Chapter 2

To say that Steve had given Paul something to think about would be a little bit of an understatement. That was all Paul thought about on Sunday. He was weighing the pros and cons of doing certain things and made a few decisions.

On Monday morning he made two phone calls. The first one was to the office and speaking to Beverly he told her he would be back at work next Monday. He asked her to see what canceled appointments she could reschedule.

The second phone call he made was to Steve Brandle saying he would like to buy him lunch and also look at this unused office space he mentioned. Steve told Paul to be at the clinic at eleven thirty and they could look at the office and then go to lunch.

The drive through town showed it to be a nice, small town. In parking his car at the clinic in Lake Lancer Paul liked what he saw. He could see that the clinic building was relatively new and in its way was impressive. He noticed the addition that was added to it.

Walking into the clinic he told the receptionist who he was and why he was there. Steve immediately came out to greet him and took him to the elevator to go to the second floor. There Paul looked at this unused space and could see it was bare-bones but it was finished and just needed furniture and equipment. This space was the right size and had the right layout to be a nice office. Paul told Steve he was impressed by what he saw. Steve gave Paul the contact information on Troy Kane at the Wilkinsing Foundation. Paul needed to contact Troy to make the arrangements with him to establish an office here.

They started to go to lunch and were joined for the walk to the diner by Nick Cramer who was the dermatologist. His office was located in the first floor of the addition to the original clinic building.

At lunch, they talked about several things to include sports in general and golf in particular. Steve mentioned that Nick’s wife Dana was overseeing the building of their dream house which was on a large lot next to the lake. Steve said Nick was going to be putting his beautiful condo up for sale shortly.

“What condo?” asked Paul.

“I have a corner condo on the top floor of a six-floor building that overlooks Lake Lancer. It gives a beautiful view of the lake both during the day and at night.”

“How big is the condo?” asked Paul.

“It’s twenty-four hundred square feet with three bedrooms, one of which I use has an office.”

“What are you asking for it?”

“That hasn’t been decided. I know we are selling but I haven’t talked price with Dana yet. Are you interested?”

“I very well could be. My wife and I had been talking about downsizing since we were empty nesters and a forty-five hundred square foot home now it is too big for one person. Check on what you want for the condo and let me have the first chance at purchasing it. That being said I don’t think I am jumping the gun but it would be nice if I could get a look at it.”

“Let’s eat up and I can show it to you now. It is about a two-minute drive from the clinic.” Nick showed Paul the condo and he was impressed and knew this was what he wanted. He again told Nick he was interested and to let him know what the asking price was.

Back in his home, Paul placed a call to Troy Kane. He told Troy he was a doctor and was calling about the unused space at the clinic in Lake Lancer. Troy suggested they change to a zoom call which was done.

“I would like to open up a cardiologist office in this unused space that you have at the clinic there,” said Paul.

“The only time to my knowledge we have needed a cardiologist was when John Wilkinsing’s Aunt Paula had a heart attack.”

“John’s Aunt Paula is Paula Dobbins and she is a patient of mine.”

“She is?”

“Yes, she is. She didn’t like the female cardiologist that was assigned to her and asked around and I guess based on the recommendations she received she wanted me to be her doctor. She sees me about every six months and is doing fine.”

“Well, opening a cardiologist’s office there will forestall any complaints from John’s mother about having to do a forty-five-minute drive for Aunt Paula to see her doctor,” said Troy. “There was some talk about the dermatologist there using that space to expand his services but so far that is all it has been is talk. I think it would be better overall for several reasons if you opened an office there. I will give you the same deal I have given others there. The Foundation will pay to equip the office along with supplies and handle three months of operating expense to include salaries.”

“That is very generous of you but you don’t need to include salaries. Office equipment, furniture, and supplies are all we will need.”

“Now that is refreshing to hear you say that. As a formality, I will e-mail you some forms that I need for you to fill out and send back. We will do a background check but that from what you say shouldn’t disclose any problems. So purchase what you need in the way of equipment, furniture, and supplies to outfit the office and send me the bills. Good luck to you and I hope to meet you in person when I am in the area.”

Ending the phone call the next thing Paul did was to send an e-mail to his partners in his practice asking them to clear their schedules to do a zoom phone call with him tomorrow at four in the afternoon.

Leaning back in his chair he thought he had accomplished quite a bit today. Emily he knew was right when she had told him he would need to get on with his life if something was to happen to her.

The following morning Paul phoned Rita Bryant who was a member of the country club and a realtor. He told her he was going to be putting his house up for sale and that when he does that she would get the listing. Before he could do that he needed to purchase a condo. He was considering purchasing a condo from a private party that was a corner unit on the sixth floor of the new condo building at Lake Lancer. Since this purchase would be from a private party he wanted Rita to give him her professional opinion on what would be a fair purchase price. Since she was going to be getting the listing on his home he thought she wouldn’t object to doing what he requested and he was right because she said she would get back to him.

The time before his zoom call with his partners was spent in making up some notes on what he wanted to discuss with them. He also started making up a list of the furniture and equipment along with supplies he would need for the new office at Lake Lancer. He surprised himself a little when he saw the length of the list he had prepared and he was sure he was still missing things in compiling this list.

At four o’clock he opened the zoom meeting and could see all of his partners were there in the waiting room.

“First of all, I want to thank all of you for the sympathies you expressed along with your condolences and the flowers you sent. I can tell you it is from my heart when I say it is deeply appreciated. The reason I asked for this zoom call, however, is to inform you of a few things and some changes. First of all, I am not retiring although that thought has crossed my mind. I will be back at work starting Monday. I am however closing my practice and won’t be accepting any new patients. Because of that, I am dropping out of the rotating duty of seeing our current and new patients at the hospital. There should be no complaints about me doing that since it is very monetary rewarding for whoever will be doing those hospital duties.”