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
