“Come back from vacation. Mom isn’t well.”
I read Javier’s message three times. I was sitting on the terrace of a small hotel in Mallorca, a cup of coffee in front of me. It was a little after eight in the morning. Beyond the railing, the sea glittered in the sunlight, and a few tourists were already making their way down to the beach.
It was the fourth day of my vacation. And for the first time in a long while, I had traveled alone.
Javier hadn’t been able to come. An important project had just started at his company, and he had decided to stay home. We had briefly considered canceling the trip, but the flights had already been paid for, and the hotel would barely refund anything.
“Go, Elena,” he had told me. “You’ve been working nonstop for months. Enjoy yourself.”
So I went.
And now, four days later, he suddenly wanted me to come home.
I replied immediately.
“What’s wrong with her?”
The three little dots appeared.
Then disappeared.
Then appeared again.
“She really isn’t feeling well. She needs us.”
I sat up straighter.
“Is she in the hospital?”
“No.”
“Has she seen a doctor?”
A long silence.
“Not yet.”
I frowned.
“Does she have a fever? Is she in pain? Did she fall?”
This time, Javier called me.
“Elena, why are you interrogating me like this?”
“Because you just asked me to cut my vacation short. I’d like to know what’s going on.”
He sighed.
“Mom is very weak. She says she’s dizzy. She doesn’t want to be alone.”
“Where’s Antonio?”
Antonio was Carmen’s husband.
“He’s with her.”
I was silent for a few seconds.
“So she isn’t alone.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, actually, I don’t.”
Javier went quiet.
Then he said, “She’s asking for me. And for you.”
That last part almost made me laugh.
Carmen never asked for me.
Unless she needed something.
“Are you at her place?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Last night.”
I stood up and walked over to the railing.
“Javier, if your mother is genuinely sick, call a doctor. If it’s urgent, call an ambulance.”
“She refuses.”
“Then what exactly do you expect me to do?”
“Come home.”
The words came out sharply.
I turned toward my room.
My open suitcase was still lying beside the bed.
My return flight was scheduled for five days later, Sunday at 5:40 p.m.
Changing my ticket would cost almost three hundred euros.
“How would my being there change her medical condition?”
“Elena…”
“I’m serious.”
“Because she’s family.”
There it was.
Family.
Carmen’s favorite word whenever she wanted someone to do exactly what she had decided they should do.
“Fine,” I said.
Javier sounded surprised.
“You’re coming back?”
I looked out at the sea.
“Yes. I’ll come back.”
“Today?”
“I’ll take care of it.”
He exhaled in relief.
“Thank you.”
We hung up.
And I changed absolutely nothing about my ticket.
I went to the beach.
At noon, I had lunch at a small restaurant.
That afternoon, I visited Sóller.
The next morning, Javier texted me.
“Did you find a flight?”
“I’m looking.”
That wasn’t entirely untrue.
I had looked.
I had even found three flights.
I hadn’t booked any of them.
Around noon, Carmen herself sent me a message.
“Elena, I thought you’d be back by now.”
No “hello.”
No “sorry for ruining your vacation.”
Just that.
I replied:
“Javier told me you were sick. What did the doctor say?”
It took her almost twenty minutes to answer.
“I know my own body. I don’t need a stranger telling me I need to rest.”
Interesting.
“Then get plenty of rest.”
She didn’t reply.
That evening, Javier called.
“Mom is upset.”
“Why?”
“She thinks you’re not taking this seriously.”
“I’m taking it very seriously. That’s why I advised her to see a doctor.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“What exactly does she expect me to do?”
Silence.
Then:
“She wanted you to be here.”
“To do what?”
“Help her.”
“With what?”
Another silence.
This one lasted long enough for me to understand.
“Javier.”
“She’s tired.”
“From doing what?”
“There are a few little things that need to be prepared.”
I closed my eyes.
“What little things?”
“We’re celebrating Antonio’s birthday on Sunday.”
I said nothing.
Javier continued quickly.
“Nothing huge. Around twenty people. Maybe twenty-five.”
I stared straight ahead.
Then I started laughing.
Not because it was funny.
Because suddenly everything made perfect sense.
“Your mother is so sick that she’s throwing a party for twenty-five people?”
“She isn’t the one organizing it.”
“Then who is?”
He didn’t answer.
“Javier?”
“She had arranged some things before she started feeling sick.”
“And she wanted me to come home to finish the preparations?”
“It’s not exactly like that.”
“Then explain exactly what it is like.”
He sighed.
“The cake needs to be picked up on Saturday, two salads need to be made, the table has to be set up on the terrace, and someone needs to pick up Lucía and the kids from the train station.”
I burst out laughing again.
“So your mother doesn’t need me because she’s sick. She needs an event planner, a cook, and a driver.”
“Elena, don’t be dramatic.”
That sentence immediately stopped me from laughing.
“You’re the one who texted me saying your mother wasn’t well so I’d come home five days early.”
“Because she isn’t well!”
“Fine. Then cancel the party.”
Silence.
“Why would we do that?”
“Because she’s sick.”
“Dad has been looking forward to his birthday for weeks.”
“So she’s too sick to make a salad but well enough to host twenty-five people?”
“Elena…”
“Good night, Javier.”
I hung up.
A minute later, my phone rang.
Carmen.
I didn’t answer.
She called again.
Then a third time.
Finally, a message arrived.
“In a normal family, you don’t lie on a beach getting a tan while your mother-in-law is sick.”
I stared at the screen.
Then I typed:
“In a normal family, you don’t fake a medical emergency to make someone come home from vacation so they can prepare a party.”
Her reply came almost immediately.
“I didn’t fake anything!”
“Then cancel the party and see a doctor.”
No response.
For the next three days, Javier was cold toward me.
His messages were short.
“Good morning.”
“Everything’s fine.”
“Good night.”
I didn’t push.
I continued my vacation.
I swam.
I read two books.
I rented a small car for a day and drove across part of the island.
And most importantly, I didn’t feel guilty.
On Saturday evening, the night before my return, Javier texted me.
“What time are you finally arriving?”
I replied:
“Tomorrow at 8:15 p.m.”
He called me within seconds.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“But the birthday starts at two!”
“I know.”
“You told me you were coming back.”
“And I am.”
“Elena, don’t play with words.”
“My return ticket was always for Sunday.”
“Mom thought you’d arrive earlier.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“She was counting on you.”
“She should have asked me first.”
His voice hardened.
“So you’re doing this on purpose?”
I thought for a second.
“No. I’m not doing anything. That’s exactly the point.”
And I hung up.
On Sunday, I took my flight exactly as planned.
We landed at 8:11 p.m.
At 8:47, I was in a taxi.
At 9:20, I opened the door to our apartment.
Javier was sitting in the living room.
He looked exhausted.
There were three plastic containers of leftover food on the coffee table.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi.”
I put down my suitcase.
“How’s your mother?”
He gave me a look.
“Very funny.”
“I’m seriously asking.”
“She’s fine.”
What a surprise.
I sat down in the armchair across from him.
“And the birthday?”
“A disaster.”
“Why?”
He started counting on his fingers.
“The cake wasn’t ready when I got there. Lucía missed her train. Mom forgot to buy the drinks. Dad had to go to the supermarket forty minutes before the guests arrived. The potatoes burned.”
I tried not to smile.
“And the salads?”
He looked at me.
“I made the salads.”
This time, I smiled.
“Congratulations.”
“You think this is funny?”
“A little.”
He rubbed a hand over his face.
“Mom was furious all day.”
“At whom?”
“You.”
“Of course.”
He hesitated.
“She told everyone you chose your vacation over your family.”
I nodded.
“And what did you say?”
This time, his gaze dropped to the floor.
I knew that silence.
“Javier.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
I stood up.
“Okay.”
“Elena, wait.”
“I’m tired. I’m going to take a shower.”
He stood up too.
“What did you expect me to say in front of twenty people?”
I turned around.
“The truth.”
“What truth?”
“That your wife didn’t abandon anyone who was sick. That your mother simply wanted me to come home early to organize her party.”
“She really was dizzy.”
“And today?”
“She felt better today.”
“Just in time for the party.”
He didn’t answer.
I went to take a shower.
The next morning, at 9:12, someone rang the doorbell.
Carmen.
Of course.
Javier had already left for work.
I opened the door.
My mother-in-law stood there wearing white trousers, a turquoise blouse, and heeled sandals.
She looked better than I did after a week’s vacation.
“So you finally came back.”
“As planned.”
She walked in without waiting for an invitation.
“I hope you’re happy.”
“About what?”
“You ruined Antonio’s birthday.”
I closed the door.
“I was two thousand kilometers away.”
“Exactly.”
“Carmen, you organized a party during my vacation without asking for my help. Then you told Javier you were sick to make me come home.”
“I was sick.”
“What did the doctor say?”
Her lips tightened.
“This doctor business again…”
“Yes. Again.”
She put her handbag on a chair.
“In my day, when family needed us, we didn’t ask for a medical certificate.”
“And in my day, we ask people before deciding how they should spend their time.”
Her expression hardened.
“You’re selfish.”
“Maybe.”
She clearly hadn’t expected that answer.
“Excuse me?”
“If refusing to cancel five days of a paid vacation to make salads and pick up a cake makes me selfish, then we simply have different definitions of the word.”
“My son would never behave like this.” “Your son was here.”
Silence.
“He could help you.”
“Javier works!”
“So do I.”
“But you were on vacation!”
“Exactly.”
She opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
At that moment, the front door opened.
Javier.
I checked the time.
“Weren’t you at work?”
“I forgot my laptop.”
He stopped when he saw his mother. “Mom?”
Carmen immediately turned toward him.
“Good, you’re here. Explain to your wife what it means to be part of a family.”
Javier slowly closed the door.
Then he put down his keys.
“Mom…”
“No. Yesterday your father had to run to the supermarket on his own birthday. You spent two hours in the kitchen. Lucía had to take a taxi from the station with the children. All because Elena decided to stay on the beach.”
Javier remained silent.
Carmen crossed her arms.
“Say something.”
He looked at his mother.
Then at me.
“Elena was right.”
Carmen blinked.
“What?”
Javier leaned against the cabinet in the hallway.
“She was right not to come back.”
I hadn’t expected to hear that.
Neither had Carmen.
“Javier, are you joking?” “No.”
“Yesterday you were furious with her!”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Until Dad told me something.”
Carmen froze.
I noticed her expression immediately.
“What did Antonio tell you?” I asked.
Javier looked at his mother.
“That Mom had planned from the beginning for Elena to prepare almost everything.”
“That’s not true!” Carmen snapped.
“Dad showed me your messages.”
The room went completely silent.
Javier took out his phone.
“Three weeks before Elena left, you wrote to him: ‘Don’t worry about the party. Elena will probably come home early. She can take care of the cooking.’”
Carmen turned red.
I stared at her.
“Three weeks before my vacation?”
Javier nodded.
“And that’s not all.”
He scrolled through the screen. “Two days before Mom said she was dizzy, she wrote to Lucía: ‘If Elena refuses, Javier will know how to convince her.’”
Carmen stepped toward him.
“Give me that phone.”
Javier moved it out of reach.
“No.”
“Your father had no right to show you our private conversations!”
“And you had the right to make me believe you were so sick that my wife needed to get on an emergency flight home?”
“I really did have a headache!”
Javier laughed.
A short, disbelieving laugh.
“Mom, you told me you were afraid to be alone.”
“I was stressed!”
“Dad was with you.”
She turned toward me.
“See what you’re doing? You’re turning my own son against me.”
I didn’t even answer.
Javier did it for me.
“No, Mom. That’s exactly what I didn’t understand before.” Carmen turned back to him.
“What?”
“Elena isn’t doing anything.”
He held up his phone.
“These are your own messages.”
For the first time since she had arrived, Carmen had nothing to say.
She picked up her handbag.
“Fine.”
Then she looked at me.
“I hope your vacation was worth it.”
I held her gaze.
“Yes.”
Her lips tightened.
“That’s all?” “Do you really want to know what I learned from this?”
She didn’t answer.
“The next time Javier texts me saying you’re sick, my first question will be which hospital you’re in. My second will be what the doctor said. And if the answers are ‘no hospital’ and ‘no doctor,’ I won’t be changing any tickets.”
Carmen opened the door.
Then she stopped.
“One day you’ll understand that family should be able to count on one another.”
“I agree.”
She turned around, almost satisfied.
I added, “That’s why you shouldn’t lie. Otherwise, when something really does happen, no one will know whether to believe you.”
Her expression changed. She left without answering.
Javier closed the door behind her.
For a few seconds, we stood there in silence.
Then he turned toward me.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what exactly?”
He thought about it.
“For asking you to come home without checking what was really going on. For making you feel guilty. And most of all, for saying nothing yesterday when she accused you in front of everyone.”
I nodded.
“That’s what bothered me the most.”
“I know.”
He picked up his keys.
Before leaving again, he stopped beside my suitcase, still half unpacked.
“By the way…”
“Yes?”
“Was Mallorca nice?”
I smiled.
“Very.” “Even after my message?” I thought about that morning when I had read:
“Come back from vacation. Mom isn’t well.”
Then I thought about the ticket I hadn’t changed.
“Especially after your message.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
I opened my suitcase and started putting my things away.
“Because I finally understood something.”
“What?”
I looked at him.
“When someone turns every whim into an emergency, sometimes the best way to find out whether it’s really an emergency is not to come running.”
And this time, Javier had nothing to say.