Her free-spirited friend laughed. “Luciano hired me the day I applied for the position of counselor.”
“I had no idea.”
About very little it seemed.
Throughout her stay in Italy, she’d been given updates on the progress in Colorado and asked for her signature regarding legal issues on the employment of “key staff,” as he’d put it. She’d been too involved establishing the program at his lodge and dealing with her own conflicting emotions over him to pay close attention to what she signed.
Not good business sense at all and she wasn’t proud of that admission.
Just how deeply had he dug into her past? Certainly enough to know that she’d been close friends with Karla. That her friend had been interviewed by Luciano—that he’d handpicked a women who’d befriended her when she’d needed it most. “You must be perfect for the position,” she said and embraced Karla, “because Luciano is extremely particular about his employees and mine.”
Karla laughed and gave her a friendly squeeze before backing away. “Don’t I know it! Hey, for what it’s worth he raved about your fantastic program. If I didn’t know better I would have sworn it was his baby.”
His baby...
The thought of having Luciano’s child fizzed through her blood like champagne, leaving her heady and wistful and yet sad. Her time had visited her on the flight back. There would be no baby in her near future.
Caprice shook off the odd melancholy with a smile. “Luciano has a vested interest in Tregore Lodge, so in a way it is his baby. And I don’t mean to be rude,” she added, “but I’ve had a long day finishing details on my therapy unit and need to get some rest.”
“Say no more,” Karla said. “We’ll catch up later.”
“Great!”
Caprice considered it good luck that she made the long walk from the front desk to fetch a key to her rooms without further delay. Sleep. She just wanted to bury her head under the blankets and let this hurt pass her by.
But when she awoke the next morning at 4:00 a.m., she knew quality rest wasn’t in her future. Luciano had tormented her dreams, just as he’d managed to infiltrate those idle moments of her mind during the day while she was in Italy.
Would it ever stop?
It had to. She had to get a grip and move full speed on her lodge—the lodge that he’d poured more than a million dollars into for renovation. But even then, this program wasn’t his baby, it was hers.
Now was the time to prove that.
* * *
Two weeks later she was settled and moving forward with establishing her program here, but nowhere close to feeling settled in her personal life. She missed Luciano. Far too often she’d caught herself reaching for him at night.
She had to snap out of it now. Somehow Luciano had moved heaven and earth to have the mountain and surrounding grounds well groomed before the first snow. Though that was months away yet, she would receive patients for the therapy unit before fall.
That gave her three weeks to have the interior finished and the staff totally ready to perform at top speed. Long, tiring hours were needed with her having a clear head focused on business. It would have been a snap to achieve eight weeks ago. Now?