Max couldn't believe that the last person that he and Cy-Croc had just rescued from the burning and sinking yacht was Roxanne, his very first girlfriend and the lady he had to admit he ever loved the most and the one he thought he would never see again ever in his whole life.
"Well, what are you waiting for, Bud?" Cy-Croc asked. "If you're not going to give her the kiss of life, I will."
"Oh, right. Sorry, Awel." Max completely realized how he had just been stupidly staring at Roxanne instead of doing his lifeguard duty. He bent down to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her. He did it a few times and then he felt movement from her. He backed away and then to his relief Max saw Roxanne consciouses. She was gasping, coughing and spitting out water. Then she looked around and was confused and frightened.
"Hey, hey, it's all right, Rox - Ma'am." Max realized that he nearly blew his Bud Maskton cover. "Just relax and calm down."
Then Roxanne turned to see Max, but she didn't know it was him because he still had to have his Bud Maskton disguise on. "Was it you who saved me?"
"Yes, it was, ma'am. Me and my partner Awel Caddell here. Now, just calm down and take a deep breath."
Roxanne took a deep breath. Then she wrapped her arms around Max and started to cry her eyes out. "Thank you, sir. Thank you so much."
"It's all part of the service, ma'am."
"There you are!"
Then Max, Cy-Croc and Roxanne turned to see two young, tanned dogs, who had both had long blonde hair and appeared to be in their very early twenties, running towards them. One was male, very muscular and wearing black swim shorts. The other was female, had an hourglass figure and was wearing a strapless white bikini.
"There's our daring dear little sister," said the female dog.
"Is this true, ma'am?" Max asked Roxanne. "Are these two your family?" He asked that as part of his Bud Maskton the lifeguard character, but he also wanted to know as his true Max Goof self.
"They are." Roxanne didn't answer that with very much enthusiasm, which made Max start to worry about her.
"Of course, we are," the male dog said. "Everyone knows that. Where have you been living in, a sea cave? Or a – Ow! Ow! My pec! My pec!"
The female dog grabbed the guy's right pec. "Harry, shut up and let me do the talking!" the girl snapped at him. Then she freed him. Then she turned to Max, Roxanne and Cy-Croc, as he rubbed his pec. "Sorry about that. I'm Lacy and this idiot here is my twin brother Harold. Roxanne over there is our sibling and she's also a daughter of the senator of Florida, Helen Trolley."
"Who's also running for President," Harold added.
So, that's the Florida family that took in Roxanne after her father was thrown in Spoonerville Prison for working for a Mafia boss, Max thought in his head. He would like to ask Roxanne more about her life in Florida, but more lifeguard boats and coast guard boats and helicopters arrived to help him and Cy-Croc. They both wished they came to help earlier, but they were glad that they arrived to help with the rescued people, as they had only one lifeguard boat and it wasn't an ark like Noah's.
When everyone returned to the beach, they were greeted by Max and Cy-Croc's boss Captain Board, their police friend Sergeant Minton or 'Minty' as they call her, the remaining lifeguards, the other customers on the beach and an old dog with grey hair and wearing a dark navy-blue suit.
"Excellent work, everyone," Board said. "Especially you, Maskton and Caddell."
"Thank you, Captain," Max and Cy-Croc said together.
"Senator Helen Trolley here insisted on coming over here to give you her own personal thanks and praise," Broad said.
Senator Helen Trolley approached Max and Cy-Croc and shook their hands. "Thank you so much for saving my darling children. And well done for making La Sugarville Beach one of the safest places in not just Florida, but also in the whole of America."
"All part of the service, Madam Senator," Max said.
"And humility," Helen said. "I like that a lot."
Then she asked for everyone to hear her out. "Today has been an amazing day because despite losing my very best yacht, all my children and our friends on it have been saved and the lifeguards who rescued them have given us concrete proof that all lifeguards, whether on this beach or any other beach, work as hard as they can every day to make a day at the beach and in the sea a nice, safe, relaxing, fun-filled and pleasant experience safe for everyone. And I promise you, if I get elected to be the next President of the United States of America, one of the things I will do is make every beach in this country safe and sound and make sure that every lifeguard gets the recognition he or she deserves."
Then everyone applauded her.
After that, Max and Cy-Croc were asked to pose with Helen, Harry and Lacy for newspaper photos and magazine covers. For some reason, they didn't want their other family member Roxanne on the covers, so they sent her away. Max would have done anything to have a photo with Roxanne even if he was in his Bud Maskton disguise, but he had no choice except to pose a lot with Lacy.
"You know, Bud," Lacy said, "I already know you."
"Really, Miss Trolley?" Max asked. "How?"
"Oh, please, Bud, call me Lacy. I know you because I follow you on social media and I'm a massive titan on social media myself."
"Wow! That's amazing!" was all Max could say.
"Wow, indeed, Bud. So, what do you say we go on a date?" Lacy even held his arm. "Oh, Bud. Just feeling your strong arm makes me feel so safe and protected."
"Thanks, Lacy. Uh, about that date…"
"Yes?"
"I'll see what I can do if I'm not too busy."
"Great, Bud. I already knew you're the best!"
"Thanks again, Lacy." Once they were done and she was out of sight, Max had to take a deep breath.
Cy-Croc was going through the same thing with Harry.
"You know, Awel, I'm the most popular guy in all of Florida," Harry said. "Both online and offline. You know, for being the smartest, handsomest, strongest and, uh – the other best qualities a guy can have."
"So, I see," Cy-Croc said sarcastically.
"I can make you my girlfriend – it's hard because a lot of girls and ladies, including married women, out there want to be my girlfriend – and I can make your life awesome. You deserve it because of the hero you are."
"As awesome as that sounds," Cy-Croc said, "I'm afraid I can't rush into it, not even for an amazing guy like you. I'll need time to think about it."
After the photo shoots were done, Max went to check on Roxanne, who was looking upset. "Are you okay, Miss Roxanne?" he asked. "I mean, how are you doing since the yacht incident?"
"Well, I'm just grateful that I'm still alive," Roxanne said. "And I'm very grateful to you for saving me, Bud."
"Come on, Roxanne, dear," Helen said. "It's time to go home now."
"Coming, Miss Trolley," Roxanne said. Then she turned back to Max. "Well, see you later, Bud," she said. "And thank you once again for saving my life."
"You're very welcome, Roxanne. See you later." Then he watched her leave the beach with her stepfamily.
