Then looked toward me.
"You know what surprised me most?"
"What?"
He smiled.
"How many people started reading their association documents."
I laughed.
"Judith would've hated that."
Thomas chuckled.
"Probably."
Then his expression became serious.
"But it's a good thing."
I nodded.
"It is."
For a while, we watched the neighborhood children playing beside the grass.
Then Thomas whispered, "My wife would've loved seeing everybody out here."
I looked toward him.
He was smiling faintly.
His eyes were wet.
I placed one hand on his shoulder.
"She would've."
We stood together until Martha called us over for cake.
Later that evening, Hannah and I sat on our back patio.
Lucy had fallen asleep after an exhausting day.
The house was quiet.
The new security camera was visible above the side entrance, its clean white housing blending into the light-gray siding.
Hannah followed my gaze.
"Thinking about the camera again?"
I smiled.
"A little."
She leaned against me.
For several seconds, we watched the trees.
Then she asked something I'd never really considered.
"Do you think Judith would've stopped if you'd never challenged those boundary flags?"
I took a breath.
"I don't know."
Hannah nodded.
I continued.
"Maybe she would've found another way to get what she wanted. Maybe someone else would've started asking questions."
For a moment, I looked toward Martha's house.
The porch light was glowing.
Her husband's fence was still standing.
And the pale-pink roses near it had begun blooming.
Then I turned toward Hannah.
"But I'm glad we didn't sign."
She smiled.
"Me too."
We sat quietly.
After a while, she took my hand.
"You know, when you came running outside with that bat, I was terrified."
I looked down.
"I know."
She continued.
"I wasn't just afraid Judith would get hurt."
I turned toward her.
"What else?"
Hannah's eyes filled.
"I was afraid you'd let her turn you into somebody you weren't."
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Then I nodded slowly.
"She almost did."
Hannah squeezed my hand.
"But you stopped."
I shook my head.
"I should've stopped before I swung."
She didn't argue.
She simply leaned against me.
For a long time, we sat together under the evening sky.
And I understood that some of the most important lessons from that morning had nothing to do with the HOA or the security footage.
I could defend my property.
Demand explanations.
And stand up for my neighbors.
But I still had to choose how I responded when somebody deliberately tried to make me angry.