Page 13 of The Lake House (Southern Charm #2)

Chapter Thirteen

A week after her customer handed over a napkin with a hastily scrawled name and number on it, Matilda stood in the middle of a busy veterinarian’s office wearing a business suit and heels.

She wobbled in her heels, her heart racing.

Sweat formed beneath her armpits, and she wished she could turn right back around and run outside.

But she’d made this appointment to visit the office and look it over, and she couldn’t back out now.

“Can I help you?” a perky receptionist asked.

She nodded. “I’m here to see Todd Wheatley. My name is Matilda Berry-Merritt.”

“Thank you, Matilda. I’ll let him know you’re here. Please take a seat.”

She sat on a row of plastic chairs between a woman holding a shaking Chihuahua and a man with a cat that kept hissing through the wire door of his carrier.

“He’s a gentle guy, really,” the man said apologetically. “He doesn’t like coming to the vet’s office, that’s all.”

“Not unusual,” Matilda replied, her voice croaky.

She always lost her voice when she was stressed, and the sight of this packed office made her anxious.

She was excited too, but anxiety was winning at the moment.

If she bought this place, it would be a huge investment.

A burden for her to carry. She couldn’t move, or take a vacation, or really do anything she wanted to on the spur of the moment.

She’d be committed. Tied down. She’d never really felt that way before, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted it.

She’d already filed the paperwork for her registration to sit the examination that would allow her to practice in the USA.

With Ryan’s help, she had the down payment she needed to purchase the business.

Looking around, she could see that it needed some renovations.

It’d clearly been years since anything had been updated.

The walls could use some paint. The furnishings were old.

The layout of the waiting room was poky and crowded.

If she bought it, she’d want to make some changes.

But could she handle that much responsibility?

A man in a long white coat walked through a doorway. He looked to be in his sixties, and his head was balding on top. He wore glasses and peered around the room, clearly looking for someone. She raised a hand.

“Ms Berry-Merritt?” he asked.

She nodded and stood. “You must be Mr Wheatley. Pleased to meet you.”

He shook her hand and smiled. “Come with me. I’ll show you around the place.”

She followed him through a door and into a long hallway. There were small rooms off the hallway. Some doors were open, and some were shut.

“These are our treatment rooms. There are five vet techs working today. They do most of the prep, and then I see the animal once everything else is done. That way, I can spend about five minutes with each animal. I can move from room to room, and it keeps things flowing.”

“That’s an efficient setup,” Matilda said.

“It works pretty well, although as you can see, the whole place needs a facelift.” He stopped and pushed a door open. “Here’s one of the treatment rooms. There’s no one in here right now.”

By the time the tour was over, she had a good feel for the place. They finished in his office. He sat behind a messy desk and crossed one leg over the other. She perched opposite him in a hard chair that wobbled.

“I have a loyal base who bring their pets to me regularly. I want my customers to have a good experience and for their animals to be taken care of consistently, so I’d prefer to sell the whole business as one entity rather than selling off the pieces bit by bit.”

“That makes sense.”

“What do you think of the place?” he asked.

She smiled. “I think you’ve built something really special here. It’s busy, but it doesn’t feel cold. Like you care about your patients, and that’s really important to me.”

“I do care about them. It’s the reason I went into the business all those years ago, although it’s hard to remember that sometimes, with all the spreadsheets and time cards. But I’ve loved most of it.”

“I suppose my main concern is that I’ve never run a business before. I worked as a vet in Australia, but I was on staff. I wasn’t managing the place. And I’m not sure if I’m up for it.”

He leaned forward in his chair, eyes sparkling.

“Your honesty is refreshing, which makes me believe you’ll do just fine.

I’m looking for someone who cares, who’ll put their heart and soul into looking after my customers and their pets.

I’ve worked so hard to build this place, I want it to last. If you buy the business, my accountant can help you manage it—he’s already agreed to that.

And I’m going to be sticking around close by for a while, so you can call me with any questions you have.

But as I said, as long as you care, the rest will be fine.

It works like a well-oiled machine right now, so you can simply step in and take over. ”

“I’d want to renovate,” she replied. “So, I’d have to close the place down for a little while.”

“I figured as much. And if I was sticking around, I’d do the same. Which is fine—people will understand. Just make sure you communicate with the mailing list regularly and let them know what’s going on. I don’t think it’ll be an issue.”

After Matilda left, she drove to meet Ryan at the Honeysuckle Café.

She wasn’t rostered on a shift, but they’d agreed to have lunch together, and she wanted to try out the new buffalo buttermilk chicken burger with thick-cut fries.

It looked delicious and made her mouth water every time she served it to someone.

After all, it was important for her to be able to describe each dish to the customers.

At least, that was her excuse for trying everything.

They sat at a table in the front near the window and ordered quickly, since Ryan had to get back to work.

“I’m starving,” he said, tapping his fingers on the tabletop.

She agreed. “I was so nervous about my meeting, I missed breakfast.”

“How did it go?”

“It was great. I really like the place and what he’s done with it. It needs work. But I don’t think it’ll be overwhelming. I’ll defer to your judgement on that, though.”

“You want me to take a look?”

“Yes, please. I need your expert opinion. I think the building is sound, but I’d love your input. After all, you’re helping me with the deposit.”

“I’m glad to do it,” he replied as the waiter brought their burgers and fries. He immediately put one in his mouth. “Ugh. Hot.”

She couldn’t help laughing. “Maybe slow down, then.”

“Can’t. I’ll die of starvation.”

“Do you think I should do it?”

“Do what?”

“Buy the business. It’s a huge commitment.

It’d tie me down. And I have no idea what I’m doing, so it’ll take up a lot of my time trying to figure everything out.

It’s very profitable for him right now, so I’m hopeful that will continue if I take over.

Although, we are likely to lose some customers simply because of the change. ”

“That makes sense, but it still sounds like it’d be a fantastic opportunity.”

“It’s a lot of money…” she muttered.

He shrugged. “It’s an investment.”

“True, but can we manage it?”

“We can manage. I’ll get my accountant to look over the books just to make sure everything’s as it should be.”

“And I’ve got some people to call to follow up on references.”

“But if it all checks out, I think you should go for it, if that’s what you want.

These kinds of opportunities don’t come along every day.

It’s an established business, ready for you to step into.

And it won’t come without its challenges, of course, and its commitments, but if this is something that would fulfil you, I fully support you going for it. ”

“Thanks, sweetie, I appreciate that. It means a lot to me.”

“And if you don’t enjoy it, or our circumstances change, you can always resell it.”

“That’s true, I guess. It doesn’t have to be a lifelong commitment.”

“Not at all. Fix it up, get it going, and if you want to sell it, that’s something we can look at.”

“But what about Rita? And the café?” She gestured to the room full of customers seated around them.

He nodded. “That’s something to consider. How do you feel about telling her?”

“I don’t know. She’s going through a lot. I’m worried it will make things harder for her.”

“Even if you don’t buy the business, you weren’t planning on staying at the café long term, were you?”

“No, not really. I’m helping her out. That’s all.”

“And she knows that?”

“We’ve spoken about it. And she seemed fine with me moving on to other things.”

“I’m sure she understands that you can’t stay here forever. She’d want you to do what makes you happy.”

“I guess I have to decide what that is. Apart from you, of course.” She grinned at him.

He reached for her hand and held it gently. “You make me happy as well. So happy.”

“I’m glad, because you’re stuck with me.”

He laughed. “You’re stuck with me too. And hopefully, one day we’ll have a family.”

“I’d love that. I can’t believe we’ve never discussed this, but how many kids do you want?”

“One or two, I guess.” He frowned. “I hadn’t thought much about it. But I know I definitely want at least one. What about you?”

“Five,” she replied.

“Five? That’s a lot of children.”

“Well, I’ll probably scale down that number as soon as I have one. That’s what Stella always says. She thinks I’m crazy to want so many. She has three now, and she’s done.”

“I guess we’ll take them as they come.”

“And when we do have kids, I want to stay home with them while they’re young, so maybe I shouldn’t buy this business. Does it even make sense?”

“I say go for it. We can always reevaluate later if we need to. This chance might not come again.”

She inhaled a short breath. “Then I think I’m going to do it.”

“Awesome! I think you should.”