A/N: If this throws an update to everyone, I apologize. I'm trying something out. This section is the same as before.
Abby McAllister waved to her neighbor as she drove down the road and then pulled the black SUV into her driveway. The woman was digging in her garden, her two children playing around the corner of the house. Abby looked away and opened the garage door with a remote, scanning the interior before she pulled the vehicle in, keeping her eyes on the rearview mirror as the door descended behind her. She got out of the car, put her purse over her shoulder and closed the door. She opened the hatch and her two year-old German Shepherd mix bounded out, staying close to her side as she reached in, pulling out a covered box of fruit and vegetables from the farmers' market.
The dog, Brody, walked up the steps ahead of her, stopping at the door separating the inside of her house from her garage and looking up at her. She unlocked the deadbolts and then let the dog in and he wandered purposefully from room to room. She toed her shoes off on the mat next to a pair of running shoes, a pair of hiking boots and a pair of black steel-toed boots with thick rubber soles and relocked both deadbolts, and reset the alarm. She went into the kitchen, tossed her purse and the box onto the counter, and unpacked the food. Once empty, the box went next to the door for her next trip out to the garage. As she washed an apple, she looked out the window at the woods standing behind the house. The wind rustled the leaves on the trees outside, and the sun was shining through the branches on its way to meet the horizon. It had been a beautiful day.
Abby bit into the apple, feeling juice run down the side of her chin. She used the back of the hand holding the apple to wipe it away and then reached over and closed the blinds, shutting out the light. She walked out of the kitchen and through the dark house quietly, feet silent on the hardwood flooring of the dining and living rooms. Brody met her in the hallway and she murmured a soft, "good boy," as she held her hand out and he nuzzled it. She bent down and gave him a rough rub to his side, her fingers sliding in and out of his thick coat and then walked down the hallway, her feet sinking into the plush carpeting. She made her way to the bedroom and when she got there, stripped the clothing from her body and wrapped a towel around herself for the short walk to the bathroom.
Out of habit, she closed the door and then hung up the towel on the rod. She stepped into the shower, letting the hot water beat all the days grime from her body and face and after quickly soaping up and rinsing, turned the water off. Squeezing it from her shoulder-length hair, she stepped out.
She wrapped herself back up in the same towel. She walked up to the vanity and reached out, doing the same thing she did every day. With her hand, she made a small clearing in the condensation. As she looked in the wet mirror, Andy McNally stared back out at her. Because the circle framed her face, she could pretend that her hair was still long, pretend her face didn't look as drawn and tight as she knew it did. The girl in the mirror had lived a very different life. Little beads of water were beginning to run down the mirror, making trails in the fog. Holding in a sigh, she picked up a hand towel and wiped it away, and Abby McAllister reappeared. Turning away from the reflection, she walked out of the bathroom. Brody was lying in the hall and his eyes followed her as she walked around the corner and back into the bedroom to dress, kicking the door shut behind her.