Baby Be Mine(Spinsters & Casanovas Series Book 1)(23)

“So what’s on the agenda?” Clarice asked again.

“Today’s schedule is packed. As always. The patients just love you.”

“Why thank you. Always good to hear.”

“At 9:00, Mrs. Bennett is coming for a suture removal from that crown lengthening procedure you did last week. 9:15 a.m., Mr. Bronze is coming in for an implant consult. I scheduled him for forty-five minutes just in case you want to do the advance periodontal charting and all that. Then Miss Brown is coming in for a gum graft consult at 10:00 a.m. Says she’s not happy with her roots showing. From what I know, I think she uses a firm toothbrush to scrub her teeth,” Gracey whispered to Clarice.

Gracey had never worked in the dental field before. She got very upset when everyone started speaking in dental terminology. She said she felt like an alien being dropped on Earth, as she was the only one who hadn’t a clue what the one-one or three-six was. She had made it her mission to learn every single term the dental team used. Now she knew the tooth denotation and even told her back in laymen’s terms that a one-one was an upper right central incisor and a three-six was a bottom left first molar. And for every surgery that was spoken in dental terms, she would translate it back in laymen’s terms. And it was Clarice’s job, being the big boss and the specialist of the practice, to always correct Gracey if she ever made a mistake.

“That’s why a majority of the time, patients having gum recession tend to want a gingival graft,” Clarice added.

“Again, I gave her forty-five minutes so you could talk to her properly. You get a break at 10:45. Then at 11:00, you have Mrs. Beanstalk coming in for her deep scaling. She said she’s allergic to adrenaline local anesthetic, so I asked Molly to stock up on some Citanest cartridges for you. You know how fussy she is.”

“Not the Mrs. Macy Beanstalk.” Clarice whined and rested her head on the reception countertop. She was getting a headache already just hearing the name.

Mrs. Macy Beanstalk was nothing like her name. She wasn’t tall or stalk-like. If Clarice were able to rename Mrs. Beanstalk, she would call her Mrs. Muffin because the woman was just so round. And she talked a lot. There were many subjects she talked about, so Clarice just wished today’s topic wouldn’t linger on husbands and babies, because she didn’t want to hear it at the moment.

Husband + babies + over thirty = a bad combination for Clarice.

“It’s all right. You could always shut her up with a suction in her mouth. Or even better, just drown the woman. Give her a lesson in not talking too much,” Gracey suggested.

“I would love to shut her up, as you say, but we can’t go around drowning our patients, now can we? I might lose my practicing certificate.”

“You are right, Dr. Clarice Chantee Mason.”

“Thank you, Gracey, but tell me this. Why do all my patients’ names start with B today?”

“I have no idea. Probably fate,” Gracey suggested.

“Aye, aye, maybe fate,” Clarice said. Maybe fate would lead her to her future husband too.

The first thing Clarice did when she crossed the threshold of her surgery was to close her eyes and inhale the fresh, clean scent. It smelled of sterile equipment and alcohol. The scent still lingered even after the cleaners had done their job.

Clarice really liked coming into the clinic at this time of the morning, when everything was so peaceful. The tick-tocking of the clock drew her attention. She gave a sigh. Another thirty minutes to go before Mrs. Bennett was due for her stitch removal.

Just then, Molly popped her head into the door.