Before we left, I cleaned like crazy. New sheets in the guest room. Wiped down surfaces. An emptied shelf in the fridge labeled with her name. I even left a little note on the fridge:
Make yourself at home. Merry Christmas.

As we locked the door behind us, I told myself it would be okay.

And the vacation was perfect.

The kids were chasing waves. Dave actually read a book. I fell asleep to the sound of the ocean instead of the dishwasher. The last night Max asked if we could stay forever.

The happiness lasted until I opened our front door.

The smell hit me first – musty, sour, wrong.

I stepped inside and fell silent.

Our kitchen looked as if chaos had taken over and calmed down. Trash overflowed. Empty bottles lined up across the sink. Red plastic cups scattered on the floor. Sticky rings on every surface. A half-eaten bowl of food sat abandoned on the coffee table, caked on as if it had been forgotten for days.

I went into the living room.

And that’s when my heart really sank.

Whatever Mandy had promised us… our home was no longer that.

The couch cushions were stained. Not a little. A lot. Dark and stained. The blankets were wrinkled on the floor. A bowl of something half-eaten that had become crusty on the coffee table.

Behind me, Lily whispered, “Mom?”

Small pieces of glass glittered on the carpet.

I swallowed. “Yes, honey?”

“Why does it look… disgusting?”

I didn’t answer.

I walked down the hall. Max’s door was open. His bedside lamp was on the floor, the lamp base cracked in the middle and the bulb was broken.

Small pieces of glass glittered on the carpet.

In Lily’s room, her stuffed animals were scattered. Drawers were open. Her favorite blanket was piled up near the closet.

“Were we robbed?”

This didn’t look like anyone had “spent the night”.

It looked like the aftermath of a party. A big one.

Max stood in the doorway, staring at the broken lamp.

“Were we robbed?” he asked quietly.

“No,” I said. My voice was flat. “Aunt Mandy lived here, remember?”

His face fell. “Did she break my things?”

“What happened here?”

Dave’s jaw was tense. “I’ll call her.”

We went back to the kitchen. I called Mandy and put her on speaker.

She answered on the third ring. “Hello,” she said. “Are you home?”

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