Dear Eric: After a few years of being out of touch, I reconnected with a close cousin. When she visited my area recently, I met her and her granddaughter, “Mia”.

My cousin told me about the financial hardships this sweet teenager was facing. My friend finances most of Mia’s extracurricular activities and clothes.

About a month later, I got a text from Mia asking if I could please buy a pair of sneakers for her upcoming soccer camp. Surprised, I contacted my cousin about her request. My cousin “reminded” me that I had offered to help Mia. Well, I didn’t mean financially!

But because she’s a really nice kid, I offered to help get your shoes. Unfortunately, Mia wanted extremely expensive sneakers that I would not buy for my own granddaughter. When I brought this up to my cousin, she said, “Well, Mia is very picky and wants what he wants.”

Not satisfied with this answer, I asked Mia to choose a pair in a certain price range. She apologized and sent other options in this interval. After receiving them, Mia sent numerous thank-you messages, then invited me to join her and my cousin “ashore” on a 10-day vacation they had planned. I did not reply as the invitation did not come from my cousin.

I’m upset and feel like I’ve been backed into a corner by my cousin who was making Mia cry out for help and I haven’t heard from her at all. Should I let my cousin know how I feel or should I just cut him off completely?

– The feeling to use