Keep inviting the person whose responsibilities make spontaneity harder.

People carrying heavy obligations, small children, a relative to care for, an unforgiving shift, say no often enough that invitations stop arriving. The group is usually being considerate rather than cold, but the effect is the same: they slowly disappear from other people’s plans and conclude they have been forgotten. Being asked matters even when the answer is no.

Keep someone on your list who has been declining, and tell them plainly that a no costs nothing. Where you can, offer the version that fits their life, earlier, shorter, closer, or at their own kitchen table.