Months Adrian and I blamed one another.
I looked at the hose again.
Then at Margaret.
“Turn it off.”
“No.”
“Margaret.”
“I’m finishing the pool.”
“Turn off my water.”
She folded her arms.
“Or what?”
I almost answered.
Instead, I smiled.
Very slightly.
“Okay.”
That confused her.
“Okay what?”
“Nothing.”
I walked back toward my house.
Behind me, she called:
“You always were dramatic!”
I went inside.
Locked the door.
Then sat at my kitchen table.
I opened old photos on my phone.
Scrolled back two years.
There.
Margaret’s pool renovation.
I remembered that summer clearly.
She wanted to enlarge the pool deck and extend the water line.
Willowcrest HOA required exterior modification approval.
Margaret had complained about it for weeks.
“They want plans.”
“They want measurements.”
“They want a fee.”
“Imagine needing permission to improve your own property.”
Then one afternoon the workers arrived anyway.
The project was completed.
I asked:
“Willowcrest finally approve it?”
