The Vacation

Chapter 3

Brenna woke with a start from a familiar nightmare in an unfamiliar bed. Within seconds her mind had cleared and provided her with the memory of where she was but it took her body a few minutes more to relax. When her breathing had finally slowed she threw the covers back and swung her legs onto the dark wooden floor.

The room she was in was much nicer than her room at home. Then again, she lived in an old farm house that had been built around the turn of the century. She and Greg had done a lot of work on it and remodeled just about everything but it was still a very old home. She liked it that way and wouldn't have traded it for anything.

Her room at home was decorated in the shabby chic and faced a large field of wildflowers in late spring and summer. This room was luxurious in dark jewel tones of amber, red, purple and royal blue and faced a magnificent view of beach. She contemplated the lovely view as she stretched and brushed out her long, thick hair.

After a time she pulled on an old flannel shirt of Greg's that she had kept over her pajamas and padded out into the still silent house. She was the first one up even though the quality of light told her the day was well underway. She wasn't surprised; they'd gotten to the house in the wee hours of the morning and were all likely suffering from a minor case of jet lag.

Quietly she surveyed the contents of the cabinets to see what the kind housekeeper had left them with and was more than pleased to find coffee, cream and sugar. Humming to herself she set up the coffee maker and waited patiently as it brewed its dark brown liquid.

After locating a large pottery mug glazed in dark purple, Brenna fixed her coffee and wandered to the large deck she had seen the night before that faced the water. She disabled the alarm and wandered out onto the deck reveling in the cool breeze blowing off the water.

For several long moments she simply stared out at the water and sipped her coffee in peace. Such moments of peace were far and few between for her these days but there were more of them than before.

It had been a long slow uphill battle but she could truly say that these days she was happy she had made it. The pain of losing Greg would never go away but it had dulled to some extent. Only on mornings that she woke up back on the sidewalk  and listening to the explosion did she really struggle. The nightmare continued to show its ugly face a few times a week.

Movement in the periphery of vision made her turn her head just in time to see the large beautiful German shepherd bounding her way. He skidded to a halt at her feet breathing hard just as his master rounded the corner and left her speechless.

He was shirtless with only a pair of basketball shorts to accompany his running shoes. His dark hair stood up in places like he hadn't bothered to brush it down between waking and jogging, his skin was a light tan and flushed with exertion. Her curiosity was immediately peeked by her unfettered view of the tattoos she'd only had a glimpse of the day before. With no obstruction she could see that started at his wrists and continued up his arms and appeared to continue on to his back.

Suddenly aware she was much too interested in the view ahead of her she quickly dropped her eyes as a stab of guilt hit her in the stomach. She focused on the dog looking up at her with lolling tongue.

"I thought I was the first one awake!" she exclaimed and ruffled his ears.

His handler jogged up to them and stood breathing shallowly.

"This one started whimpering to go out a couple hours ago so I just decided to get up and get a run in before everyone else started moving." He stood with his hands on his hips and eyes squinted against the rising sun. "Is that coffee? Is there anymore?"