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CHAPTER ONE

November, two years earlier.

Piancavallo, the Italian Dolomites, Italy

“PAPÀ? IS THIS where you skied when you were my age?”

“Yes. I’d practice right here whenever my parents would let me.”

“I want to be an Olympic champion like you.”

“I have no doubts you will be one day, Dino,” his mamma said. “But it’s getting cold and time to go back to our chalet. We’ll come again tomorrow, darling.”

“Urra!”

Suddenly the three of them heard a loud crack higher up the mountain.

“What was that, Papà?”

“We have to get off the mountain, now!”

November 29, present day

On Thursday morning Luca Berettini left his villa for work later than usual and got in the car to drive to Spilimbergo in Northeast Italy. It took only a few minutes from Luca’s home in Maniago, Italy, eleven miles away.

For the last year and a half, Luca had been acting CEO of Berettini Plastics, their hundred-year-old family business, while his father, Fabrizo Berettini, had been recovering from a heart attack. The position was one he’d never wanted or sought. But both the board and his mother had pressured him to do it. She’d done everything in the world for him all her life, and he couldn’t turn her down.

Since the avalanche that had robbed Luca of his wife and Dino’s mother, Luca had run a business of his own on the side, all to do with the manufacture of Italian skis and boots. His venture had proved lucrative. If the gods were kind, the day might come when Luca could say goodbye to the job of CEO and be fully involved with his interest in the ski industry.

The horrendous avalanche that had changed his world and had kept him away from the ski slopes hadn’t altered his love for the sport. What a joy it would be to walk away and have the freedom to do what he really wanted, but he couldn’t do that until he knew the outcome of his father’s health.

As for Dino, until Luca knew what kind of life was in store for his son after the impending operation to remove a benign brain tumor, it was difficult to think about anything else. The boy meant more to him than life itself.

Luca parked his car and nodded to several of the employees before taking the private elevator to his suite on the third floor. As he entered, his secretary, Sofia, got up from her desk and hurried over to him. Something was going on. In a hushed voice she said, “Before you go in, I wanted to warn you that your father is here. He’s been waiting several hours for you.”

Anger swamped Luca. The doctor had ordered his father to stay home and continue to work with his various therapists until he was given permission to put in part-time work again. But that hadn’t stopped him from crossing the threshold today. It was so like him to intrude on Luca’s private life without warning. In the past he’d tried to sabotage several of Luca’s relationships with women by making demands and criticisms.

Today was all Luca needed after having to console Dino following one of his nightmares this morning, but he knew exactly why his father had shown up and shouldn’t have been surprised. When he hadn’t gotten satisfaction after a fiery exchange on the phone with Luca last night, he’d decided to barge in on him.

Being armed with that information, Luca thanked Sofia for the heads-up and walked in his inner sanctum. His silver-haired sixty-eight-year-old father sat at the large oak desk while he read some sensitive documents Luca had been working on.

He looked at Luca without getting up. “I asked Sofia to hold your calls so I could talk to you.”

How like his father to come to the office without advance warning when the doctor hadn’t given him permission to be at work yet. Throughout Luca’s life his father had interfered, never approving of his sporting interests, always trying to stifle his career ambitions that had nothing to do with the family plastics business. No girl, no woman was good enough for Luca except the one they were fighting about right now.

“We said all there was to say last night on the phone.”

His father slammed one hand on the desk. “I don’t know why you continue to thwart me about Giselle.”

“Frankly, I’ll never understand why you hoped she and I would ever get together. I was never interested in her, which is why I married Catarina.”

“But your wife has been dead for two years. Giselle is still very much alive and beautiful. Her father tells me it was you she always wanted. We’re determined to get the two of you together. I told him I’d arrange it.”

Luca shook his head. “Don’t you understand I have more important things to think about at the moment? I’m dealing with my son’s fears over his operation,” he exploded. “Henri Fournier may be your best friend and the two of you are desperate to keep the fortunes of both our families sealed with a marriage, but I made it clear last night. I don’t want to see his daughter and have no interest in any woman! Since you look settled in that chair where you once sat for years ruling the company, I’ll leave it to you.”

The older man’s cheeks grew ruddy. He would never change. His father had been the same intransigent dictator for as long as Luca could remember. Nothing Luca had ever wanted or done had met with his father’s approval, and Luca had given up hope for a transformation.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“Wait, Luca—”

But he walked back out and told Sofia to ring him if anything vital came up. Now would be a good time to do an on-site visit to the ski manufacturing plant he owned in nearby Tauriano before returning to Maniago. It might cool down his anger.

At three thirty that afternoon Luca returned home and found his son still in his pajamas watching TV in the family room.

“Hey—piccolo.” He hugged him. “What’s going on?”

“My favorite show.”

Ines, the nanny, got up from the sofa and walked over to him. “It’s the Start with a Wish program that’s on every weekday afternoon.” Luca had heard of it. “He’s obsessed with it because they make a child’s wish come true.”

If only that were really possible.

“I take it his headache finally passed.”

“Yes.”

Every headache his son suffered caused Luca pain that crossed over the older lines of grief etched on his hard-boned features. “After we have dinner, I’ll take him to watch a hockey game. Hopefully it will get his mind off the operation.”

He left the kitchen and raced up the stairs, as ever feeling devastated by Dino’s condition. Earlier that morning his son had cried to him. “I dreamed I was in the avalanche and couldn’t find Mamma. I wish she didn’t have to die.”

How many times had Luca heard that? He’d kissed the top of his head. “We all wish she were here, but at least we have each other, don’t we?”

“Yes,” his boy whispered.

“Pretty soon you’re not going to have headaches anymore.”

“But I’m scared.”

“I know, but the operation is going to take them away. Doesn’t that make you happy?”

“Yes, but what if I never wake up?”

Luca clutched him harder. “Where did you get an idea like that?”

“On TV.”

“What show?”

“That cartoon, Angel’s Friends. Raf’s mother never woke up.”

Diavolo. A simple cartoon had played on his fears, doing more damage. “Listen to me, Dino. I’ve had four operations in my life, and I’m just fine.”

“Was Nonna with you?”

He’d closed his eyes, praying for inspiration. “Yes.” Luca’s mother had always been there for him. “And I’ll be with you. Don’t you know I wouldn’t let anything happen to you?”

“Yes.” But Dino’s voice was muffled against Luca’s shoulder and he’d finally fallen asleep.

The heavy lids that covered blue eyes revealed his misery. In the last year, his headaches had grown more frequent as the doctor said they would. When the medication didn’t stop them, sleep was the only thing that seemed to help, but that meant he stayed in bed until they subsided.

At his last checkup three months ago, the doctor had brought up the operation to remove it. But Dino fought the very thought of one, even if it would make him feel better.

Now Luca was frightened, too, because the neurosurgeon told him the tumor was in a dangerous place. Removing it wasn’t without risk. But Luca knew it had to be done so his son could be relieved of pain.

His operation had been scheduled for December 21, less than a month away now. Dr. Meuller, the Swiss-born doctor from Zurich who was doing some voluntary work in Africa, would fly in to the hospital in Padova to perform the surgery. Luca had arranged his business affairs so he’d be free during that time.

Luca and his mother had done everything to reassure Dino they’d be there for him during the surgery, but whenever it was mentioned, he would run to his room and sob. He wanted his mother, and no one could replace her. It broke his heart that Dino dreaded it so much.

Something out of the ordinary had to happen to help his son. Luca wished to heaven he knew what it was...

* * *

Another Monday.

Gabi Parisi left the house in Limena and drove the four miles under an overcast sky to the office of the Start with a Wish foundation in Padova, Italy. In the fifty-six-degree temperature, she didn’t need a coat to wear over her long-sleeved blue sweater and black wool skirt.

After the weekend, Mondays meant tons of mail. So many letters came in from children needing help. Some required money for medical procedures or operations that parents or guardians couldn’t provide. Others were dying and the family or caregivers wanted to grant them their greatest wish, which was beyond their means.

Edda Romano, Gabi’s boss, was a famous philanthropist who had been giving away her money for worthy causes ever since her husband’s untimely death. Being the heiress of the Romano manufacturing fortune had allowed her to establish the foundation that would continue to give happiness to children for generations. There was no one Gabi admired more than Edda. She felt it a privilege to work for this remarkable seventy-five-year-old woman who was truly selfless.

Gabi maneuvered through the heavy traffic and drove around the back of the building to the private parking area. After touching up her lipstick, she ran a brush through tousled ash-blond hair and got out of the car. To her surprise she was met with several wolf whistles coming from some workmen doing renovations on the building to the west.

Men.

Her divorce two years ago had put her off getting involved again. She’d moved back home with her widowed mother, who still worked part-time at the hospital as a pediatric nurse.

Gabi had gotten her college degree in accounting and had worked in a bank. She’d even fallen in love and had married the bank manager, having faith in a wonderful future. But a miscarriage soon after their marriage had been devastating. And then she’d learned her husband had been having an affair.

In less than a year of being married, it was over and she’d filed for divorce. Once again she’d started looking for another job.

When the position with Edda had opened up, Gabi had grabbed at it, sensing it would be a healing kind of work. Edda’s whole purpose was to make children happy. Still mourning the baby she’d lost at five weeks, Gabi could pour out her love on other people’s children.

The foundation business filled three floors of the neoclassic building, depending on the department where you were assigned. To Gabi’s mind, she had the best position. She, along with four other women, had the exciting opportunity of opening and reading the letters. When they’d made their group decision about each child’s letter, they took it to Edda in the suite next door to make the final decisions about what to do.

Once Gabi had gone inside the rear entrance and had grabbed a cup of coffee in the open reception room, she walked upstairs to the conference room on the second floor to get started for the day. She and her coworkers sat around a big oval table. Three of them were married, one was single and Gabi was divorced.

Stefania, the woman Edda had put in charge of their group, received the mail from the mail room and passed around the new letters that came in every day. Gabi marveled that so many children needed special help and praised Edda for the service she rendered on a continual basis. Such goodness put her in the category of a saint.

“Buongiorno,” she said to Angelina and Clara, who’d already arrived. In a minute Stefania came in with Luisa, the one who still wasn’t married and had become a good friend of Gabi’s. They smiled at each other before Luisa sat down next to her. “How was your weekend?” she whispered to her friend.

“I spent it with my cousin. We did a lot of early Christmas shopping. What about you, Gabi?”

“My mother and I drove to Venice for the fun of it.” Gabi had done a little sketching.

“How wonderful!”

Pretty soon everyone had settled down. Stefania opened the mailbag and distributed a bundle to each of them. Gabi opened her envelopes and pulled out the letters. Then they each took a turn to read a letter. In the afternoon they would form a consensus of what to turn over to Edda for final consideration. All the letters came from children who were deserving of blessings.

Just before lunch Gabi picked up her last letter. Most of them had been written in cursive by an adult. This one had been printed by a youngster and there was no greeting.

“My name is Dino Berettini.” She didn’t know of another Berettini except the international Berettini plastics conglomerate near Venice. The billion-dollar business helped keep the country afloat financially.

“I am seven years old. Every night I tell God I am afraid to have an operation because my mamma died and won’t be with me. But if it will take away my headaches and make my papà happy again, I will do it. He is never happy and I love him more than anyone in the entire world.”

The words make my papà happy again swam before Gabi’s eyes. They took her back to her childhood when at the age of seven, her adored father was dying. She’d gone to the priest after Mass and begged him to ask God to make him better. The priest smiled kindly and told her she should ask God herself.

Hurt that he hadn’t said he would do it, she still went home and said her prayers, begging God to save her papà. Within two days he rallied and got better. In Gabi’s mind a miracle had happened.

Touched by the sweet, prayer-like missive from this boy, she was moved to tears.

“Gabi?”

She looked up. Everyone was staring at her, so she read them the letter.

“What else does the letter say?” Stefania asked her.

“There isn’t anything else. This child wrote what was in his heart. Obviously an adult had to address the envelope and mail it to us, but I’m convinced no one helped him with the wording.”

“I agree. Read it to us again.”

Gabi looked at Stefania. “I don’t think I can without breaking down.”

“I’ll do it.” Luisa reached for it and read it aloud. After she’d finished, she said, “What a sweet little boy. But he hasn’t asked for anything.”

“Yes he has,” Gabi murmured. “He wants the foundation to grant his wish not to be afraid for the operation that will help him feel better and make his father happy.”

“But we can’t do that,” Clara exclaimed.

Stefania shook her head. “No. It’s beyond our power, but this is one letter Edda has to read. Enjoy your lunch. I’ll see you back here at one thirty.”

They all got up and left the building. Luisa and Gabi walked around the corner to the trattoria where they usually ate. While they ate pasta and salad, Luisa asked her why the letter had touched her so deeply.

“I don’t know exactly. A combination of things made me tear up. He mentioned losing his mother, and it reminded me of my miscarriage and how I would never raise my child. As I told you, Santos and I got pregnant on our honeymoon. But I lost it after carrying it five weeks, and nothing could comfort me.”

Luisa eyed her compassionately. “I can only imagine how painful that would have been for you.”

“That was over two years ago. But when I read Dino’s words today, some of those feelings returned. Now he’s the one suffering so terribly.”

“The poor little thing has lost his mother. The pathos in that one line squeezed my heart.”

“I know,” Gabi murmured. “Especially the last line that said his father was never happy.”

Luisa shook her head. “In the six months I’ve been working here, we’ve never had a letter like this one.”

“I agree. Today I found myself wishing a miracle would happen for that boy. He wrote that letter as an act of faith because of Edda’s program. The trouble is, she can give any child a tangible gift, but she can’t move mountains.”

“No.” Luisa shook her head. “It needs a miracle.”

“Do you remember me telling you about the time I wanted a miracle so my father wouldn’t die? That did happen and he lived until three years ago when he finally passed away from heart failure. If only one could happen again for Dino...”

On that solemn note they left to walk back to work. A half hour later Stefania told Gabi to go in Edda’s office. Since Gabi had been the one who’d opened the letter and had been affected by it, their boss wanted to talk it over with her.

Gabi and Luisa exchanged surprised glances before she walked down the hall and entered Edda’s private domain. The trim, classily dressed philanthropist with titian-colored hair smiled at Gabi and asked her to sit down opposite her desk. She held the letter in her hand.

“Stefania told me about your reaction while you were reading this. I confess tears welled up in my throat, too. That adorable child’s simple plea for help leaves us with a dilemma.”

“Luisa and I were talking about that over lunch. How do you move a mountain?”

“Exactly.” She picked up the envelope the letter had come in. “Someone mailed it from Maniago. I did research while you were at lunch. There are two Berettini families living in that town. Does the name Luca Berettini mean anything to you?”

“No, but I immediately thought of the Berettini Plastics Company near Venice.”

She nodded. “It’s the family business. Recently the elder Berettini stepped down as head and now Luca Berettini, his son, has been made CEO. Dino is his boy.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because of a tragedy that happened to that family two years ago. It was all over the media and in the newspaper. You didn’t hear about it or see it on TV?”

Gabi lowered her head. “That was a difficult time for me and I’m afraid I hadn’t been paying much attention to the news.”

It was two years ago that Gabi had discovered her husband had been unfaithful to her. She’d already had a miscarriage. With her marriage in shambles, she’d filed for divorce. It had been a horrific time for her and she’d been blinded to anything going on around her at the time.

“I’m sorry to hear that. You’ve been a wonderful employee.”

“Thank you. I’ve been so much better since you hired me to come to work for you. It’s so marvelous making children happy. I’m more grateful to you for this job than you could possibly know.”

“I’m glad of it.”

“Please tell me what happened to Dino.”

“Luca Berettini was a downhill alpine skier who became a gold medalist in the Olympics in his early twenties.”

“I remember something about that. I was probably around sixteen at the time,” Gabi murmured. “But that was ten years ago. I haven’t heard anything about him since.”

“You wouldn’t have. He could have gone on for more medals but was taken into the family business early because of his brilliant marketing acumen. He married, and he and his wife had a son. Two years ago the three of them were skiing near their chalet in Piancavallo when they were caught in an avalanche.”

“Oh, no—”

“I don’t recall the details, but his wife was killed. According to all the reports, Luca saved his son from certain death.”

“The boy would have been five then. Old enough to have memories of his mother.”

“Yes. According to this letter, he needs some kind of an operation to cure his headaches.”

Gabi’s head lifted. “But he’s afraid because he wants his mother with him.”

“Sadly no one can bring her back, and they don’t need money for an operation. Our foundation can’t help him, but I’ll get you the unlisted phone numbers of the Berettini families, hopefully before the day is out. When I do, why don’t you try to reach the person who mailed Dino’s letter and set up a time to visit him? He needs a personal visit to know we received it.”

“I think that would be wonderful.”

“Would you like to be the one to go from our office?”

“I’d love to be the one to visit him. I know what it’s like to want a wish to come true.”

Gabi was reminded of another experience at Christmastime around twelve years of age. One of her best friends had almost died from a bad appendix. Their group of friends were so sad, and someone suggested they wish on a star for her so she’d get better.

None of them really believed it would do any good, but they’d grasped at any hope to pull their friend through. Wonder of wonders, she did recover. To Gabi it had been another miracle. This boy needed one, too.

“Good. However, the family may not allow it. But if they do, you can take him a gift to let him know we received his letter. Since it’s getting close to Christmas, I’m thinking the latest building blocks game. It’s a Christmas scene with trees and snowmen. Children that age love it. I’ll ask our gift department to get it ready for him. But if it turns out the family doesn’t want anyone to come, then we’ll send him the gift.”

“I knew you’d have a solution. You always do. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.”

Gabi left her office and rejoined the others in the conference room. She told them what Edda had said. Near the end of the day Edda’s secretary walked in and gave Gabi a sheet of paper with the telephone numbers of the Berettini families.

Stefania smiled at her. “Go ahead and make your call at the desk while we finish up.”

“Thanks.” She walked over to the corner of the room and sat down, wondering which number to choose first. But it didn’t matter as long as she reached the person who sent the letter.

On the first call she was asked to leave a message. Gabi decided not to do that before trying the other number. On the third ring, someone picked up.

“Pronto?”

“Hello. My name is Signora Parisi. I’m calling from the Start with a Wish foundation in Padova. Today we received a letter from a boy named Dino Berettini. There was no address on the envelope, but we saw that it was postmarked from Maniago. Edda Romano, the founder, has asked me to speak to the person who knows about it.”

Maybe Dino mailed it himself and no one in his family knew about it. If he’d wanted to keep it a secret, it was too late now.

“Signora Parisi? I’m Giustina Berettini, Dino’s grandmother, the one who sent it for him.” Her answer filled Gabi with relief. “I’m surprised you received it so quickly. I only mailed it on Friday.”

“We try to be prompt with a reply when the letters come in because we know the desperate needs of these children.”

“I was home with him on Friday when he said he wanted to watch your program,” the older woman said. “I’d heard of the foundation, of course, but I’d never seen it on TV. Before long he asked me to help him with his letter and mail it. What he printed came straight from his heart.”

Gabi nodded. “When I read the letter to my coworkers, we were all very touched. Once Edda read it, she suggested I contact your family. We realize he needs an operation, and we can’t bring back his mother, but would it be possible for me to come and bring him a gift? Edda wants him to know all our prayers will be with him.”

“That’s very kind of you. He’ll be so thrilled.”

It would be a thrill for Gabi, too. “I’ll bring it when it’s the best time for you. I believe the sooner he receives it, the better.”

“Would it be possible for you to come to my house in the morning? Say nine o’clock? Or is that too early? I don’t have any idea about your hours of work.”

“Nine o’clock would be no problem. What’s the address?”

After writing it down, Gabi hung up and told Stefania what was planned. Then she headed for the gift department to pick up the Christmas-wrapped set and put it in her car.

Excited over her mission, she drove home to Limena and shared all that had happened with her mother. They talked until late and she slept poorly, waiting for morning to come.