Page 14 of Midlife Wolf Captured My Heart

Finally, he managed to get dressed and sat on the couch. He shook his head at himself. Dakota had never worked so hard to try to impress a woman in his entire life – and it was for a woman he would only be with for a short period of time.

Needing someone to talk to, he called Patrick Flannery, his best friend. They had met on one of Dakota’s excursions and had formed a bond tighter than blood brothers. The two of them didn’t see each other often, but they talked often on the phone or through Zoom.

“What’s up, Brother? How’s Angel’s Creek?”

“It’s alright. I’ve got the gallery showing coming up and I’m doing research for my next project on wolves.”

“I knew that. Are you excited?”

“Actually, I am about both. You know I love planning my next projects almost as much as I enjoy doing the photography.”

“Me, too. It is the anticipation.” Patrick was quiet for a brief second and said, “There’s something else going on.”

“Yeah. There’s a woman. Sadie.”

“Interesting. She must be something to get your attention. Tell me about her.”

For the next couple of minutes, Dakota explained how he met Sadie and the attraction he felt for her and that he was pretty sure she was very attracted to him as well.”

“She sounds terrific. So, what’s the problem?”

“Well, for starters, she’s twenty years younger than me. I’m the same age as her father. I went to school with him.”

“If you both have real feelings for each other, then age isn’t a problem.”

“I keep telling myself that. We’re both adults. The bigger problem is that we want different things out of life. She wants to stay in Angel’s Creek and wouldn’t consider a nomadic lifestyle. You know me. I can’t stay still for more than five minutes.”

Patrick sighed. “You need to be honest with her. Tell her how you feel. If you want to have a short-term relationship with her, then go for it, as long as she knows the score.”

“You make sense, Brother. I appreciate the ear. What would I do without you?”

Patrick laughed. “Probably have long conversations with your camera.”

“You’re right.”

They talked for a while about their different projects and other things going on in their lives. Then, reluctantly, Dakota told Patrick that he had to work on his speech.

“Keep me updated,” Patrick said. “I’m going to try to get to your gallery opening, but I’m not sure I can make it.”

“No worries. You’ll be there in spirit.”

Dakota ended the call and focused on his speech. He decided that he would talk to Sadie when he got back from Albuquerque.

7

Sadie

Sadie sat down at one of the tables in the cafeteria and sighed. “He’s been gone for two days and I actually miss hanging out with him.”

Talia looked at her sympathetically. “You haven’t known him for very long. This is getting serious very quickly.”

“I know. There is something about him. It’s almost like a virus that’s infected my cells.” Sadie laughed. “It can’t be a bacterial infection because there’s no medication for this. I’m hooked on him. It’s not that he’s a celebrity in the natural world. It’s him. It’s his presence.”

Looking at her friend speculatively, Talia swirled her fork in her food absently. “It almost sounds as though you’ve already fallen in love with him.”

“Love at first sight? That’s reckless. I will admit that there was a spark the first time we met. He touched my leg with his atHowlers’,and I felt a fire come to life inside of me. However, a person can’t instantly fall in love with someone else without getting to know them first.”

Talia grinned at Sadie. “You can if he’s your fated mate.”

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