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“Hi, Chad?” a familiar voice called from the other end of the line.
“Adam Sullivan? How have you been? I haven’t spoken to you in almost a year,” Chad replied, surprised by the call.
“I am doing pretty well myself. I heard through the grapevine that you walked away from the hospital shortly after they let Larry go. I was wondering if you had gone into retirement or found something else to occupy your time?” Adam inquired.
“Actually, I recently married and took a little bit of time to settle into that, and I am looking to go into private practice. My wife is a nurse, and I am looking for something that is big enough to support both of us while still allowing us the freedom and flexibility to travel and see the grandkids. What about you? How is your practice doing? Still living in your small town?”
“Yes, my family still lives in the same small town I moved to after medical school. The kids moved to the city for a while, but now they are back and living close to home, so Linda is over themoon about that. The practice serves three neighboring towns, so it stays busy. I tried to retire and hired a young new doctor to take over the practice, but that hasn’t turned out so well. I think I am going to have to let him go, but I promised Linda I would at least semi-retire and start traveling with her. I was wondering if you would be interested in moving up here and sharing the load with me. I was hoping for either a week on and a week off or two days on and three days off. We could be flexible and see how it goes.”
“I would have to discuss this with my wife. Moving north would get her closer to the kids and grandkids, but I am not sure I will be successful in getting her away from the beach if she isn’t moving directly to their town. Where did you say you lived again?”
“I live, and my practice is established, in a small town in west Massachusetts called Hickory Falls. It’s a quiet little town that time forgot when the mill shut down. Our young folk are working hard to restore and revive it, though, and I reckon in the next five years we are going to be quite a nice place for folks to come and visit and live.”
Chad rubbed the stubble on his chin. What were the chances that his long-time acquaintance from medical school would call him up, now of all times, and offer him the exact position he had been looking for in the same town that his new wife most wanted to move to?
“Adam, I can’t say yes right this second because I need to talk this over with my wife, but I will call you back within the next day or two and let you know. But I am pretty sure Beth is going to say yes. When would you need me to start?”
“The sooner the better. My wife and I have travel plans coming up, and she will not be happy if I have to cancel.”
“Okay, talk soon. And thank you for thinking of me. This sounds like the perfect solution to my current situation.”
He was already walking out the door to find Beth when he disconnected the call. She was kneeling in the grass, digging in the dirt, preparing to set another flower plant in the newly designed beds.
“Beth, sweetheart, I need to discuss something with you.”
“Okay,” she said without turning.
“I just got a call from Adam Sullivan, an old medical school friend. We have stayed in touch over the years and met up at conferences and such. He opened a practice in a small town right out of med school and never looked back. He is now looking to retire or semi-retire and asked if I would be willing to move north to share the responsibility with him.”
“How far north? Would it get us closer to the kids?”
“Well, I am not sure how close would be close enough for you. His practice is in a small town called Hickory Falls, in west Mass…”
He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as Beth dropped her gardening tools, jumped to her feet, and encircled him in one of her boa constrictor hugs. She was also screaming in his ear.
“I take it you are excited, and this means yes, we will take the position and move to Hickory Falls?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes! This is an answer to my prayers. When can we go?”
“Just as soon as you get packed, I speak with Adam to accept the position, and Tom finds us a house.”
And just like that, the nearly perfect next step in their lives reached perfection. Who said you can’t have your cake and eat it too? Because Beth was pretty sure that was exactly what had just happened.
The End
