When it's Not Right

Chapter 9

Jay woke up in the strange room with a warm body pushing the mattress down beside her. She quickly remembered where she was and, smiling, rolled to her side to wrap her arms around Trench and snuggle with the big dog for a few minutes. He'd slept the whole night with his head on the pillow beside her, just like her first dog had when she was a kid. Unlike her first dog, Trench didn't wiggle away after a few rubs and acknowledgement that she was awake; he was perfectly content to lie there and cuddle until her bladder told her that she needed to actually get out of bed.

        The TV was chatting about the morning news in the living room, and Jayler could smell coffee and toast as she crossed the hall into the bathroom. Trench padded into the bathroom with her and lay down across the door after she closed it, the same as he had last night when she'd come in here. She scrubbed his ears and then sped through an abbreviated morning routine.

        The big shower that dominated the bathroom kept pulling her attention despite her best efforts to ignore it, the same as it did every time she came in here. She hadn't brought any hair products or body wash, and she'd just showered yesterday so that she wouldn't have to worry about it today in case they did end up staying here because she usually only showered every other day... the shining chrome fixtures winked at her in the mirror through the floor to ceiling custom glass surround as she put on a bit of lip gloss. She reminded herself that she was already dressed for the day as she put the few toiletries she'd brought back into the little travel case, then turned to leave and ended up standing there, biting her lip and staring at the shower.

        The plain, gray tiles on the walls and ceiling were simple and understated, and the teak slats covered from edge to edge in place of a tub. On a whim, she left her little travel case on the counter and pulled the shower door open to step inside. Measuring side to side, standing in the middle of the shower, her elbows were barely bent when she had one hand on the wall and one on the glass. She couldn't touch the wall or glass from the middle when she reached out lengthwise. The main showerhead was one of those enormous squares that made a shower feel like it was raining. The smaller showerhead – the one attached to a hose – was still an oversized square, and was sitting on a vertical slider bar so the height could be adjusted for whoever was using the shower.

        She stepped over and looked at the waterproof panel that was set into the wall at the opposite end, away from the showerheads. Oh my... Jayler held her breath and traced a finger down the column of options, simple button presses away from a heated bathroom floor, a steam sauna, dimming shower lights, a heated towel rack, and – if she wanted – music. She remembered to breathe again and quickly got out of the shower, closing the heavy door with a swish and a deep vibration through the glass walls that barely made a noise. Trench cocked his head at her, eyebrows lifted, silently asking why she was already out.

        "If I get in I'll never get back out," she joked to him. "Come on. You probably need to go outside anyway," she told the big dog as she picked up her travel case from the counter beside the sink. He grumbled about having to stand up again so soon, but circled around behind her legs and shoved out through the door first once she had it open.

        "I'm putting on fresh coffee," Lou called from the kitchen as Jay opened the front door for Trench. The big dog skipped on trying to use the outside steps and just jumped off the porch over them. Jay smiled at him as he started sniffing around the yard and then followed his nose into the nearest clump of trees. She closed the door and stretched her arms high over her head as she walked into the kitchen, the coffee pot just starting to pop and burble about boiling the water.

        "Morning," Jay smiled at Louise. The older woman was still in her pajamas, just one of her husband's old tee shirts and some fuzzy flannel pants, with her hair messily piled away from her face and barely contained by an alligator clip that was a size too small. The puppy was chasing the threads dangling from one bottom cuff of Lou's pants as she moved around the kitchen.