“No, no, no, no.”
Nathan ran to the window and looked out. Two police cars were pulling up in front of the house. His mother hadn’t waited. She’d already called them. The storm had arrived.
“Evelyn, take Lucas and go upstairs,”
Nathan said quickly.
“Right now.”
“Evelyn started.”
“Please,”
Nathan said.
“I’ll handle this. Just keep Lucas calm and quiet.”
Evelyn ran to the stairs.
“Lucas! Lucas, come here baby!”
Lucas came out of his room, confused.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“We need to stay in your room for a little while,”
Evelyn said, trying to keep her voice steady even though she was shaking.
“Come on.”
She pulled him into his room and closed the door just as there was a loud knock on the front door. Bang, bang, bang.
“Police! Open up!”
Nathan took a deep breath. His heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears, but he forced himself to stay calm. He opened the door. Two police officers stood on the porch. One was older with gray hair and a tired face. The other was younger, maybe in his 20s, with sharp eyes that looked at everything.
“Can I help you, officers?”
Nathan asked. The older officer looked at a notepad in his hand.
“We received a call about squatters living in this property illegally. This house is owned by Nathan Cole. Is that you?”
“Yes,”
Nathan said.
“I’m Nathan Cole. This is my house.”
The younger officer looked confused.
“Sir, if this is your house, why did we get a call saying there were illegal squatters here?”
“That’s a good question,”
Nathan said.
“Who called you?”
The older officer checked his notes again.
“A Mrs. Patricia Cole. She said she was calling on behalf of her son, that would be you I guess, because squatters had broken into this property.”
“My mother,”
Nathan said, trying to keep his voice calm.
“Yes. But she was mistaken. There are no squatters here.”
The younger officer raised an eyebrow.
“So there’s nobody living here?”
“I didn’t say that,”
Nathan said carefully.
“I said there are no squatters. Squatters are people who live somewhere illegally without permission. The people living here have my permission.”
The older officer frowned.
“Sir, we need to verify that. Can we come in and speak to whoever is inside?”
Nathan’s mind raced. If he said no, they might think he was hiding something. But if he said yes and they saw Evelyn.
“Of course,”
Nathan said, stepping aside.
“But I need to explain the situation first.”
The officers came inside. They looked around at the simple furniture, the toys on the floor, the drawings on the walls.
“Sir, what exactly is going on here?”
the older officer asked. Nathan took a deep breath.
“There’s a woman and her son living here. They’ve been here for several years. I gave them permission to live here.”
“Several years?”
the younger officer repeated.
“But your mother said.”
“My mother doesn’t know everything about my life,”
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