She advanced another step, close enough that I could see the rim of coffee staining the side of her cup. "I have dealt with people like you before," she said. "People who believe they can move into a community and do whatever they please. You're going to learn that the rules apply to you, too."
"I want the rules to apply to everybody," I answered. "That's the whole point."
Linda's voice rose enough to carry toward the pool gate. She said I had a problem with authority, that I was mocking the people who volunteered to maintain the neighborhood, and that Emily should have known better than to bring someone like me into the complex. I looked up at the building when she mentioned Emily, because a window on the second floor had opened. Somebody inside was watching, though I couldn't tell who.
"You don't need to bring Emily into this," I said.
"The owner is responsible for conduct connected to her unit. She should know whom she's living with."
"She does know me. We're getting married."
Linda made a dismissive sound. "Well, I hope she understands the trouble she's inviting."
I kept my hand steady on the grill handle. There are people who think restraint means you aren't upset, but my pulse had picked up. I was angry that Linda had decided to threaten Emily when she couldn't make an actual property argument stick. What kept me from reacting was the knowledge that anything I said in anger would become part of the next conversation rather than the dispute we were already having.
Then Linda told me something I had not expected. "I've been watching your unit since that incident with the dog," she said. "I knew you would give me a reason eventually."
I looked directly at her. "What do you mean by watching our unit?"
"I mean exactly what I said."
"Are you reviewing our unit specifically for violations?"
"Some residents need extra attention. People who refuse to cooperate make mistakes."
"Do you do that to everyone?"
"I do it to the residents who need it."
"And you think that's us?"
"Exactly."
I did not know what Linda intended by those words, but I knew what she had plainly admitted. She had connected an old disagreement about a leashed dog to a continuing interest in our home. She was telling me that the question was no longer whether I was breaking a rule today. The question was how long it would take before she could find something to use against us.
From the courtyard, Emily approached carrying two plates. She had heard enough to stop short of the grill and look at Linda with an expression I had rarely seen on her face. At the clinic, Emily was endlessly patient with frightened children. With an adult who was threatening her property for a personal reason, her patience had a different limit.
"Linda, are you saying you singled out my unit for extra monitoring because of an argument that ended with my dog on a leash?" she asked.
Linda's face tightened. "I'm not going to discuss confidential association business with someone standing here to antagonize me."
"It's my unit," Emily said. "I'm the owner."