From Splinters to Splendor Read online

  Chapter 6 – To Waco for Good

  The financing and escrow closing on Elliot’s home went through as scheduled. The real estate agent gladly handed Elliot his check and the young couple the keys to the house. It was a happy day for all of them. Brandy was happy, too, for Elliot promised her they were going to be with Taylor.

  Vanessa told Elliot to bring all of his furniture; she wanted him to feel totally at home and she needed “new” furniture anyway. Elliot hired a moving van as he could not do it all himself and Vanessa and Leonard were working. The furniture was loaded the day before and personal items were loaded that morning; the moving van was on its way to Waco. Elliot grabbed Brandy, went to the bank to deposit his check and was down the road in his car a few minutes following behind the moving van.

  The country western music got Brandy to rocking her head back and forth. Elliot found himself doing the same thing. It must have looked pretty funny to onlookers having the driver of the car and the dog next to him swaying their heads. Elliot smiled at the thought and kept doing it anyway. He and his dog were happy; it really did not matter what other people thought.

  Elliot passed the moving van before too long. He honked and waved as he passed them; the van driver tooted his horn back. Brandy perked right up, looking to see what all the horn blowing was about. When Elliot told her that was all their stuff moving to Waco, she settled back down. It was not quite so exciting after all (for a dog, anyway).

  The moving van and Elliot played leap frog as the van managed to get ahead of them when Elliot stopped at rest areas for himself and Brandy. Elliot ended up passing them two more times before losing track of them when they stopped for lunch. Brandy was happy to have a share in Elliot’s lunch. In the excitement of the move he had forgotten to feed her breakfast. As it dawned on him he felt pretty badly about it, but made it up to Brandy by giving her extra lunch bites.

  One more rest stop in the afternoon was followed by dinner in a diner on the outskirts of Waco. Elliot did not want Vanessa to go out of her way to prepare dinner after she worked all day. Yes, she still would fix it for Leonard and Taylor, but she would not go out of her way to fix a 5-course meal for them like she would her dad.

  Vanessa had meticulously gone through her home to remove furniture, wall hangings and accessories to make room for her dad’s things. A family in their church recently had a fire, so she donated everything to them. The timing was absolutely perfect and she was so happy she was in a position to share.

  The moving van arrived a half hour after Elliot. Brandy and Taylor were already in the backyard playing. The movers were told to put the boxes of household and personal items into the den. Normally they would have unpacked, too, but there was not enough time to do that and unload the furniture. Vanessa assured them they would take care of it; they really needed everything in place that night. Elliot verified all the furniture and boxes were there and signed the moving company documents.

  Chapter 7 – Cat Country

  Vanessa and Elliot were both glad he had arranged for a Friday closing on his home. Now they had all weekend to unpack. Leonard and Vanessa were both grateful to be getting Elliot’s furniture. It looked totally different in their home than it did his; it truly was like having all new furniture. Brandy was happy about the whole move. She had all her familiar belongings; plus she had Elliot and Taylor, too. Vanessa and Leonard were there to give her a little loving, as well.

  The guest bedroom was now Elliot’s room; they unpacked his personal belongings first. Vanessa knew he was pretty exhausted from the packing and the trip down to Waco. He did help unload a few of the boxes, but Vanessa was right as he was very tired, even though he had gotten a good night’s sleep. Brandy was tired from the trip and from playing with Taylor. They all decided to call it a night and finish unpacking on Sunday.

  Elliot and Brandy woke up the next morning to the smell of sizzling bacon. Brandy was licking her chops and Elliot dressed hurriedly so he could go let Brandy out. Brandy started barking to let the neighbor dogs know she was there, just like she had done at their home in Amarillo. This time there was no response as none of the neighbors in the immediate vicinity had dogs. This was cat country. Vanessa was laughing as she let Brandy back in the house. When the pup entered the house she started looking for her buddy, Taylor, who was still asleep. All the excitement of Grandpa and Brandy moving in had worn him out. Vanessa assured Brandy that Taylor would be up before too long.

  Vanessa threw a breakfast quiche in the oven while the bacon finished cooking and the coffee was brewing. Right when everything was done, sleepy Taylor wandered out in his pajamas, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Brandy momentarily forgot about the food. Oh boy! Taylor was up! Soon the family was sitting down to eat while Brandy lay at Elliot’s feet, waiting for her share.

  Elliot had already prepared Brandy’s breakfast bowl with a combination of wet food and dry food. When he finished eating, he added a couple of bites of bacon and quiche to Brandy’s bowl. As usual, Brandy gulped it right down and was begging for more. Taylor thought the whole thing was cute and wanted to give Brandy some of his breakfast, too. Elliot had to lay the law down about not giving Brandy too much people food as it was not good for her. She had eaten enough that morning and it was Grandpa’s responsibility to feed her anyway.

  After breakfast Vanessa asked Taylor to go get dressed and take Brandy outside to play. That way the adults could get the rest of the boxes unpacked and put away without boy and dog underfoot. With Leonard, Vanessa and Elliot all plugging away at the boxes, most were unpacked by lunchtime. They decided to go out for lunch and leave Brandy in the backyard while they were gone. After lunch Elliot took a long nap before he finished unpacking the few remaining boxes. He was settled; he and Brandy were home.

  Chapter 8 – Brandy’s Stalker

  Elliot thought a doggy door leading out to the backyard would allow his pooch freedom to come and go as she pleased. When Vanessa gave the go-ahead and had it installed, it did not take long for Brandy to figure out how to use it. It was a wise investment.

  One of the neighbor’s cats had jumped the fence and was stalking birds when Brandy went out one morning. She came unglued when she saw the intruder. Her vicious bark, accompanied by her straight and stiff tail had that cat up and over the fence in an instant. Elliot watched as the feline scaled the fence, shaking his head. Brandy had at last gotten her first glimpse of a cat and she did not like it one bit.

  The neighbor’s cat decided she would make life completely miserable for Brandy by sitting on the other side of the fence, yowling incessantly. Naturally it drove Brandy nuts! If she could have scaled the fence to get the cat, she would have. Barking did not help at all; if anything, it made the cat yowl even more. Brandy finally went into the house to seek out Taylor for some playtime. Enough was enough. The cat could not stalk her when she was in the house.

  Vanessa asked her dad if he wanted to go with her to buy a few more accessories for the house. All of Elliot's possessions were not quite enough to fill her big home and she had gotten rid of most of her things, except precious sentimental items. Leonard stayed home with Taylor and Brandy. Elliot and Vanessa hit a good sale at a local department store. Between that and Vanessa’s favorite home interior decorating shop, they were able to find many nice things to compliment their home.

  Loaded down with packages and boxes, Elliot teased Vanessa as they got back to the house saying, “Hey, I thought I had already unpacked.” She gave him a sheepish grin. With Leonard helping, they were able to get all of the items in after two trips to the car. Leonard was impressed with the purchases. It never ceased to amaze him how his wife could consider his masculine tastes and balance it with her desire to make their home beautiful and decorated to her liking. She had obviously taken her dad’s tastes into consideration, too.

  Elliot decided it would be best if he did not get a new job in Waco. It was almost summertime. Vanessa and Leonard only had part-time coaching for summer sports and Taylor wa
s out of school, too. When they were between programs, they could all do a little traveling together. Elliot was also determined to help as much as possible around the house. He was not going to be a freeloader or a millstone. He could even watch Taylor intermittently so Leonard and Vanessa could have some special date nights. Leonard sure liked that idea. Between teaching school, coaching and Taylor, date nights had become a thing of the past for them.

  Taylor and Brandy were hard and fast buds. Brandy still slept with Elliot but if Taylor was home, she was perpetually with him. Elliot did not mind at all; it did his heart good to watch the two of them play. Not only that, but if there was anyone in the world he would want to share Brandy with, it was his one and only grandson, Taylor. Moving in with the kids was a wise decision. Vanessa walked a little lighter, too. Having her dad there to share in some of the cooking and cleaning lightened the load.

  Chapter 9 – GED for DeeDee

  Taylor found out that Brandy loved country and western music, so he started playing it more often. He thought it was totally cool the way she tilted her head back and forth to the music. Grandpa chuckled when Taylor told him what a cool dog he had. He was grateful all the more for his pup for giving Taylor another common bond to draw the two of them closer together.

  Right after summer break started Vanessa got a call from her sister, Louise. Her 16-year- old daughter, DeeDee, told her she wanted to drop out of school and was begging to go live with Aunt Vanessa. Louise was crying; the whole situation was totally overwhelming for her. Her thinking was that it would be a good thing for her daughter to live with Aunt Vanessa and Uncle Leonard since they were both teachers. Perhaps they would have a good influence on her.

  Taylor was all in favor of DeeDee coming to live with them. Elliot thought it would be good for her; he agreed with Louise about Vanessa and Leonard being a good influence on her. After some discussion about needing to convert the den to a bedroom for DeeDee and the adjustments that would mean, it was decided. DeeDee was coming to live with them.

  Try as she might, Vanessa was not able to talk her niece into going to Waco High School in the fall. She was adamant about never going back. Vanessa was able to talk DeeDee into pursuing her GED, though. The local program was only four hours per day from 8:00 a.m. to noon, Monday through Thursday. DeeDee felt that was reasonable and doable. Grandpa would be taking her to school and picking her up. Oh yes – and Brandy, too – she had to go along for the ride.

  Brandy became a therapy dog, of sorts, for the troubled young lady. DeeDee had quickly fallen in love with her. Amazingly enough, Taylor did not mind sharing Brandy with his cousin. In fact, often times it was all three of them playing together. Vanessa called her sister to give an update on how well things were progressing with her daughter. Louise was thrilled it was going so well; she had been so worried about DeeDee, as any mother would have been.

  Thanks to Brandy and the love of the family, DeeDee’s attitude gradually improved. She still bad-mouthed her mother any chance she got, but Vanessa did her best to curb it by countering the negative comments with mentioning Louise’s good points. Her efforts paid off; little by little DeeDee came around. Besides, she was very happy to be living here and didn’t want to take any chances on being sent back home.

  Vanessa and Leonard were please to get a good report from DeeDee’s teacher at the first parent-teacher conference. He told them that if DeeDee kept up the good work, she would have her GED by the following June. That news was especially good!

  Uncle Leonard and Aunt Vanessa gave Brandy most of the credit for the change in DeeDee’s demeanor. Although Brandy had never trained to be a therapy dog, she definitely was fulfilling that role for DeeDee. The pup had an innate sense for knowing exactly what that young lady needed. Grandpa busted with pride as he watched the scenes unfold before him; it was all an affirmation of his decision to move to Waco.

  As anticipated, DeeDee got her GED the following June. Aunt Vanessa gave her a big hug. After the embrace DeeDee surprised Vanessa by saying she wanted to wait to get a job so she could go visit her mom for a few weeks. She was so proud of her niece that day.

  Chapter 10 – Mutual Need

  When DeeDee got back from visiting her mom, she applied for a job in a pre-school. The manager needed someone immediately, so she was interviewed promptly and told the job was hers. If there was anything DeeDee loved more than dogs, it was babies and toddlers. She shook the manager’s hand and sincerely thanked her. Much to her delight, things were shaping up for her future.

  Little did DeeDee know that her grandfather had a surprise waiting for her when she got home - a Volkswagen Bug he purchased for her. It was an older one, but was in good running shape and got good gas mileage. She would not be running any races with it, but it was perfect for going back and forth to work. Grandpa grinned ear-to-ear as she squealed and gave him a big hug.

  DeeDee offered to do some chauffeuring for Taylor, too. That took some more off of the load for Vanessa and Leonard. They had been so blessed to first have Elliot join the family; the blessings continued when DeeDee was brought into the family structure. She was growing up and maturing right before their eyes, giving Vanessa and Leonard even more reason to be proud of their niece. She had come a long way since coming to live with them the previous year.

  When school started in the fall, Elliot was alone with Brandy all day again. It had been awhile since it had just been the two of them and he was rather enjoying it. They took over where they had left off before. Brandy still very much loved and adored Elliot. Daily walks were a part of their routine as they had done previously; it was good exercise for both of them.

  In all the time Elliot had Brandy, he could only find one fault with her: she hated her baths as much as she loved her walks. Elliot could not help but wonder if the previous owners had tried to drown her before they abandoned her. She was absolutely terrified of the water. As a result, he bathed her very seldom, kept the water shallow and washed her as fast as he could. Then he would wrap her in a swaddling towel, petting her, drying her and whispering sweet things to her to calm her down.

  One Saturday morning Vanessa woke up with a start. Brandy was howling; it was not just any howl, but a long, mournful one. Vanessa threw on her robe and ran to her dad’s room; she tried to quell the panic welling up as Elliot lay there motionless and not responding to her calls. She felt for a pulse but, as she suspected, there was none. Her dad had probably died earlier in the night. She called 9-1-1, thinking it would probably be in vain. She woke the rest of the family to break the news to them; they all waited for the ambulance together, holding each other and crying. DeeDee offered to call her mom. She now had a very mature adult job on her hands.

  Louise was very distraught to get the news about her father and so was Mandy, hers and Vanessa’s other sister. Both of them assured the family they would indeed come for the memorial service. Elliot’s friends in Waco were called too, as well as local friends of the family. Brandy stopped howling after the ambulance left. Then she sought out DeeDee. The two of them had a mutual need for each other now.

  Elliot’s service was well done. The minister read Elliot’s eulogy and gave some comforting thoughts to the grieving family and friends. DeeDee was given permission to go home and get Brandy for the graveyard service. As she clung to Brandy she reflected on her short time living with Grandpa. Not sure she was ready yet to say goodbye, DeeDee held Brandy a little closer and cried. She would miss the sweetness of Grandpa's care and concern for her, no one was able to show their love quite like he could. He was a very special person, who had brought new life and love into her adoptive home.

  Before coming to live with Grandpa and her aunt's family, life seemed pretty grim. She had felt misunderstood and treated like a child by her mother; getting away was the right thing to do at the time. Now that she was older she understood better why things happened the way they did and, primarily due to her grandfather's and aunt's wisdom and advice, DeeDee appreciated her own family so m
uch better now.

  "Dear, sweet Grandpa, I will miss you so much," she said as she held Brandy close. Then a peculiar thing happened; DeeDee suddenly felt her grandfather's presence. Thanking him for rescuing this precious pup she held, she suddenly realized that she had been greatly blessed. Both her life and the dog’s life had gone from splinters to splendor, and the knowledge of that brought peace to her heart, and a new hope that she truly would be okay.

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  Website Bibliography

  www.google.com

  www.hookandbullet.com

  www.nps.gov

  https://fishandgame.idaho.gov

  Other books by Stella Dillenbeck:

  The Dream Team, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/548450

  The Chuckwagon Gang, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/552534

  In the Eye of the Storm, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/556846

  Out of this World, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/601482

  Reaching the Last Frontier, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/621408

  Once Upon a Shining Star, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/624177

  The Tough Lumberjack Dog, https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/657572