Everything began one Sunday morning, precisely at seven. Emily and her husband had gone out into town the night before, returned home late, and were desperate to sleep in. Yet their peaceful morning was shattered by a call from Emilys mother-in-law, inviting them to her cottage in the country for a barbecue. Though they tried valiantly to decline, her mother-in-law wouldnt have it, insisting she had already prepared plenty of marinated meat for everyone. There was no escaping; in the end, Emily and her husband gave in.
It wasnt to be just Emilys in-lawsher brother-in-law and his new wife, who had married only two months before, would also be there. While Emily and her husband had been married three years, neither couple had any children.
Living a full year with her mother-in-law was quite enough for Emily to understand her temperament. The woman was wont to greed and constantly complaining about not having enough pounds to make ends meet. At last, Emily and her husband moved out to a rented flat, and soon afterwards Emilys parents claimed her late grandmothers flat, leaving Emily and her husband released from the chains of a mortgage.
The day of the barbecue arrived. The couple set out on the two-hour drive to the village, where their family waited. But, upon arrival, it felt all too dreamlike: they were immediately set to odd chores around the gardenmending a fence, planting herbs, fussing over beds of daffodils. Though Emily was weary and ravenous, her mother-in-law seemed to thrive on housework, making no sign of preparing the promised feast.
As the hours slipped by in a pale haze, her husband, quite hungry now, voiced his irritation. This sparked a quarrel with his mother, sharp words echoing between them like a game of shuttlecock. At long last, as dusk settled, they all gathered at the meagre barbecue. But the spread was nothing close to satisfying. Two sausages each, presided over by a mother-in-law with lips pursed thin as string, left everyone disgruntled and famished.
The lingering taste of disappointment soured the experience, especially becausehad she just been honest and said she needed helpthey would have gladly come and even brought their own food. The episode wrenched their already frail family ties ever tighter.
A week later, the mother-in-law rang again, attempting to lure everyone back for another barbecue. But Emilys father-in-law quietly warned her not to believe a word; his wife, he said, only wanted free labour and never planned to host a feast.
Drained and battered by endless worry, Emily and her husband switched off their telephones and the doorbell, seeking at last the drowsy, golden peace they so dearly needed.
