Love Therapy (Stanton Falls #2) Read online

  “Ms. Sherman, thank you so much. You have been a Godsend to this family.”

  Melissa’s mother spoke to her from the heart and she could feel the gratitude pouring from her words. Donna only hoped that the sessions would continue to progress that well, eventually leading up to the point Melissa’s father could arrange to sit in on one of them. With kids, she knew that when they allowed the parents in the sessions, results improved dramatically as the lines of communication opened and understanding was shared.

  Donna felt for Melissa’s parents as much as she did for the teenager herself. They were all learning after all, and her parents did not know what was going to happen to her had she continued to act out the way that she was. Now they had hope as a family to make good happen. That was every parent’s dream. Actually every parent but one.

  Dad, you were royally messed up.

  She still hated her father. She didn’t like to use that term because it meant so much and that wasn’t a place she would allow herself to give in to ever again. But she certainly couldn’t stand him.

  As the mother and daughter left her office, Donna looked at her appointments booked for the remainder of the day. Her schedule was surprisingly light for a Monday. Since she joined the tiny staff only a few months ago, she was usually pretty much back to back on patients. People often thought that being from a small city, everyone would be happy and people like her would find no work. How wrong they were. She’d found that there seemed to be as many people or possibly more with issues in her small town as there were in the larger cities.

  She had already determined that she wanted to go ahead and eventually start her own practice and she was pretty close to deciding that she could definitely do that in Stanton Falls, regardless of how small the city was. But things could always change. That was another reason she was thankful that she was unattached. Without a husband or kids to worry about, she could go wherever and do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. The only thing was that there really wasn’t any major thing she wanted to do right then. Maybe that was why she wasn’t surprised that she had shown up back at Stanton Falls--even though she had opportunities to move on from the city she called home.

  Nearing the end of her final year of schooling, one of her professors had lined up a job offer for her as she was getting out of grad school. He told her that a major corporation came to him directly for recommendations for their staff counselors. They liked to have one in every major office as part of the employee benefit enticers. He had only ever recommended one other student to her in the two years they had been consulting with him--until she came along. When he initially told her, she was really excited. That was even beyond having her own practice because she would be able to help so many people and she had absolutely no problem that.

  Unfortunately for her, she did have a problem with the job being all the way in New York. Even at her age, she had never even left the state of Texas once. She couldn’t even begin to fathom how much her life would change if she moved to New York. She didn’t like the idea of living in a city the size of New York. She really only lived in Dallas to finish up school and that was a bit much in itself. Also there was the issue with her family--her mother to be exact. She didn’t want to move too far away and leave her mother. Since her father had gone to prison, it was just Donna and her mother for years since her mother had actually moved to Stanton Falls at the behest of her father.

  As she sat at her desk, she looked at the picture of herself and her mother on the neatly organized bookshelf on the wall. She was where she wanted to be at that point in time in her life and she was satisfied completely with that. It was just then that her phone rang. The id showed that the call was from the receptionist.

  “Cindy, how can I help?”

  “I’m sorry Ms. Sherman, are you busy?”

  Donna smiled to herself. Cindy couldn’t be any more than five years her junior but you couldn’t tell by the way she respected her. Every time she spoke to her it was like Cindy saw her as a much older person. Always yes ma’am and no ma’am. She’d asked her on numerous occasions to just call her Donna without any luck. She’d finally relented when she realized that Cindy had at least stopped calling her ‘doctor’.

  It was about time--especially considering the fact that Donna wasn’t actually a doctor at all but a licensed counselor. She’d hoped to continue maybe online and use parts of her current work as work experience towards her doctorate. She’d heard that those kinds of things were possible. If not, that was fine too. In all honesty, she really didn’t care for titles and the barriers that she noticed came with them. She was trying to become closer to her patients, not separate herself from them more.

  “No not at all, and don’t be sorry. So what do you need?”

  “I just needed to let you know that Dr. Faulkner would like to see you before leaving today. He said he had something important that he needed to discuss with you when the day is over. Can I ask you what time to give him?”

  “Well, I don’t have anyone now. Is he available?

  “Let me check. One second….”

  The woman went silent as she was apparently checking to see if he was available. Moments later she returned.

  “He actually is available right now as well. I’ll let him know that you are on your way over now.”

  “Great. Thanks Cindy.”

  Donna hung up the phone and sat in her chair for a moment before standing up. Dr. Faulkner was the lead doctor in the practice and she’d had several interactions with him but none like that. It felt akin to being called into the principal’s office in high school. She didn’t know why but she felt her stomach turn. She had a bad habit of assuming the worst in situations and that one was no different. A million scenarios raced through her mind as she left her office.

  It can’t be a malpractice suit, could it?

  She could almost dismiss that. She thought back to the patients that she had been working with and they all seemed to glow about how much she was helping them. Well almost all of them, with the exception of the one patient that she had spoken with last week. He particularly did not like the advice she had given him. She still didn’t think it would be something to that degree with him. She’d find out soon enough what it was all about.

  She reached her destination, took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly before she rapped her knuckles lightly on the door.

  “Come on in, Donna.”

  She opened the door to see him sitting at his desk, a warm look on his face. He stood and shook her hand in greeting as she entered his office. He was the epitome of what she thought about when she considered possibly becoming a psychologist. Kind, patient, welcoming. Even with that, she was eager to find out why she was in his office. After all, he was the guy that signed her paychecks. She had reason to be at least a little concerned.

  “Thanks for coming by Donna. Sit, please.”

  He motioned to the chair across the desk from him. She sat down, rigid and tense. That was when he laughed. Apparently the look on her face told it all.

  “I don’t mean to laugh but I can tell what you must have been thinking when I asked to see you today. Before I go on, stop worrying. You are a breath of fresh air in the office and all of your patients seem to be pleased with your work so I don’t want you to let that concerned look keep lingering.”

  Donna felt her muscles relax and the tension start to roll off as he clarified the worst of her worries for her.

  “That obvious huh?”

  “Well maybe not for everyone but you know that’s part of what we do here. Just so you know, if there ever is an issue we need to talk about, you don’t have to be afraid. You do an excellent job here and as long as you keep doing what you do, one or two angry patients will arise. In fact, if you don’t get at least a few people that are unhappy with something you say, then you probably aren’t doing your job well enough. Somewhere along the lines you will run into the occasional case in which you simply have to make them uncomfortable b
efore you can help them.”

  “Thank you doctor. I’m relieved to hear that I am doing well, but if my performance isn’t this issue, may I ask why you needed to see me?”

  Now that she had been relieved, she was interested to know what it was that he had needed from her.

  “Ah, yes that. Have you heard of ND Marketing & Financial Services?”

  “Can’t say that I have.”

  “Really? Well that’s a surprise but I guess you have been gone for a while. If I recall, a few years back before you left, it was a really small business with just a few employees, but the company has grown over the past few years to… actually, none of that really matters. What does matter is that now that their company is getting bigger, they have decided to provide more benefits for their employees, including having a therapist on staff for two days a week in order to help with stress relief. That’s where you come in.”

  “Oh Dr. Faulkner I understand. If you need me to pick up more clients in the office so that you can dedicate to that, I can definitely do so. In fact, I was noticing that my schedule has some gaps in appointments. I can just make sure that Cindy puts your clients on the two days a week that you go there and that will settle it all.”

  “What? Heavens no that isn’t it at all. I could never pass off a client I have been working with for years to any other person, regardless of how good I think they are at what they do. I couldn’t expect them to start those relationships and build new trust with another person.”

  Donna didn’t quite get the point of him mentioning the additional position he picked up from the company if that was the case. Why tell her about it if he wasn’t going to need her help.

  “I can see that you misunderstand what I’m trying to say so allow me to clarify.”

  The older man shuffled a few items on his desk before picking up a manila folder placing it on the desk in front of her. He leaned back in his chair, looking at her as he spoke.

  “I want you to work for them, on behalf of this office, of course. You would still get paid your same salary from here for the clients you see, but they would pay you above and beyond that in order to be on site and available exclusively for their employees two days a week. In this folder are the terms if you accept.”

  Donna was surprised and confused. She took the folder from him, opening the contract from the company to the offices there. She covered her mouth. The numbers were shocking.

  “M-me? On top of my pay. Oh my goodness. Is this right?”

  “Of course. Standard industry rates. We actually gave them a small hometown discount.”

  “I don’t really know what to say.”

  “All you’ve got to say is that you will do it. It’s a great opportunity for you, and the other doctors and I already have a full patient listing and aren’t even accepting new patients. You showed up right on time to allow us to keep meeting the needs we are getting in this small town. Is there some reason you wouldn’t want to take this position?”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to sir but I’m just worried that they might be expecting a little more than I have to offer currently. I don’t even have my doctorate yet. I figured that it would take a few years before I ever even got an opportunity like this. I’m just a counselor, not a full psychologist like you.”

  “Donna, that’s not a cause for concern. First of all, I’m sure you know that not all companies actually want to pay the fee for a doctor. That fee you see there would be almost doubled if they had to get me to do it. A counselor is actually what they want. Secondly, you are supremely talented, as I said before. What you lack in years of experience, you gain in intuition and basic know how. And in a year or two, you will have all that experience that you are so concerned about being lacking in. Besides, clinical experience is overrated for people like you. You have a natural talent for understanding people.”

  “Well when you put it like that, how can I possibly say no?”

  “Which is exactly why I said it like that. So, I am assuming that I can go ahead and let them know that I’ve got the perfect person for the job?”

  Donna was thrilled at the prospect and could hardly contain how pleased she was. It was going to be the start of something really great for her.

  “I would like to gladly accept, and thank you so much doctor. You won’t be disappointed in your decision.”

  “Oh I’m sure of that. Unless, of course, they try to hire you away from me full time. Then I might regret it a little bit.”

  “No worries there. I love my patients and couldn’t see not working with some of the people I help here already.”

  “Great. Then all that is left for me to do is to go ahead and let them know when to expect you. I anticipated your acceptance and spoke with Cindy already to have her start clearing your appointments on Mondays and Fridays which happen to be your lighter days here. You may have noticed that schedule is a little light this week.”

  Donna nodded yes, surprised that he had already assumed she would say yes. Then again, what valid reason could she really have found to say no?

  “They have been waiting on someone for about two months now so they want you as soon as possible. I would like to let them know that you can start next Monday. Is that going to be feasible for you?”

  It was a quick change but she was excited.

  “Most certainly sir. I look forward to getting started as soon as possible.”

  “Alright then I’ll have Cindy get everything else finalized with them. Congratulations Donna, you deserve this and you are going to do great.”

  Donna looked at his clock on the desk before standing up from her chair. They had been talking so long that she had another appointment in five minutes and she was a stickler for being on time for everything.”

  “Thank you again sir. I’m sorry to jump up like this but I have a session in a few minutes and I need to look over the file from my last session. Do you mind if I run now?”

  “Of course not. I’ll talk with you more about this later in the week. Have a great rest of your day.”

  “You too sir.”

  As she walked back to her office, she was astounded at just how perfect everything in her life was going. She didn’t know how life could get any better than it already was for her.

  Chapter 3

  “You know me Christa. I’m not going to let it get to my head.”

  Donna walked around her kitchen talking to her best friend through her Bluetooth headset. She was fixing herself a peanut butter and banana sandwich. One of the great things about being single without kids is that she didn’t have to put on airs for anyone. If she didn’t feel like cooking a big meal or ordering out, she didn’t have to. No one was going to scoff at her dinner that night, and no matter how much it sounded like a kid’s meal--she loved it. Whenever she popped a grilled PB and banana out in public, friends would laugh at her but she didn’t care. She loved them, and if it was good enough for the king of rock and roll, it was good enough for her.

  “Why not Donna? You are the most boring person I know.”

  “Gee, thanks bestie.”

  “No, I’m so serious. You don’t drink. You don’t smoke. You don’t go on dates or anything. In all the time I have known you, I’ve only seen you have one semiserious boyfriend and that’s being generous. Now you have this nice, well-paying job with a promotion coming of all things. Still you won’t even buy yourself a new car. Driving that same green beetle from years ago and living in that tiny apartment.”

  With her sandwich prepared, Donna placed it and a glass of milk she had poured herself on the table and sat down. A glance around her apartment and she disagreed with Christa. The apartment was not tiny at all. It was decent in size, not too small but certainly not something that screamed ‘I’ve got more money than I know what to do with’. That was due in part to not having anyone to share it with but it had also been affected by the fact that prior to Monday’s conversation, even if she did want something bigger she really couldn’t afford to
go overboard. Now that she was going to be getting such a nice addition in income she pondered upgrading her unit. Maybe she would get one of those corner ones they had with the attached garage and no one above or beneath you. Now that was luxury living but her apartment complex didn’t have any like that and she was just a few months into her lease and wasn’t about to pay the thousands that it would cost her to get out of the lease early. She’d just stay where she was for the time being.