“You planted them on the wrong side,” she insisted, pointing at my flowerbed. “Roses belong on the left, not the right. Everyone knows that.”
“They seem happy where they are,” I had replied gently.
“Happy is not the point,” she snapped. “Order is the point.”
I rarely argued.
Since Steve died, keeping the peace had seemed easier than fighting every battle.
So I let things go.
I told myself it was better for me and the children.
But seeing Katherine staring at us through that window sent a cold feeling through my chest.
“Mommy, is that lady mad again?” my daughter asked, climbing from the pool.
I grabbed a towel.
“Don’t you worry about her, baby. Just have fun.”
“She always looks mad,” she said, shivering.
“Some people carry a lot of frowns,” I told her, wrapping the towel around her shoulders. “That doesn’t have to be our problem.”
She laughed and ran back toward her brothers.
When I looked up again, Katherine was still there.
I told myself it meant nothing.
Just Katherine being Katherine, obsessed with order, boundaries, and how everything was supposed to be.
“Come on, kids, ten more minutes!” I called, ignoring the uneasy feeling.
Their laughter answered me.
I did not know Katherine had already decided our peaceful summer was about to end.
I was making sandwiches the next afternoon when I heard shouting.
Not the children.
An adult voice, sharp and angry.
I dropped the knife and hurried outside.
Katherine stood beside the pool with her arms crossed, glaring down at my youngest.
The gate behind her was wide open.
She had walked straight into my backyard without permission.
“What’s going on?” I asked, stepping between her and my children. “Did something happen?”
“Your kids are TOO LOUD,” she snapped. “I want some peace and quiet. Is that too much to ask?”
I looked at my four children.
They stood dripping beside the pool, completely silent, their faces pale.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I’ll ask them to keep it down.”
The apology tasted bitter.
I had been inside the whole time.
There had been nothing beyond splashing and laughter.
My children knew they were not allowed to scream.
They knew the rules.
Still, I apologized.
Like I always did.
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