by Nina Singh
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.
Copyright © 2017 by Rebecca Winters
ISBN-13: 9781488015212
Snowed in with the Reluctant Tycoon
First North American Publication 2017
Copyright © 2017 by Nilay Nina Singh
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