Love Always, Lola

It was still not daylight on the beach. In a short span of time, however, the sun would push away the darkness and bring forth the blessings of a new day.

Melody parked her Jeep beside the trail that led to the beach. Lola, Melody’s white Labrador Retriever, that was riding shotgun, immediately gave a bark of approval when she realized they were going to the beach.

Melody and Lola were about as inseparable as a human, and a canine could be. In the three years since Melody had brought Lola home, the two of them had been separated for only a few days. On those days, Lola had stayed with Melody’s most trusted friend Bethany and the three of them had Face Timed for an hour every night. Any man wishing for a first date with Melody could probably hope for no more than a walk in the park with Melody and Lola. If Lola did not provide a solid stamp of approval, well, the hopeful suitor was wasting his time.

Early Saturday mornings at the beach were a favorite time for Melody and Lola. There were only a few early risers like them enjoying the beach and the sunrises were always gorgeous. Melody liked to believe that it was the first rays of the sun that spread blessings to all the earth. Whether that was true or not she wasn’t sure, but she loved to wrap her arms around Lola and give thanks for all she had. Melody’s plan for today’s time at the beach was an easy two-mile run. She tried to run with Lola every day. It was something they both enjoyed and helped to keep them both healthy.

The pair had run just over a mile when Melody’s cell phone rang. She was surprised when her phone showed that the call was from one of the senior partners of the firm where she worked who had been sent to the east coast for work on a real estate project that Melody had focused on for several months. Melody spent almost forty-five minutes reviewing the program with the senior partner and felt exhausted when the phone call ended. When she had taken the phone call, she had given Lola the command to stay but she had been so wrapped up in her phone call that she had failed to notice that Lola had wandered off.

Melody did not immediately panic; she knew Lola would never wander far from her. She was concerned, however, since there were many more people on the beach than when they first arrived. The tide was out, and Melody noticed a small crowd had gathered near the water’s edge. Walking down to the crowd, Melody found her dog. What she didn’t expect was to find her dog surfing with, well, the most handsome man she had ever seen. Riding in toward the shore, Lola was standing quietly on a surfboard in front of a tall muscular gentleman bronzed from days in the sun. As the waves pushed them toward the shore, he and Lola stood effortlessly on the surfboard. Applause erupted from the small crowd as the two of them hopped off the board and walked onto the beach.

“Lola, come here,” called a somewhat exasperated Melody. Lola quickly obeyed, realizing she should not have left Melody’s side. Her thoughts were, however, that surfing was fun. Lola would be happy to do it again. The crowd dispersed and the tall man carrying his surfboard walked over to speak to Melody.

“I apologize if I got your dog in trouble. I was getting ready to ride a few waves when she wandered over and stood by my board. I thought she was telling me that she wanted to ride. I took her out and she loved it. She’s a natural surfer. I hope you are not mad at her.”

“I’m not mad,” said Melody. “I know how much she loves the water. I got distracted by a phone call from my boss and I should have been paying more attention to her. Everything is fine.”

“Would you consider letting me take her out for one more run? I promise I will take good care of her.”

“Well, there are two problems with that,” replied Melody. “One, I don’t let my dog surf with people who have not introduced themselves and two, Lola and I always go for morning coffee after we come here. You would have to join us.”

“That’s a deal,” said the surfer with a smile and my name is Jeff. I’m a professor at the community college here. “Lola and I will be right back.”

Melody sat down on the sand and watched Jeff and Lola head out to the waves. She was pleased that Jeff was very careful with Lola. He avoided the bigger waves and reached down frequently to ensure Lola was comfortable. As far as Melody could tell from the distance, Lola was having a great time. She thought it was a bit ironic that Lola had gone out and found a guy that she apparently adored. Throughout their time together, Lola had far more often expressed that there was no way she would be happy with adding another companion to the happy family that was Melody and Lola.

When Jeff and Lola returned, Lola jumped off the surfboard and ran to Melody, sounding off with her happy bark. There was no doubt in Melody’s mind as to what Lola was saying. It was loud and clear that Lola was asking if she could surf with Jeff again. It was a disappointed Lola that finally got the message that surfing for today was over.

Since Jeff’s truck was closer, the three of them climbed in and took off for what Jeff said was the best coffee in town. The two of them and sometimes the three of them chatted about nothing special until Jeff finally admitted to having a question.

“Of course,” said Melody, “What would you like to know?”

“Lola seems to be able to do anything, but does she really drink coffee?”

Melody laughed, “No she doesn’t drink coffee but if the coffee shop has bagels or croissants she will be just fine.”

Jeff pulled into the parking lot of a place called Ocean Tea and Coffee that overlooked the beach and the three of them took seats on the deck that provided a wonderful view of the ocean. Over the next hour and a half, the two humans chatted about everything they could think of. In the beginning, Lola listened intently to the conversation between Jeff and Melody but after a while she concluded that her role as matchmaker for the two of them was coming along just fine. Feeling like her assistance was no longer needed for now and the fact that she had filled her stomach with two and a half bagels, Lola decided she might as well take a nap—so she did.

Lola woke up from her nap when Jeff and Melody slid their chairs back and stood up to leave. The trio climbed back into Jeff’s truck and with directions from Melody, headed back to where Melody had left her Jeep.

Melody thanked Jeff for the coffee and she and Lola got out of Jeff’s truck and climbed into the Jeep. Melody was about to drive away when Jeff appeared at her door.

“I’m usually here every Saturday morning and I was wondering if I might give Lola another lesson next Saturday to which Lola immediately barked her approval.”

“Well,” said Melody, I guess that would be OK.”

“Great!” Jeff almost shouted, “How about I meet you here next Saturday at 10:00. We’ll surf a little and then the three of us can go to lunch.”

“OK” smiled Melody and Lola. “We’ll see you here next Saturday at 10:00.”

“Uh there is one more thing. If you would give me Lola’s phone number, I could go ahead and get her a surfing license.”

“A surfing license for a dog?” queried Melody, “Is there really such a thing?”

“Well, there could be somewhere, but I just thought I should have her phone number in case I needed to get in touch with her.”

Melody grabbed a pen a piece of paper from her glove compartment and scribbled a phone number on the paper and handed it to Jeff.

“Thanks Melody,” Jeff said with a smile that was almost as bright as the sun.

“No problem,” said Melody, “Oh and Jeff, that phone number is not Lola’s, it’s mine. I’m not letting Lola have her own cell phone until she is at least five years old.”

Melody and Lola smiled at Jeff and drove away.

The succeeding week was a long one for Melody and Lola. In some ways it was like every other week. It had seven days which meant it had 168 hours or 10,080 minutes. Melody seemed to look more frequently at her watch during the entire week but unfortunately it did not seem to make the hands on her watch move any faster, What was more interesting is that Melody felt that at least a dozen or more times, she caught Lola staring at the calendar that hung on the kitchen wall as if that would help the days move faster.

Eventually Saturday did roll around and despite the anticipation, Melody and Lola left a few minutes late. Melody had trouble getting her hair just the way she liked it and once she did, she felt obligated to give Lola a little extra grooming too. Then when taking one last look at the new swimsuit she had purchased, she realized she had failed to remove all the tags.

In the end Melody and Lola left home fifteen minutes later than planned. Melody, however, stretched the speed limit and Lola barked encouragement for her to go faster. Despite their late start, Melody and Lola arrived in the parking lot about the same time as Jeff pulled in.

Melody had two thoughts when she and Lola saw Jeff. The first was that he looked even hotter than when she first met him. The second was Lola should quit throwing herself all over this guy and should at least play a little hard to get but it was no avail. As soon as she opened the door, Lola bounded across the parking lot and gave Jeff a welcome like Melody had never seen before. After years of patiently training Lola to be a well-behaved obedient dog, Lola had turned into a lady of ill repute right before her eyes.

The other two members of this newly formed trio were a bit more refined but undoubtedly pleased to see each other. Their conversations spoke volumes and as they walked to the beach one would have thought they had not seen each other for months instead of just a week. Lola eventually calmed down a little but clearly wished Jeff would pay more attention to her than to Melody.

It was a perfect day on the beach and many people were out enjoying the sun, sand, and waves. Jeff, Melody, and Lola sat on the beach for a while taking in the atmosphere that they all loved. The small talk and enjoyment could probably have gone on all day, but Lola brought an end to it by standing beside Jeff’s surfboard and continuing to bark until Jeff relented and picked up his board and with Lola headed for the water.

Lola had forgotten nothing from her experience the previous Saturday and delighted in every moment on Jeff’s surfboard. When the two of them returned to the shore, Jeff asked Melody if he could take her out a little further into deeper water. Melody frowned but relented when Lola barked something that might have translated into “Please Mommy please, I’ll be careful.”

“We’ll be right back,” said Jeff and he and Lola headed for the water. Melody was surprised when Lola stopped at the water’s edge and turned for a long gaze at her. Melody’s canine sense thought she was saying everything would be okay but for some reason Melody felt like the world might never be right again.

The only problem with perfect days at the beach is that imperfect people always show up. The beach and the ocean belong to everyone but some simply did not know how to care for it and play safely with the waters. Today unfortunately was no different. Having dealt with all kinds of people to get the opportunity to enjoy surfing, Jeff frequently patiently waited for others to leave the area to take his turns on the waves. Some of his surfing friends had already warned him that there was a group of jet ski riders that were riding far too close to the shore and not being respectful of the people swimming.

Jeff and Lola made it out far enough where they could wait on the perfect wave. Jeff closed his eyes and gave a silent prayer of thanks for the beautiful day and for the time he was getting to spend with Melody and Lola. He was suddenly startled to hear jet ski engines running at a high rate of speed. One was piloted by a teenager. He was being pursued by an officer on a Beach Patrol jet ski. The teenager was so intent on trying to outrun the Beach Patrol that he never saw the man and the dog on the surfboard. Upon impact with the jet ski both the man and the dog were thrown violently into the ocean.

Upon seeing what had happened, the Beach Patrol officer broke off pursuit and immediately radioed for assistance, gave his location, and the warning of injured people in the water.

The jet ski had hit Jeff solidly in his upper torso with such force that he was knocked unconscious. Lola was momentarily stunned by the collision, but her dog sense told her to immediately look for Jeff. When she did not see him, Lola dove as deeply as she could searching beneath the waves before surfacing for air and diving under again. On her third trip beneath the water, she finally sighted Jeff floating unconscious and continuing to sink deeper. It took a tremendous effort for Lola to reach Jeff. She wiggled under his arm and did her best to push him toward the surface. Perhaps it was a miracle or perhaps it was the love of a dog for her friend but ever so slowly Jeff regained enough consciousness to know to push himself toward the surface. With Lola’s help Jeff broke the surface of the water and was able to gasp for air. The Beach Patrol officer caught sight of Jeff and dove into the water securing a flotation device around him and pulling him toward his jet ski. Additional beach patrol officers arrived, and Jeff was rushed to the shore for transport to the hospital. Only then did the officers start looking for Lola. They found her moments later and the unconscious dog was rushed to the beach. Melody jumped into a Beach Patrol vehicle that took Lola to the closest veterinary hospital.

It was evening when Melody, still stunned by the events of the day, was able to see Jeff in the hospital. The doctors had given her a very positive outlook for his recovery although they wanted to keep him for a couple of days for observation. The blow from the jet ski striking him in the torso had broken three ribs but the main concern was the amount of time that he had spent underwater.

“There is one more thing you need to know before seeing him,” cautioned the doctor. “He keeps asking about a dog.”

Melody quietly entered Jeff’s hospital room. When he turned to see who it was, Jeff only uttered one word.

“Lola?”

“She’s going to be OK. She was unconscious when they found her, but the veterinarians worked with her for hours.”

“I’m so sorry Melody, I should have taken better care of her.”

“It was not your fault, Jeff. The police have the guy on the jet ski in custody. In addition to being reckless, he had been drinking heavily. Lola saved your life. She wanted you to live.”

“Lola will have to stay in the hospital for a few days but then we’ll be able to take her home.”

A quizzical look crossed Jeff’s face. “Did you say, we will take her home?”

“I did. Lola risked her life to save you. I don’t know why yet but she must think you are something special and maybe I do too. So, when you are ready to leave the hospital, you are going to stay in my spare bedroom so I can take care of both of you. Do you have any problem with that?”

“Uh, no that will be fine with me,” said Jeff.

“Good, Lola said that would be fine with her too.”

Three days later, Jeff moved into Melody’s spare bedroom. Melody cared for the two of them better than any hospital could. The care was so good that Jeff never really moved back to his home. The only move he made was a few weeks later when he and Lola were fully healed. Jeff moved out of the spare bedroom and into the main bedroom with Melody.

Lola approved.