“Oh, my husband will love that one. What else you got?”
“Cecil for a boy.”
For the next few hours as they discussed baby names and gossiped about former rodeo friends, Tanna was happy to let the decisions of the real world fade away.
Chapter Twenty-nine
First thing Fletch did Monday morning before he headed out of town was stop by Jet Eriksen’s office to pick up copies of client paperwork he’d handled during Fletch’s sabbatical.
The parking lot of Jet’s veterinary office was empty at seven a.m., but Fletch knew he’d be in the office working. He entered through the side door, yelling “knock, knock” before venturing down the hallway.
Jet grinned at him from behind a massive desk. “Fletch! Good to see you, man. There’s coffee in the break room. Help yourself.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” After he filled a mug, he wandered back to Jet’s office and sat on the stool by the window. “Thanks for filling in for me. Although since Cora set it up, I’m not sure which weeks you took.”
“The first two. Arguably the hardest two because none of your clients wanted to hear you were unavailable. One guy, Les somebody, argued with me for fifteen minutes about your dedication to animals and how you never took time off.” Jet sipped his coffee. “Which I happily pointed out was exactly the reason you deserved time off.”
Fletch laughed. “So, besides grumpy Les, you have any issues?”
“Only the fact you work so hard all the time, with nothing less than total dedication, that you make the rest of us look like slackers.”
“Yeah. I’ve heard that a time or twenty.”
A pause ensued. Then Jet said, “Fletch. How old are you?”
“I’ll be thirty-seven in a few months. Why?”
“You’ve been in business for yourself how long?”
“Almost a decade.” He sipped his coffee. “Again, why?”
Jet leaned forward. “I’ll cut to the chase. There’s plenty of business for all of us in this area, since our ‘area’ covers well over three hundred miles. I just wondered if you’d ever considered taking on a partner.”
That was completely unexpected. Jet Eriksen was a decade older and had been running a successful solo practice since before Fletch had started out. They were friendly colleagues who consulted each other when needed. “All right. Where the hell did that come from?”
“Due to a screwup with the answering service, Arnie, Tasha and I got called to the same emergency. Once we had it handled, the three of us ended up having coffee and realized we’re all suffering from being overextended in our practices, despite that we’re all at different stages in our lives and careers. Arnie’s looking to retire in about ten years and Tasha is still fresh enough out of vet school she’s retained that dewy-eyed optimism. I think that’s something neither of us has seen for a few years.”
“True.”
“So, strictly between us, we’re kicking around the idea of going into practice together. If you were interested, we could rotate the weekends so we wouldn’t all have to be on call, but we could rotate in one weekend a month. Granted, that’d change during calving or other busy times, but I gotta admit, losing some of those late nights has a huge appeal for me.”
“Me too,” Fletch admitted. “I’m listening.”
Jet grinned. “Thought you might be interested. The biggest up-front expense would be combining all our practices into one location. That way all the billing issues, supply stores, equipment and surgical areas would be shared equally. There’d be a minimum buy in, split four ways. We could share staff, which would be good for you and Tasha since you’re both working solo. Arnie and I each have two vet assistants, which frankly, aren’t necessary but would be for four docs.”
“Arnie and Tasha are in fully?”
“Arnie is. He wants to share his load since he’s closest to retirement. Tasha is pregnant with her first kid and she’s worried about the long hours for the short term. She’d like to talk to you before making a decision. She’s a good surgeon, one of the best I’ve seen, so if she could stay focused on that until she delivers, one of us could deal with the physical demands of this job. She’s happy about the pregnancy, but worried about the limitations it will impose in her practice, so I have no qualms that we wouldn’t always be doing the heavy lifting for her; know what I mean?”
“I do. That’s probably the reason I didn’t go into practice with old Doc Sharpe after I interned with him. I figured he’d slave me, dangle that partner status and when it came time to retire, he’d close down instead of selling.” Fletch flashed his teeth. “Which is exactly what happened, by the way.”
“I felt sorry for that kid who’d worked for him a few years and ended up with nothing.” Jet tapped his pencil on his desk blotter. “So I can tell Arnie you’re interested?”
Fletch had sworn he wouldn’t say no if an opportunity presented itself. Was this the right one? Maybe. He wouldn’t jump in without more details and assurances. “Sure. I’ll talk to him and Tasha.”
Not what Jet wanted to hear, but he masked his disappointment quickly. “How was your time off?”
“Great. I’ve never taken time off. Too scared to, I guess. Figured I’d lose my clients to you or something.”
Jet chuckled.