country junk?"

I couldn't hold it in anymore, and looked her straight in the eye.

"Every time my parents send something, you're the one who eats the most of it."

"You're not disgusted by any of this. You're disgusted by my family."

I had no patience left to play polite with her, so I named exactly what she was doing.

Lucy froze, and Garry rushed to step in.

"All right, Mom, that's enough. It's Penelope Summers's birthday. Do you have to ruin the mood for everyone?"

Then he turned to me.

"Come on, Penelope, don't be angry. You know my mom doesn't have a way with words."

"She just feels bad for putting your parents through so much trouble, traveling all that way with so much to carry. It really was hard on them."

"But she's not wrong either. You can buy all this in the city, so why haul it here and clutter up the place?"

Every word sounded like it was for me, but it was all for his mother.

This time, I wasn't going to let it slide.

I was about to argue back when my father, wringing his hands again, spoke up.

"It's fine, Penelope. Lucy and Garry have a point."

"The city's got to be better than back home, you can get anything here. It's us who don't know better, we didn't think it through."

"Today's a good day. Don't fight."

My parents stood side by side, the exact same stiff, careful look on both their faces.

They'd lived honest, humble lives, and their one wish was for me to have a good life.

And instead I'd let them be humiliated like this.

My throat closed up. I was about to take my parents and just leave, when there was a knock at the door.

Garry's relatives had arrived.

Lucy's whole face changed in an instant, breaking into smiles as she rushed to greet them.

"Oh, you're finally here! Come in, come in, right this way."

"Change your shoes? No need. Shoe covers? Don't bother with those either."

"We're all family here, no need for all that fuss. Just come on in."