Chapter 7 #3
“Sure but—” Then she shrugged and added, “It doesn’t matter.
It’s all good. I will find more people. Tiffany and Keisha asked me to go through the job applications for another veterinarian.
I had hoped to give them two or three to choose from, or for both to have one to help each of them out.
I’m also looking over their schedules, reminding them about upcoming surgeries and related business stuff. Something’s gotta give, right?”
“You could talk to Timber about that,” Chelsea suggested. “I’m sure he’s had more than his fair share of decision-making headaches. He might offer some shortcuts or just refer you to Shirley.” Chelsea had to laugh at that.
“He does have experience, yet I wouldn’t even want to bother him with any of my problems. Don’t we all have too many right now?
” she asked, with a laugh. “It’s all good,” she added.
“Hey, if you were an accountant, Chelsea, I could put you to work in my business, instead of you being a vet over at Tiffany’s clinic,” she teased.
Chelsea shook her head. “I think you spend more time out at Timber’s place helping out than you do in your own business.”
“It’s about even, to tell the truth. I can’t help that,” she admitted. “It helps so many by helping Timber. Yet I do need to stay loyal to my accounting clients as well.”
“Of course you help wherever you can,” Sterling said, with a smile, “but don’t do anything to jeopardize your freelance world.”
She shrugged. “That’s not the plan. That’s for sure.
… I have to admit, every once in a while, that I sit at my desk, looking at my plans, and I think, Why?
Why did I do this? Why did I sign up for this?
Why am I doing all this?” She shook her head.
“I’m just in one of those stages. Particularly now that I see that this guy here has a pretty decent-size space that he is trying to figure out how to utilize and work well for farming here and dog training there. ”
“Yeah, I’m not sure about the farming versus just boarding some animals for the local overflowing animal rescues, while I train dogs. Plus, I do want to get my training area set up for the chosen dogs. We have their housing and exercise area pretty well done, but there’s always more to do.”
“Oh, if you even mentioned overflow,” Lindsey pointed out with a laugh, “you know Timber will be all over you.”
Sterling smiled. “Yeah, I heard another huge load of animals came in today over there,” he shared. “A dozen dogs and more in cats. All from a single hoarding situation. I think two of the dogs are heavily pregnant, not sure about the felines. I think a couple mini pigs were involved too.”
“Mini pigs?” Lindsey laughed, even as she shook her head at it. “I knew about the incoming animals from Tiffany. She was asking me to take a look at her books, see if there’s any way to squeeze out more money for animals,” she shared, with a headshake. “You guys are all a lost cause.”
“As if you’re any different,” Sterling scoffed.
She smiled. “Well, I wasn’t supposed to go down this pathway, but apparently I’m no different.” She glanced around. “Besides, I’ll be helping with the animal intakes. And you wouldn’t want to be any different either,” Lindsey chided Sterling and Joel.
Chelsea had to laugh too. “I think you’re exactly where you want to be, Lindsey,” Chelsea said, with a smile. “Lots of animals to help and lots of options to try and get them help. I’m sure people in town whom you know might want to help a little more.”
“There are some that I’ve heard have been pretty big philanthropists, but I don’t know all of them.”
“No, but if you know any of them, that’s a step into their world.”
“Maybe, but sometimes I think that I should be doing more of a charity drive than actual accounting, but I have my own clients for a reason, and that business is solvent,” she shared. “So there’s a fair bit of volunteer work I have to get to myself.”
“Well, now that I’m almost done with nursing school,” Chelsea noted, “assuming this job I got offered at the hospital comes through, hopefully I’ll be able to settle into something of a routine.”
“Right, and a routine is important,” Lindsey said, “especially with all we have going on in our lives. Yet it must be more aligned with what we want most—at least that’s the hope.”
“It absolutely is, and it’s something I’ve never really had, at least not in the last few years. Not a routine of my own choosing,” Chelsea clarified.
“Even when you worked with your mother?”
“No, it was pretty erratic even then. I think this place does have a lot of potential as a farm or to just do something totally for you,” she suggested, turning to Sterling.
“As you know, it’ll require a lot of work to update the outbuildings, and those kinds of expenditures didn’t sit too well with my mother. ”
Sterling nodded. “Maybe we can all talk about it later, do some brainstorming.” Then he sniffed the air and said, “Except right now, some of us are hungry.”
Chelsea rolled her eyes, walked over, and announced, “Well, the good news is, dinner’s ready.”