Page 9 of Wolfish
She didn’t imagine that any of his previous dates had wanted to see a cemetery to finish off the night.
As soon as she returned to the lobby where he was waiting for her, they left.
They finally reached the graveyard near one of the closed silver mines. He explained, “This is the oldest one we have so I thought you might like to see it first.”
“Oh, yes, perfect.” She started to explore the graveyard where the silver miners of the 1700s now rested beneath weathered stones, while he used his flashlight to illuminate them. Though as wolves, they could still see well at night.
Never in his wildest dreams had Daniel envisioned taking a date after a delightful dinner to a cemetery to explore it. Though he’d never imagined meeting a new she-wolf in town, or that he would hit it off with her right away. He thought she felt the same way. The other guys had amused him by trying to make her acquaintance at the tavern.
He just had to make sure he didn’t let down his guard, and he continued to date her. He watched her as she crouched down to touch a graveyard stone with reverence. She intrigued him like no other wolf he’d ever met. Some of it was that she had worked with law enforcement before. When she’d met the other bachelor males, she’d appeared amused but not interested. He appreciated that.
He continued to follow her as she wound her way around the dilapidated headstones. Some were so worn that no one could read the inscriptions. Others were only partially readable.
“Here’s one!” she said, enthusiasm evident, and took a picture.
He thought she’d found an exposed skeleton and hurried to join her. But it was only a headstone, with the full name intact.
“I can research him. Let’s go home now. Sometimes I find lots of names I can investigate,” she said, as they headed back to his vehicle. “Sometimes I don’t find any. Even finding only one in this old cemetery is a real boon. Though I would love to look further and find more, it’s getting late.”
At least he didn’t have to work his regular job tomorrow, but knowing Frank, he would be up early to work all day and finish the last projects for her shop.
Back at the hotel, she leaned in, her lips grazing his cheek, and she wrapped her arms around him. Daniel returned the embrace, a smile warming his face. The cemetery discovery had meant more to her than he'd anticipated—he could feel it in the way she held on just a bit longer. Showing her the graveyard tonight had been exactly the right move.
"Until morning," she murmured, already turning toward the staircase.
Hell, he felt like a million bucks. Then he left the hotel and headed home, thinking of the possibilities with her, though he shouldn’t get ahead of himself. He knew the locations of two more old cemeteries, but he would canvass the residents to see if they were aware of any others.
Who would ever have thought he would be interested in cemeteries? Well, he wasn’t as much as he was intrigued with the goddess of the moon.
3
The next morning, Daniel dropped by the hotel to pick up the shop keys from Selena so he and Frank could get started on the remaining projects. He’d brought kolaches for breakfast.
“Oh, wow. Thanks. I can grab us something to drink from Silva’s shop,” Selena said, giving him a kiss and hug.
He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a warm embrace. “That would be perfect. She’ll be open about the time we get started.”
Selena loved how affectionate he was.
He drove her to the shop, and she loved how all the shops down Main Street had awnings over the sidewalk. She knew just what she was going to hang on hers. One large skeleton would be climbing the pole for the awning, and another would be sitting atop the awning with his legs dangling over the edge.
“I didn’t know you would be ready this early,” she said.
“Frank wants to get your store set up today.”
“Oh, that’s good. I’ve been ordering merchandise.”
“Let me know if you need any help with it. What are you going to do about a place to stay?”
“I’ve thought of getting an apartment I can rent monthly that I can try out. Then after that, I’ll look for a house to buy.” Once they arrived at the shop, she asked what they wanted to drink.
Frank said, “I brought a thermos of coffee from home.”
“You, Daniel?”
“Pumpkin spice cold brew.”
She smiled. “My favorite too.” Then she headed over to the tea shop.
