Serendipity // Camren

Chapter 18

Camila arched an impressed brow as she followed Lauren into the raven-haired woman's driveway. She got a good look at the exterior of the house as they waited for the garage door to roll up and she found herself charmed by the aged cedar shake shingles and bright white trim covering the façade that brought to mind houses she'd seen in Martha's Vineyard. Once Lauren had pulled into the garage, she parked her little rented Mercedes in the space to the left of Lauren's SUV, the compact sports car fitting easily in the oversized three-car garage, and she let out a sigh of relief as she killed the engine.

Checking out of the hotel had been surprisingly stress-free, just a quick call up to the concierge and a three-minute conversation was all it took for matters there to be resolved, but the drive out to Lauren's house was another matter. Traffic had been an absolute mess, with two accidents on the 405 and one on the 10, and she couldn't have been happier about finally getting out of the car.

"You okay?" Lauren asked, smiling at Camila as she pulled two of the brunette's three bags from the back of her car.

"Yeah." Camila nodded. "Just... not used to driving so much anymore. And that was..."

"Typical for LA," Lauren supplied with a laugh. She understood what Camila was getting at – it had taken her a good year and a half while at USC before she got used to LA driving. "I figured it was better to inch along the freeway than risk losing you on the surface streets though."

"Probably," Camila agreed. "So, this is your house."

"It is," Lauren replied as she pulled Camila's final bag from the back of her SUV and closed the hatch. "Come on, I'll show you inside."

Camila nodded and took hold of the extended handle on one of her bags and followed Lauren between the cars toward the door that would lead to the inside of the house. She looked around the organized garage with an appraising eye, noting the painted floor and rows of cabinetry along the back wall, and the stack of surfboards lined up along the sidewall of the unused third-car garage. "Are those your surfboards?"

"That's my quiver," Lauren confirmed.

Camila frowned as she counted the boards. There were six smaller ones of varying heights and two tall ones. "Do you really need so many?"

Lauren laughed and nodded. "Yes and no. It's a guilty pleasure of mine. Some girls like shoes..." Her voice trailed off as she gave the brunette a pointed look which caused Camila to roll her eyes and nod. "And, while I do appreciate fashion, these are my babies."

Camila chuckled and turned her attention from the surfboards to Lauren as she kicked the stopper down on the door into the house and pushed it open. Her jaw dropped as she caught her first glimpse of Lauren's house over the woman's shoulder and her eyebrows rose in surprise. She hadn't really known what to expect but, as she carefully lifted her suitcase over the threshold and set it gingerly onto Lauren's immaculate black hardwood floors, she had to admit that it was very Lauren.

The ceilings were high, easily thirteen feet, giving the large kitchen-great-room area a wide-open feeling. The walls were a warm gray and held numerous large black and white prints in black frames. The effect was very artistic and welcoming. The kitchen cabinets were white like the baseboards and crown molding, the countertops were a blue-gray granite or quartz, Camila wasn't sure which, but they fit perfectly with the professional-grade stainless steel appliances and all of it was offset by the bright blue mosaic glass tile backsplash. The great room that abutted the kitchen was large and cozy, with an oversized stacked stone fireplace surrounded by dark wood built-ins taking up the wall facing the kitchen. The back of the house was either windows or french doors, and all of them provided an unobstructed view to the beach and the ocean beyond.