If peace had a warning, that was it.
The next morning, the bell didn't ring. That should have made me happy. Instead, it felt suspicious, like silence right before a storm front moves in.
By day three, the bell chimed again: once, twice, pause. I leaned out the window. There she was: Skyler Campbell, queen of the lakeside jungle, strolling down my gravel drive like she'd been summoned by divine HOA decree. Clipboard in hand, sunglasses on, lips pursed into the shape of "good morning," but sounding more like "compliance violation."
"Benjamin!" she called cheerfully. "Hope I'm not catching you at a bad time."
"You are," I said, not moving.
She laughed like that was adorable. "Well, I'll make it quick! We're just having a community brainstorming session next week about improving our lakeshore harmony. We'd love for you to join."
I kept sanding the window frame. "Pretty sure I'm not on your mailing list."
Skyler took two steps closer, heels crunching the gravel like punctuation marks. "Oh, don't worry. I already added your address. You're part of the ecosystem now. Everyone around the lake contributes."
I looked up. "Contributes, or gets milked?"
Her smile flickered. "Contributes," she repeated slower, as if teaching English to a raccoon. "Anyway, I noticed you've installed new gates. Very fortress-chic. I just wanted to remind you that blocking community access can lead to misunderstandings."
"Gates aren't walls," I said. "They're sentences that end conversations."
Skyler scribbled something on her clipboard, probably in a section labeled Future Lawsuits. Then she sniffed. "You know, it would be such a shame if this lake lost its sense of unity."
"People used to come here for Sunday barbecues, for weddings, for trash disposal," I said. "Don't forget that one."
She blinked. The nerve twitched in her jaw. "Benjamin, we're neighbors. Cooperation makes life easier. Why isolate yourself?"
"Because I've met my neighbors," I said.
Skyler's sunglasses tilted just enough for me to see her eyes: bright, hard, and calculating. "We'll see about that," she murmured.