Page 70 of A Beach House Beginning

“Here. Take a flare. If you find him, light it so I know to come back. I should see it from far down the beach.”

“Okay. And you’ll do the same, right?”

In another flash of distant lightning, her features looked pale and frightened. He wanted to pull her against him, to keep her warm and safe from the storm, but he knew this wasn’t the time for that.

“We’ll find him, Jenna. I promise.”

“I hope so. Addie has lost enough. She’ll be devastated if something happens to him.”

“We don’t have long. As soon as that storm hits in earnest, we have to find shelter. Puppy or not. I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“It’s moving this way. We’ve maybe only got fifteen minutes before we’ll have to head back. There’s no safe shelter on the beach.”

“Let’s pray we find him soon then.”

She raced toward the water, scanning the sand with the beam of her flashlight and calling the dog’s name.

Still reluctant to leave her alone, he headed off in the opposite direction.

He had been looking for perhaps ten minutes. When he turned around, he could see her light still bobbing across the sand, though it was growing dimmer.

He called the dog but it was hard to hear anything with the waves beginning to crash and the wind blowing hard.

Lightning split the sky again, closer this time. In that instant of light, he thought he saw movement in the waves about ten yards from shore, a tiny dark head.

He thought at first it might be a seal or a sea turtle, then wondered if he had imagined it. He aimed his powerful flashlight in that direction. In a second flash of lightning, he realized it wasn’t a sea creature, it was a small dog, swimming furiously for all he was worth toward shore and being tossed back again and again by the waves.

“I see him,” he shouted, though he knew even as he did, she wouldn’t be able to hear him.

Without another thought, he lit his flare, hoping she could see it, then kicked off his boots, yanked off his leather jacket and waded into the cold waters of the Pacific.

He had hoped he might be able to walk to the puppy, but the waves were too intense. They almost knocked him over twice. Finally he dived over the next one as lightning illuminated the water and his path to the puppy. The thunder that followed only a few seconds later confirmed the storm was moving closer.

The puppy was tiring. He could tell. The next wave went over its head and it didn’t pop up again for a long moment. With a fierce burst of energy, Wes swam the last few yards to the dog and scooped him under one arm, then began the journey back to shore.

When he was a few yards from shore, he stood up and fought his way through the waves to the sand as Jenna came running down the beach.

She gasped, trying to catch her breath. “Was he in the water? I saw your flare and then you jumped in and I was so scared. Did you find him? Is he...?”

He hadn’t even had the chance to assess Theo’s condition. He held the puppy up and felt vast relief when Theo gave a weak-sounding whine.

Jenna, her breath still coming harshly from her run down the beach, reached for Theo and hugged him tightly. “Oh, you poor thing. I’m so glad you’re safe. Don’t do that again. You scared me so much!”

The labradoodle licked her cheek and rested his wet head against her chest.

Wes couldn’t help thinking he would like to do the same thing, just pull her into his arms and bask in her heat.

They couldn’t stay here, though. Not with that storm moving ever closer.

He scooped up his boots and his jacket, not bothering to put them on now.

“We have to get back to the house. The lightning is too close.”

“Are you okay? I can’t believe you did that!”

“I’m fine,” he said as they quickly raced back toward the house. “He wasn’t that far out. I wouldn’t have seen him if he’d been even a little farther out. I didn’t think I would have to swim but the waves were stronger than I was expecting, which might be what happened to him. I can carry him. He’s soaked, so he has to weigh twice as much as usual.”

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