Page 44 of Undeniable Love
Gemma: Let me text Mike. We were really set on going for Italian tonight.
Now she felt bad.
Lucy: Don’t cancel with him. I’ll see if maybe Wyatt or Tyler wants to hang out. No worries!
Gemma: Are you sure?
Lucy: I am. Talk to you tomorrow?
Gemma: How about lunch at the pub?
Lucy: You’re on! See you at noon!
Now the question was, did she actually call her brothers and see if they were busy, or did she just pick up her own takeout on the way home—and maybe some ice cream—and enjoy a quiet night by herself?
“Who am I kidding? Every night is a night by myself.” With another groan, she lowered her head to the table and sighed.
Only allowing herself a minute of self-pity, Lucy pulled herself together and decided to check her email. There was one from her boss that she figured she should read first.
“Hey, Lucy! Thanks for sending those reports yesterday. I appreciate you taking the time to help Trish out. I know you’re busy, but it means a lot that you’re always willing to lend a hand.”
“Aww…thanks,” she murmured.
“Would you happen to have some time to hop on the phone one night this week? I’m thinking about some expansion projects and I think our pediatric audience requires some serious growth and attention. Would love to get your thoughts on this and maybe brainstorm a bit. Let me know if there’s a night that works best for you! Thanks!”
Lucy didn’t even need to look at her calendar to know that any night would work. It wasn’t like she had an exciting social life. As for brainstorming, that really piqued her attention. The clinic needed some serious upgrades and as much as she usually kept her opinions to herself, maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing to share with Maddie exactly what she felt was important.
“Okay. I’m doing this.” And before she could change her mind, she quickly typed up a response telling her boss she was available every night, even right now.
Less than five minutes later, her phone rang.
“Hey, Maddie,” she said with a smile.
“Hey! Thanks for being willing to chat with me! I know it’s the end of your shift, so I appreciate the time.”
“No worries.” Getting comfortable in her seat in the break room, she wondered if she was supposed to start or…
“I want to expand,” Maddie stated. “The clinic here in Raleigh is huge and it’s thriving. My team is truly amazing and I believe we’ve got a great system in place that doesn’t need any help.”
“Well that’s good.”
“We’ve got your clinic in South Creek, one in Burlington, one in Winston-Salem, and one in Wilmington. I like all the locations and they’re all very successful—which tells me our strategy was correct—but…” She sighed. “It still feels like we’re missing something.”
“O-kay…do you mean that we need to upgrade our equipment or services?”
“Those are always options, but…” Another sigh. “I can’t really put my finger on it, Lucy. In my heart, I just feel like there’s something more we can be involved in, but I don’t know what it is! Obviously I’ve networked with the orthopedic doctors and hospitals, we’ve reached out to the local schools and their athletic departments, but…I see what you’re doing with the clinic for the kids, and I want to grow that.”
“You could open more clinics like this or expand on your existing ones so they have a dedicated pediatric department.”
“Hmm…maybe.”
“Or…” Okay, this is my chance! “Or, you can invest in a larger space and offer more to our clients—like aqua therapy. You know it’s one of the most beneficial forms of therapy and most physical therapy practices don’t offer it. We all tell our patients the benefits of the pool, but then we leave them to navigate it on their own. If we had a pool on site…”
“I get what you’re saying,” Maddie gently interrupted. “But that brings us into an entirely different…well…everything. I imagine it would require different permits and insurance and…I don’t know if I’m willing to take that risk and have it not pay off. Unfortunately, it’s not like we can find an existing building with a pool already there that we can lease.”
“And renting pool space at the YMCA, or maybe a wellness center, would mean obtaining all kinds of liability forms and asking our patients to go to two different locations based on whatever therapy we were going to do during that visit.”
“Exactly. It wouldn’t be practical. One of my husband’s friends is in real estate. I might have to ask him if he can find something—you know, just in the off-chance that there is a building out there that miraculously meets our needs.”