He hoped they would not.
He had invited his friends over for a peaceful afternoon, and he did not want them to leave feeling that they had somehow caused trouble merely by accepting an invitation.
The male officer looked toward the patio table.
MALE OFFICER: "Mr. Carter, do you have a copy of the homeowners' association guidelines available?"
NATHAN: "Not outside. I have the documents inside the house."
MALE OFFICER: "You don't need to retrieve them right now. I'm asking because the complaint appears to involve community standards as well as a reported disturbance."
NATHAN: "I understand."
MALE OFFICER: "If this is an association matter, you can contact the management company to clarify the applicable rules."
NATHAN: "That's what I'll do."
Victoria immediately interrupted.
VICTORIA: "He shouldn't need to wait for a management company to tell him how to behave."
MALE OFFICER: "Ma'am, we haven't established that he has behaved improperly."
VICTORIA: "You can't be serious."
MALE OFFICER: "I'm being precise."
The female officer glanced toward her colleague and then addressed the homeowner.
FEMALE OFFICER: "Based on what we've observed so far, we haven't identified an immediate safety threat. We'll finish documenting the information and determine whether any additional action is appropriate."
NATHAN: "All right."
Victoria's face reddened.
VICTORIA: "So you're just going to leave them here?"
MALE OFFICER: "We don't have a basis to order them to stop a lawful activity simply because you object to it."
VICTORIA: "That's ridiculous."
MALE OFFICER: "I understand that you're unhappy with the situation. But we have to follow the appropriate process."
Victoria looked toward the grill again.
The smoke rose gently into the afternoon air.
The men remained beside the table.
Nobody was threatening her.
Nobody was blocking the gate.
Nobody had tried to prevent her from leaving.
The situation looked much the same as it had before she called for help.
The only difference was that two police officers were now standing in the garden, and the barbecue had become the center of a dispute that none of the men had wanted.
Victoria took a step backward.
VICTORIA: "Fine. If the police won't handle it, I'll take it to the association."
NATHAN: "That's your choice."
VICTORIA: "You think this is over?"
NATHAN: "I think lunch should have been lunch."
She stared at him.
For a moment, it seemed that she might make another accusation.
Then she turned toward the officers.
VICTORIA: "I want it noted that I raised a concern and nobody has done anything."
MALE OFFICER: "We'll document the information you provided. That doesn't mean we can record a violation that hasn't been established."
VICTORIA: "You're making this sound like I'm the problem."
FEMALE OFFICER: "We're not making a judgment about you. We're explaining what we have and haven't established."
The officer's calm response left Victoria with little to argue against.
She adjusted the towel around herself and looked toward the gate.
The male officer returned his attention to Nathan.
MALE OFFICER: "Sir, please continue to operate the grill safely and follow any applicable local and community guidelines."
NATHAN: "I will."
MALE OFFICER: "If you receive a formal notice from the association, review it carefully and respond through the appropriate process."
NATHAN: "Understood."
The female officer nodded toward the homeowner and his guests.
FEMALE OFFICER: "Thank you for cooperating."
The officers began walking toward the gate.
Victoria followed them, still visibly frustrated.
At the entrance, she stopped and turned around.
VICTORIA: "Don't expect me to forget this."
Nathan remained beside the grill.
NATHAN: "I haven't asked you to forget anything. I just want us to follow the same rules."
She gave him a hard look before stepping through the gate.
The male officer followed her outside, and the female officer closed the gate behind them.
For several seconds, the men stood silently.
The sound of the barbecue returned to the center of the afternoon.
Jason was the first to speak.
JASON: "Well, that was certainly not on the lunch menu."
Eric let out a breath he had been holding.
ERIC: "I thought she was going to ask us to turn off the grill."
MICHAEL: "I thought she was going to ask the officers to arrest us for overcooking the steak."
Nathan gave a tired laugh.
NATHAN: "Let's not give her any new ideas."
The joke broke some of the tension, but nobody immediately returned to the easy conversation they had been enjoying earlier.
Jason looked toward the gate.