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The next door, Thomas paused and opened. I stepped inside, and Thomas turned the light on. The room was amazing. There were bookcases lining two walls. A solid oak desk sat next to a large window. The snow drifted outside, but I could only imagine how beautiful the view was on a sunny day. The desk was basically bare except for a few necessities.
Thomas went around and pulled out the chair.I sank down and sighed. It was comfortable and big, not like the stool I was used to. Nestled on the other side of the room near the books were two plush reading chairs. I couldn’t wait to climb in one and settle in reading for a few hours.My fingers already itched to see the type of books they had lining their shelves.
“Thank you, Thomas. This is fantastic. I hope I didn’t kick one of you out of here.” I looked up to see him watching me with a tender smile on his face.
“Declan is in the room we passed. I am in the first room, just inside the front door. If you need anything, please come get one of us. Looks like we are all cooped up in here today at our desks.” His smile grew, making him look even more handsome than usual.
I was extremely thankful I’d brought my laptop with me yesterday. I hadn’t planned on it, but I knew there were notes I needed to reference for my exam on the pregnant mare. Pregnant dogs and cats were a normal occurrence for me but taking over my dad’s practice was more hands on with the larger animals than I’d been in a while. Being here to experience Stardust throughout her pregnancy was like a dream come true.
“I’ll leave you to it.” Thomas strode out of the room, allowing me to watch his sculpted ass disappear around the corner.
I retrieved my computer and messenger bag. When I returned to the office, Helen had left a plate of breakfast for me on the desk. Eggs, bacon, toast, and fruit. I could get used to this.
I pulled up my charts and added in the notes from yesterday before calling Spencer. With me being stranded out here for the next few days, I was going to need his help.
“Hey, boss. You get any sleep last night? That storm came down hard, and it still looks nasty out.” Spencer adjusted his dark-rimmed glasses on his side of the video call.
“Barely. How about you? Has anyone called? Any emergencies?” I really wasn’t good with small talk when it came to work.
Spencer laughed. “I almost over heated with all my animals piling on top of me last night. There’s something about the weather that makes them all want to snuggle.”
I laughed. I could only imagine.
“No calls. No emergencies. Like I said yesterday, our biggest saving grace is that there are no animals staying at the clinic, so there’s nothing to worry about. Once the snow stops and the roads are clear here, I’ll go over and check the office.”
“Call me when you do. I don’t know how long it will take before the roads are cleared all the way out here. Spencer, I’m really going to be relying on you.” As we talked, I did a mental inventory of what needed to be done.
“I know, boss.”
Suddenly, it hit me why I’d been feeling like I’d forgotten something. “Oh my God, what about Tank?” I jumped out of my chair and winced when it rolled into the wall behind me. I had completely forgotten all about our resident armadillo.
“I took him over to Dr. Henry’s yesterday when I closed up shop. Boss, relax. We have this all under control.” Spencer’s calm tone settled my nerves as I scooted my chair back and sat down. I was happy we didn’t have a larger animal. While Spencer was enthusiastic, smart and a great vet tech, he had a slim build.
“You’re right. I’m just freaking out because I’m so far away. I can’t help if anything happens. This situation was never in our emergency plan.” I sighed.
“Well, it is now. We will improvise where we need to. Otherwise, we will do what we can.”
I was lucky to have such an optimistic vet tech. “I’ll let you know if I get any calls. Stay safe and warm, Spencer.”
“You too, boss.”
I ended the call and leaned back in the chair. Taking a deep breath, I organized what work I could do remotely in my head and started the programs I needed.
I didn’t know how long I’d been working when my phone pinged on the desk next to my mouse. Glancing down at the screen, I saw it was my ex-husband.
Randol: Don’t you wish you were with me in Georgia? No snowstorm here.
I rolled my eyes. Randol always had a way of popping in at the wrong times and making things worse.He didn’t get the hint that I wanted nothing to do with him.
Ignoring the message, I locked the screen and went back to work. I dug through the finances in order to organize the budget better and determine where improvements could be made. Since I couldn’t do an inventory check, I went through my father’s old records and put them into my new spreadsheet.
I’d made it through the last five years of data already, and things weren’t adding up the way they were supposed to. My stomach clenched. If I was going to take over the clinic, I needed to make sure everything was in order so we could survive. Based on the information in front of me, things weren’t looking good, and I still had ten years left to comb through.
Ding.Another message.
Groaning, I looked at the screen again.
Randol: You should sell the clinic and come back to me.
