Page 57 of Falling for Keeps

“I’ve sent a few,” she says. “I’ll prep one today with the phone number and announce we’re open to new and old patients.”

“Okay, great.” I tap the counter a few times and head for my office at the end of the hall. Natural light pours in through the back window since we don’t share that wall with another business, highlighting the stacks and stacks of boxes full of patient files. So many of these people aren’t around anymore, the information is outdated, and the system isn’t great.

I drop a box on my desk and turn on my computer. Digitizing these files is a good start, but maybe there’s a way to weed out the people who aren’t around anymore, so we can put them in storage. There have to be files going back fifty years here…or more. Vance had been the Autumn Ridge dentist since we could still take full sized shampoo on airplanes.

Overwhelm creeps into my shoulders as I take in the sheer amount of patient files in this room—and that’s not counting the boxes in the storage closet. Emma would have a great idea on how to handle this. She always seems to know exactly what I need to hear. I open the first folder and read a name I don’t recognize. Year of birth: 1914. Do they still come to me?

Probably not.

Should I assume?

Definitely not.

I rub my eyes and let out a sigh. Cold calling each of these numbers to invite them in for a cleaning seems to be the best way to get a good inventory of our current customer base, but who has the stamina for that?

Barb is sitting at the front desk working on seating charts, probably for her daughter Landrie’s wedding, and the other two—Paul the dental assistant and Megan the hygienist—are developing an organization system for the exam rooms.

Maybe if we each took a box and a phone, it would go quickly and we could knock some of these out⁠—

Penny’s voice bleeds in from the waiting room, and I’m out of my seat and halfway down the hall immediately. Maven stands behind her, holding a hand over Penny’s closed eyes.

“Can I look now?”

“Not yet, Sweet P.” Maven grins at me as I cross the room. Barb is watching now, and Paul and Megan followed me out. Everyone knew we were surprising Penny with the treehouse as soon as school got out, and now it’s time.

“Hey, Nickel,” I say, turning her by the shoulders so she faces away from the kids’ corner. “You can open your eyes.”

Maven moves her hand and Penny blinks at me, glancing to the floor, then behind me. “What’s my surprise?”

“How was school?”

She widens her eyes. “Dad, you can’t make me wait anymore!”

“Okay fine. I had an idea for a fun thing in our kids’ corner, and Aunt Maven’s friend Ben helped me make it.”

I can sense her anticipation. “Can I see now?”

“Yep, go ahead.”

Penny turns around and squeals, the sound bouncing off the walls. “A treehouse! Dad, are you serious?!”

“Go check it out.”

She doesn’t need further encouragement. Her backpack swings onto one of Emma’s freshly redone chairs as she makes her way across the waiting room and climbs the mini staircase to the upper level.

Maven holds out my car keys and I take them, sliding them into the pocket of my scrubs. “Thanks for picking her up.”

“No problem.” She folds her arms and presses her shoulder into mine, her long blonde hair swinging behind her back. “Good move. She’ll want to spend time here now.”

“That was the goal.” I shoot her a look. “What do I have to build to make you want to spend more time here?”

She throws back her head and laughs. “An orchestra?”

“Keep your violin tuned. I’ll start working on it.”

“Knock it off,” she says through a chuckle. “You know you guys are all the enticement I need for a visit.”

“I’d love for that visit to turn permanent. But you’re going through a lot right now, so I’ll quit pressuring you. We’ll take you for as long as we can.”