This House

     On the cover of Better Homes and Garden's Magazine was a picture of a beautiful home. A classic farmhouse design complete with a wrap-around front porch beckoning a cold lemonade and a good book. The brick was a traditional red color and each window was surrounded by stark black lacquered shutters.

     Camille Elliot was a faithful subscriber of the magazine, while she read then recycled most issues, this one, she had kept tucked away with the hope of someday building this house. Her dream home.

     Along with articles on how to make a pie crust just like grandma did and which miracle grow would make your flower beds flourish this issue of Better Homes and Garden's also contained a floor plan to the house on the cover of the magazine. Camille sat in her current cookie-cutter home dreaming of a day when she'd make this home her reality.

     No matter where she lived or what state of life she was in Camille took pride in making every house, or apartment, or condo into a home. She was the only woman in the neighborhood that had hired a designer, and it showed. No furnishings were too extravagant or expensive but it was obvious they weren't the matching set you could easily finance from the local RC Willey.

Camille herself was like this too. She took care of herself. She practiced step aerobics at the Y. Her clothes were impeccably ironed, she wore just enough makeup and her hair was short, stylish, and done before anyone else woke up. She wasn't high maintenance, but she always looked put together. 

     When you walked into the living room of the Elliot home it was like looking at Camille herself, put together, everything was on purpose, it was done and done well. The fabric on the sofa was carefully selected by Camille with the help of her long-time designer, Katherine Winbury. Katherine had a blunt bleached blond bob and wore oversized jewelry and seemed slightly out of place when she visited Camille's neighborhood. It's not that it wasn't a nice neighborhood altogether. It's just not the kind of neighborhood anyone would set out to stay in forever. Politely put, it was a starter neighborhood and Camille always thought this would be her starter home.

    However, Camille believed a job worth doing was worth doing right. So when she set out to decorate her starter home she started by calling Katherine. Through the years Katherine had designed and redesigned the front living room of the Elliot home. Katherine always entered the home with an authority and presence that made you feel you had no choice but to put that ottoman next to that coffee table. Yet, her authority must have been merited because the fabric on the chairs didn't match the fabric on the sofa, but somehow it worked.

And somehow Camille made it work too. She was a stay-at-home mom with three daughters, Rebecca an accomplished flutist who given any real opportunity could be Juilliard bound, another reason to get out of this neighborhood, or so her mother thought. Her second daughter was precocious, little, and feisty as hell, but Camille always found a way to calm her and thought, in the end, she'd be just fine, even better than fine if she could pour such characteristics into a passion. Emmie was the sweet blond hair blue-eyed baby everyone deserves to end with. She was the "cherry on top," Camille was fond of saying. It was true for the most part and it was also her way of letting everyone know that while she loved being a mom, her days of bringing more babies into this world were done.

Camille's husband, Conrad, was a hard-working Software sales representative. Viva, the software company he worked for, while a small startup when he was hired was quickly moving up the ladder and due to Conrad's unrelenting work ethic he was too. Conrad traveled a lot and while it was hard, at first, managing the kids on her own, eventuality Camille moved into a rhythm and what was supposedly his chore versus her chore they all became hers. What Camille couldn't manage on her own, a leaking dishwasher, a broken pipe, or a busted sprinkler, she was now was able to hire help for.

  On an evening when Conrad was around there was a knock at the door. Alice answered the door and a man standing in a navy blue blazer, white shirt, and dark grey slacks looked down at Alice and asked, "Is your Daddy home?"

Alice intimated, didn't reply but ran into the kitchen to retrieve her mother.

Camille came to the door with a dishtowel in hand wiping away the watery residue from chopping tomatoes.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" Camille asked.

The man in the blazer discreetly flashed a badge and said, "I'm detective Green. I'd like to talk to Conrad Elliot. Is he here?"

Camille's eyes widened, "Yes, he's down in the study, I'll go get him."

She turned to the girls, "Girls go downstairs, your favorite show should be on.

Tv time was limited in the Elliot home and with a stranger, at the door, they were more than motivated to hop down to the TV room.

Conrad came up from his basement study moved quickly to the door and gave the man in the blazer a firm handshake.

"Do Come in," said Conrad. He widened the door and waved the detective into their home.