By Sun and Candlelight / CAMREN

Chapter 10: After the Fest

Lauren pulled into her driveway and turned off the car. Camila looked at the house and smiled. It was a raised cottage with a large porch, surrounded by a white picket fence. The gardens were still green despite the beginning of the colder season. She smiled at Lauren.

"Your house looks like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting," Camila said, smiling.

"I do love it," Lauren said, opening the rear car door to get a sleeping Lori out of the carseat.

Camila grabbed Lauren's bag and Lauren carefully took her daughter from the seat and shut the door softly. They walked onto the porch and Lauren pushed a code to open the front door. They walked inside and Lauren turned to Camila.

"I'll go put her down," Lauren said quietly, "Make yourself comfortable."

Camila nodded and walked over to the couch a took a seat. She looked around the room as she waited. The living room was spacious, with a couch and loveseat and two high back chairs. A television was mounted on the wall in front of her. The room opened up into the kitchen and there was an area for a dining table and chairs. The space was open and airy and felt homey. There were a few candid pictures of Lori placed throughout.

Lauren walked out from the hall into the living area and smiled at Camila.

"Red or white?" Lauren asked, pulling out two wine glasses from the cabinet.

"Either is fine," Camila answered, standing and walking to the counter, "I like both."

"Let's go with red," Lauren said, pulling out a bottle and opening it easily with a restaurant style corkscrew. She poured each of them a glass and handed one to Camila. They walked back to the couch and sat, leaving a bit of room between them. Camila took a sip and smiled softly at Lauren.

"This is really good," Camila said happily.

Lauren smiled and kicked off her shoes and pulled up her legs underneath herself on the sofa. Camila couldn't help but let her eyes linger on Lauren. She looked so comfortable and so adorable in her own element.

"You mentioned that you used lived in Salt Lake City," Lauren said, "What did you do there?"

"I was working with NASA," Camila said. She took a long pause before continuing, "That didn't really work out like I planned. I've been back in Alta Vista for a little more than a year."

Lauren sensed that Camila was uncomfortable with the question so she didn't pursue it any further.

"I've only been here about four months," Lauren said, "that day we first saw you in the diner – we had only been here for a couple of weeks."

"Are you happy you came?" Camila asked.

"I am. I told Dinah today that Lori and I didn't have days like this when we lived in the city," Lauren said, "I owned an apartment – actually, Jauregui Corp owned the building where I lived. It was a huge, pretentious place. Ridiculous, really, but Clara insisted we live there. It didn't feel like home at all. It wasn't a good place for Lori to grow up."

"Clara?" Camila asked.

"Clara Jauregui, my adoptive mother," Lauren said, taking a deep breath. "My father had an affair while he was married to Clara. I was the result. I lived with my mother until she died when I was four years old. My dad came and got me and Clara sort of got stuck with me. Chris is my half-brother. My dad died when I was twelve and Chris was already in college. Clara raised me the rest of the time, although I was with the staff most of the time."

Lauren looked up at Camila, expecting to find a look of horror or at least a look of pity. Camila was looking into her own wine glass and seemed to be thinking deeply. Lauren waited a moment then Camila looked up at her.