Hunter took about ten large paces forward and swung his arms out. “I was thinking we could install some sort of divider here to have the reception area facing the street and the therapy floor behind it.”
“That’s a good idea. We wouldn’t want people from the street being able to see our patients in the middle of their sessions.” I walked toward him and stopped about three paces away. “There could be a reception desk around here somewhere with security on either side of it, as well as at the front doors.”
He shot me a grin. “Now you’re talking. I was worried it would be more difficult to get you to buy into this plan.”
“I bought into this plan months ago. It was only the patients we’d be leaving behind that worried me, but this is close enough to the hospital that we’d easily be able to commute if necessary for emergency situations.
“Exactly.” He gestured toward the upper level. “We could have our offices and storage up there, but I also thought we could have a playroom for kids who need to wait for their parents and a waiting room for parents who’d like to have coffee while their kids are in their sessions.”
“Great ideas.” I took a deep breath as I envisioned what he had just described. “This space is fucking perfect. Thank you for finding it.”
“It was the least I could do. It’s going to cost you some money to get it into shape but I’ll—”
“Fifty-fifty, remember?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged. “But you’re going to be investing a lot more than me if you take the renovations and equipment into consideration. Maybe I should look for some secondhand equipment to even things out.”
I waved him off. “Nope, we wanted a state-of-the-art facility and that’s what we’re going to have. You found this place for us, Hunter. That’s already more than doing your share. You’re also going to be running the business side of things. We already agreed to being fifty-fifty partners. There’s no backing out now.”
“Let me know if you change your mind.”
“I won’t.” Without a doubt, I knew Hunter more than deserved to be an equal partner. “Let’s check out the upstairs. Then we’re having lunch to celebrate. I’m buying.”
“If you’re buying, who am I to say no?” He skirted around a pile of what appeared to be discarded building supplies and headed for the stairs. “Cleaning this place up is going to be a bitch.”
“I’ll get an industrial cleaning crew in. They’ll get it done sooner and better than we could. This place is going to need more than a couple of guys with brooms and mops if it’s going to pass for a medical facility.”
“Good point.”
Our footsteps echoed on the metal stairs as we ascended. When we got to the top, Hunter paused to prop his forearms against the railing and peer down at what would become the heart of our practice.
“I think we’re going to do well here,” he said.
“Yeah. Me too.” It was only a little better than a dump at the moment, but in a few months, we could be up and running with barely a memory of what it looked like today. “We should take some pictures of our progress for the reception area.”
“I doubt anyone but us will be interested in that.”
I shrugged. “But it’s our space now, right? It doesn’t matter what anyone else is interested in.”
“Really, no one else?” he asked with a teasing note to his voice. “Not even April? If she tells you it’s a tacky idea, will you still do it?”
“Yes.”
He rolled his eyes, chuckled, and stepped away from the railing. “If you say so. I kind of thought you were going to give half of your half to your new wife, which would mean she could take down our tacky crap.”
“Let’s just get to work on the building. We can get April to weigh in on the tacky crap later if you’re so intent on having her as a partner.” I was joking, but I also instantly imagined a sweeping front desk with her sitting behind it.
I smiled. That would definitely be a sight I could get used to seeing every morning.
Chapter 24
APRIL
“What do you want to do today, baby?” I asked Adi on Saturday morning. We’d just had breakfast and were lounging around after doing the dishes.
Neither of us would be content with sitting still for very long, though. It just wasn’t us.
Adi lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe we should