Linda's face changed. "You called her?"
"I called her when you threatened to have me arrested yesterday."
Rachel walked over. "Deputies." She handed them my current deed, then the county survey, then an old property map.
Deputy Harris studied them.
Linda kept talking: "This is irrelevant. Brookstone has maintained the eastern lawn for years."
Rachel looked at her. "You mean the ten-foot strip beside the fence?"
"Yes!"
"The strip Daniel allowed your landscapers to mow because it made the neighborhood entrance look nicer?"
"That proves HOA maintenance!"
"It proves permission." Rachel opened another page. "Here is the written permission agreement Daniel's father signed thirteen years ago."
Linda went still.
The deputy read it. It said Brookstone Hills could maintain grass along a narrow strip beside the subdivision fence. Nothing about ownership. Nothing about arresting the ranch owner. Nothing about controlling my whole front yard. And most importantly, the permission could be ended by the ranch owner with thirty days' notice.
Rachel looked at Linda. "Daniel ended it forty-two days ago."
Deputy Harris looked up. "So the HOA's permission is over?"
"Yes."
Linda shook her head. "Continued maintenance created community rights!"
Rachel nodded. "You can argue that in civil court." Then she pointed toward me. "But it does not make Daniel a trespasser on his own deeded property."
The younger deputy tried not to smile.
Linda saw it. "This is ridiculous!" She stepped closer. "He removed HOA landscaping yesterday!"
I frowned. "What landscaping?"
"The decorative markers!"
"You mean the little white stakes you put in my yard?"
"They identified the common boundary!"
"They were twenty-eight feet inside my survey."
"That survey is outdated!"
"It was done last month."
Linda opened her mouth, closed it, then turned toward Deputy Harris. "Arrest him!"
The deputy stared at her. "For what?"
"Property interference!"
"That's not a crime I can arrest him for based on what you've shown me."
"He destroyed HOA property!"
I pointed toward the side of my barn. The white stakes were stacked neatly against the wall. "I didn't destroy anything."
Linda looked furious. "You removed them from my yard!"
Deputy Harris held up a hand. "Ms. Parker, this looks like a property dispute. Nobody is being arrested."
That should have ended it. Instead, Linda pulled out her phone. "I'm calling the HOA attorney."
Rachel smiled. "Please do."
Linda walked away. I thought the worst moment was over. It was not, because while the deputies were still there, Rachel noticed something on the HOA map Linda had brought. She asked to see it. Linda refused.