Heart Hold Fast

Chapter Thirteen

A/N: I wrote this chapter in little sections between revision for my exams, so hopefully it comes together to make some sort of sense! Thank you so much for bearing with the long update times, and I wish anybody else coping with exams at the moment all the luck in the world, not that you need it!

Camila slept longer than she had anticipated. It was so tranquil when she awoke, that she imagined it was still very early. Usually, she was woken by Ruben slipping out of bed to get ready for work, and so when she properly opened her eyes, and took in her new surroundings, she was momentarily surprised that she was not in New York.

Her balcony door was still open from last night, except that, with the emergence of the morning sun, it was considerably hotter outside now than it had been the previous evening. She threw off her sheets, and went to the close the door. The view that met her eyes, as she stood at the window, seemed even more spectacular than she had remembered it from the night before. What a heavenly place to awake! Bright sunlight glinted off the sea, which, with low tide, had retreated far down the sand, leaving the golden expanse laid bare before her.

Changing into a loose t-shirt and jean shorts, she left her room in search of breakfast and company. The moment she stepped out, the sound of furious typing on a computer keyboard met her ears, and she recognised quickly that the noise was coming from Lauren's room. Apparently, even on vacation, work was still well underway.

Sounds of laughter and chatting drew her to the lounge, and there she found her mother and Clara. They were sat together on the sofa, and the french windows at the end were wide open, meaning that the room simply opened out onto the edge of the beach.

"Good morning," she smiled, as she walked in.

"Darling!" Sinu ushered her in, "How did you sleep?"

"Really well," Camila nodded, "It's so much quieter than New York! I haven't missed breakfast, have I?"

"Sinu and I have eaten," Clara explained, "But nobody else has come down for breakfast. I know Chris has gone for a jog; Mike and Alejandro are in the study; and I presume Lauren is still asleep, because I haven't heard a peep from her,"

"Lauren's awake," interjected Camila, "I could hear her on her laptop,"

"That sounds about right," Clara shook her head with a sigh, "If she doesn't come down in the next half hour, I might have to send you to give her a prod, and remind her to eat something,"

"I'm sure that won't be necessary," Camila replied hastily, anxious not to play messenger, "I'll go and get some cereal now, and then I thought, if you two aren't busy, I could show you the photo album from the honeymoon? I brought it down with me,"

"Yes, please!" the two mothers exclaimed in unison, "That would be lovely!"

So, once she had finished her own breakfast, Camila ran upstairs and found the album in her suitcase. She had carefully selected her favourite photographs from the enormous selection that she and Ruben had taken on holiday, and printed them out, to arrange them in the thick leather bound book. Clutching it to her chest, she went back down, and held it out to Clara and Sinu.

They pawed over it, oohing and aahing at every picture, and cheerfully recalling stories from their own honeymoons.

"He's such a handsome boy," Sinu fondly patted a picture of Ruben posing against a tropical-looking backdrop.

"And clever too," Clara added, "With his promotion and everything,"

"Whose promotion is this?"

Camila whipped around, in time to see Lauren walking into the lounge, wearing an over-sized black t-shirt, with her laptop tucked under one arm. Her dark hair was tangled, and thrown casually over to one side.