Free Pure Joy by Danielle Steel

all shook their heads, unable to believe what I’d done.

    Isabella and Trixie: love at first sight

Danielle Steel
    It really was one of my best Christmases, just remembering the look on Isabella’s face, and the dog looked as though she knew she belonged with her. And I expected to hear from Isabella the next day, letting me know about their first night together. But I didn’t hear a word. Three days went by, and I got nervous, and knowing how polite Isabella was, I had the sinking feeling that maybe it was too much for her, and she was too embarrassed to complain. Puppies take time to settle in sometimes and can be difficult at first. Finally, I couldn’t stand it, so I called. Isabella answered immediately, and I said I was wondering how things were going, and wanted to make sure she was okay and that the dog wasn’t too much for her. She sounded instantly panicked and said, “No, no, we’re fine. She’s perfect. I love my dog. Goodbye.” I wound up grinning all over again. Isabella was afraid that I was trying to take back her dog, which I surely wasn’t.
    A year and a half later, at the age of eighty-nine, Isabella watched a movie with her uncle in it. He was the famous actor Edward Everett Horton. Apparently she laughed a lotat the film, took a nap afterwards, and never woke up. I was deeply saddened at the loss of my friend but was so happy the dog had given her so much joy. And after they called to tell me, I wondered what would happen to Trixie and half-expected her family would ask me to take the dog back. Instead, they told me what a hard time they were having over Trixie, because everyone wanted the adorable dog Isabella had loved so much. Her friends and family were asking for her, and they finally gave Trixie to Isabella’s brother, and she moved on to yet another adoring family and remained in good hands. It was the perfect end of the story and was surely the happiest gift I had ever given anyone. When I think of Isabella now, I think of that incredible Christmas Eve. I still have some of the photographs (I framed most of them for Isabella), with Isabella beaming and Trixie happily sitting on her knees. It personified Christmas for me, and I will never forget that day, or how terrified I was!
    You would think that my jangled nerves over the gift to Isabella would have cured me, despite the happy end result, but it didn’t. When my son lost his beloved childhood dog, Annabelle, I waited seven months while he mourned her, and although he said he would never have another dog, it made my heart ache to know how much he missed her (she had gone everywhere with him for fourteen years. He had gottenher when he was ten). And I succumbed to my own instincts and got him a Boston bull puppy for his birthday, the sweetest little puppy. She was much smaller than Annabelle and looked very different, which I thought was a good thing, and the breed suited him so well, and the whole family said I was out of my mind. He was shocked when he first saw her and spent a tough night wrestling with his sense of loyalty to the dog he had loved so much and lost. I kept the puppy while he thought about it, and the next day he called to claim her, and they have been inseparable ever since. Her name is Nancy, and she is irresistible and so loving.
    And my last brave gift was this past Christmas. Once again I wrestled with the decision, but my ex-husband had been ill for many months, his ridgeback died a few years ago, and he had said repeatedly how much he missed having a dog. That’s a dangerous thing to say to me. I thought about it for several months and finally decided to do it. I got him a King Charles spaniel for Christmas, and once again with huge trepidation, I brought it to him. He’s a man, and when feeling well, he likes his freedom and to travel. I wasn’t at all sure how he would respond to the gift, but once again he fell in love immediately. The puppy climbed into his lap, and he tells me constantly how perfect