The air was thick with the smell of barbecue, but my stomach was churning with dread.
My upscale Austin life was supposed to merge with my fiancé Ryan's small-town roots this Thanksgiving weekend, finalizing our wedding plans.
But then Ryan's family started a poker game, and my father, a notorious soft touch after a few bourbons, lost everything.
Every cent of the $200,000 wedding fund I' d given him for safekeeping was gone, wiped out in one night.
Ryan, instead of comforting me, put on a masterclass of manipulation, shaming my father and threatening to call off the wedding, using "tradition" as an excuse.