◎ Jane Paddock

When I broke up with yet another boyfriend, this time after a three-year relationship, I decided it was time for me to face the facts—I was just not lucky in love. Yet even though I had given up on men, I wasn’t ready to go without love in my life, so I decided to get a dog.

I found the perfect puppy after a careful search, and one hot June day, I brought home the little golden retriever puppy I’d named Cognac.

Like all puppies, Cognac was adorable; immediately, I felt love and sweetness flowing in my life again. Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner?

A few days later, I received a call from a man who’d gotten my name through a computer dating club. I had joined the club before the start of my last relationship and had never cancelled my membership. I hadn’t been very impressed with the people I’d met through the club’s services, but this guy, Brad, seemed nice enough on the phone, so when he asked me to meet him at the lake in a nearby park the next evening, I thought, I’ve got to walk Cognac anyway... sure, why not?

Brad had said he was no longer in the service, but that he had been an air force tech sergeant. That wasn’t the kind of guy I usually dated, but I had liked his voice on the phone and decided to keep an open mind. When I got to the park for our date, I looked around for a blond man with a buzz cut and a military bearing. There was no one like that at the park—the only blond man was a gorgeous guy with hair almost to his shoulders. I thought, now why can’t a guy like that ask me out? Then the gorgeous guy walked over to me and said, “Are you Jan?”

I immediately decided to give men another chance.

Cognac’s enthusiastic greeting made our introductions easy. He jumped up on Brad’s legs and ran in circles, wagging his whole body madly while trying to lick every part of Brad he could. We started to walk around the lake, and everybody we met fussed over the puppy. By the time we were halfway around the lake, Brad was holding Cognac’s leash, and he and I were chatting away like old friends.

At the end of our walk, we weren’t ready to say goodbye, so we found a cafe and picked an outdoor table so the puppy could be with us. From the very start, our relationship included Cognac.

Things went from good to better. One evening, three months later, Brad and I went to a restaurant that we liked for dinner. It was one of those places that have paper over the tablecloths and when they bring you the menu, they also bring crayons so that you can draw or write poetry while you’re waiting for your meal. Brad and I always played Hangman while we waited and that night, we were playing our usual game. As I guessed the letters and the words started to form themselves, a sentence emerged: Will you marry me?

I gasped and turned towards Brad, “Are you kidding?”

Brad looked nervous, but his eyes were shining and he smiled at me. “No, I’m not kidding—what’s your answer?”

I took a crayon and wrote a huge YES across the paper.

We sat grinning at each other for a few minutes and then began to plan our wedding.

From the start, we were sure about two things: We wanted an outdoor wedding and we wanted Cognac to be a part of the ceremony.

The day of the wedding dawned perfect and clear. Our families and friends gathered near the natural spring that we’d chosen as the spot where we would say our vows. My bridesmaids were dressed in rich purple gowns. I had on my wedding dress, and my heart felt as if it were overflowing with love and joy. Yet I was slightly apprehensive, wondering if we had lost our minds expecting Cognac, now ten months old and goofy in the way that only young dogs can be, to handle his responsibilities as ring bearer without creating chaos.

Cognac wore a white collar and a purple satin bow tie. My bridesmaids, who knew we had lost our minds having a dog at the ceremony, ran around with lint rollers, trying to keep their dark gowns free of golden hair—an almost impossible task.

Cognac’s job was to carry a heart-shaped basket containing our rings to Brad. The basket held a heart-shaped pillow to which Brad had secured our rings with pieces of wire. This would prevent a disaster, in case Cognac decided to go for a swim in the spring, basket and all, instead of delivering it to Brad as we’d planned. As I began to walk to the aisle, in preparation for following the bridesmaids, I panicked. I realized I needed another hand! I held my bouquet in one hand, Cognac on his leash in the other, but I needed to hold the basket as well. If I gave the basket to Cognac to carry, he would take it as the signal to run to Brad, just as he’d been trained and I’d be dragged after him—spoiling the effect I’d had in my mind for my appearance on the scene.

Somehow I managed to get to the aisle, unhook Cognac’s leash and put the basket in his mouth. He was off like a shot, racing toward Brad with his beautiful golden ears streaming behind him, as if he was hot on the trail of a speeding rabbit. There was a swell of laughter as our guests appreciated the dedication of our furry ring-bearer.

When Cognac reached Brad, he dropped the basket at feet and, panting, looked up at Brad for approval. As Brad reached down to pick up the rings, a suddenly quiet Cognac solemnly raised his paw to meet my almost-husband’s hand—a canine “Way to go, Brad.”

Our guests, dog-lovers and non-dog-lovers alike, were completely undone and to this day, when anyone talks about our wedding they may not remember what year it was or what I was wearing, but they always mention the dog’s pawshake.

For me, it was the perfect start to our new life together. Just the way I always dreamed it would be—Brad and me... and Cognac.

当我又与男朋友分手，结束了这段为期三年的感情后，我决定是时候面对现实了——我是爱情里面的不幸者。然而，尽管我已经放弃了这段感情，但我还没有准备好下一段爱情，所以我决定养条小狗。

经过我的仔细挑选，我找到了完美的小狗，在一个炎热的六月天，我把这只小金毛猎犬带回家，我叫它戈里亚。

像所有的小狗一样，戈里亚非常可爱，随即，我感受到了爱的甜蜜在我的生命里流动起来。为什么我没有早点儿想到这些？

几天后，我接到一个陌生人的电话，是通过网上约会俱乐部得到我名字的人。我是在我最近那次感情开始前加入这个俱乐部的，也从来没有取消我的会员资格。我对通过俱乐部认识的人没有很深刻的印象，但这个家伙，布拉德，讲电话时听起来很热情，所以当他约我第二天晚上在附近一个公园的湖边见面时，我想，我反正也要带着戈里亚去公园散步……当然，为什么不去呢？

布拉德表示，他曾经是空军技术军士，但他现在已经不服役了。他不是一般的男子，但我喜欢他在电话里的声音，决定保持开放的态度。当我到公园赴约时，我环顾四周，一直在找剪裁时髦的军装和佩戴军事勋章的金发男子。可是在公园里唯一一个金发男子是一个头发几乎到肩膀的英俊男子。我想，为什么这么帅的男人来找我约会？然后那帅气的男子向我走来，说：“是你吗？珍？”

我立即决定要给他一个机会。

戈里亚的热烈欢迎使我们相处得很容易。它跳上布拉德的腿并且围着他转，疯狂地摇摆他的整个身体，试图舔布拉德的每一部分。我们开始在湖边散步，每个人见到我们的小狗都大惊小怪。不知不觉我们已经绕着湖走了大半圈了，布拉德拉着戈里亚，和我像是老朋友一样聊个没完。

散步结束后，我们都还没准备好说再见，所以我们找到了一个咖啡馆，为了方便与小狗在一起，我们选择了坐在室外。从一开始，我们的关系里面就包括了戈里亚。

我们之间的关系进展得非常顺利。三个月后的一天晚上，布拉德和我去一个餐厅吃晚饭，我们都很喜欢这里，因为它在这些地方的餐馆中是有桌布纸的，当服务员来点餐时，也会送来蜡笔，以便候餐的时间可以让您画画或者是写诗。布拉德和我经常会玩游戏，而那一天在我们等待用餐时，我们玩我们一贯玩的游戏。当我猜出了全部的字母和单词时，一个完整的句子出现了：你愿意嫁给我吗？

我深吸一口气，转向布拉德，“你开玩笑吧？”

布拉德神情紧张，但他的眼睛仍闪闪发光，对我笑了笑。“不，我不是在开玩笑——你的答案呢？”

我拿起蜡笔在纸上写了巨大的三个字，我愿意。

我们坐着望着彼此微笑，然后开始计划我们的婚礼。

从一开始，我们就决定了两件事情：我们希望在户外举行婚礼，我们想戈里亚也要作为结婚典礼上的嘉宾。

婚礼的那天清早，准备完善后。我们的家人和朋友聚集在附近的天然温泉，我们会在那个地方宣读我们的誓言。我的伴娘们身着紫色婚纱，我压抑不住自己的幸福和高兴。然而，我有点儿担心，不知道我们让10个月大的戈里亚拿着戒指的方式，是不是愚蠢的方式，年轻的狗都是制造混乱的高手。

戈里亚身穿白色衣领和一条紫色的缎面领结。我的伴娘，不知所措地看着它在仪式上跑来跑去，戈里亚试图解开它藏在黑暗袍里面的金色秀发——这似乎是个不可能完成的任务。

戈里亚的任务是将心形花篮交给我们的布拉德。篮子里面心形枕头上面有戒指。这样就能阻止意外发生，一旦戈里亚决定去温泉游泳，篮子和所有的东西都会弄丢，我们没预想狗狗能乖乖地把戒指交到布拉德手中。当我准备和伴娘走到走道里，我害怕了。我意识到我需要帮忙！我一手牵着戈里亚，而且必须抓好篮子。而我手里还拿着花束。如果我把篮子完全交给戈里亚携带，它将作为信号把篮子带到布拉德那里，就像训练时一样，我会看好戈里亚，不能让我想象中的坏情境发生。

不知道为什么，我没有勇气走过去。戈里亚像听到了发令声一样挣脱了绳索，叼着花篮朝布拉德跑去，我只看到了它金色的耳朵，它就像只超速兔子，客人们都笑出了声。

当戈里亚跑到布拉德面前，它放下篮子，气喘吁吁，看着布拉德。布拉德弯腰拿起戒指，突然安静下来的戈里亚伸出它的爪子指向我这边——就像是在说“去吧，布拉德”。

我们的客人，不管是爱狗人士或是不爱的都一样，已经不太记得当天我们的婚礼，他们可能不记得那一年我穿的是什么，但他们总是提到戈里亚的爪子。

对我来说，这是我们新生活一个完美的开始。就像我总是魂牵梦绕的一样——布拉德和我以及戈里亚的生活。