Winners

by Danielle Steel

  Jessie went to her own room, took off her clothes, got in the shower, and let the water run over her while she cried. And then she put on her pajamas and went to bed, thinking about Chris going to the University of Denver. She hoped it was the right decision for him. Even Denver seemed too far away now. All she wished was that she could turn back the clock. They’d all be babies and Tim would still be alive. Instead, Chris was leaving, and Tim was dead. She rolled over and turned off the light. She had gotten through another day.

  Chapter 17

  BILL CALLED JESSIE regularly to report on the progress of his plans, and discuss the suggestions she had made for staff, and she finally succumbed to his entreaties and agreed to go to Denver in May. She had all of the kids stay with friends for the weekend, took Friday off, and flew to Denver on Friday morning. She was worried about leaving the kids, but interested to see what he’d done and what he was doing. Carole was up to her neck in the project by then, and trying to help him find staff too. And Jessie was looking forward to seeing Lily. She was almost finished at Craig, and according to Bill, she had done well there, and was going back to school for the last few weeks of junior year, and would be a senior in the fall, since she had kept up with her work. She was training for the Paralympics, and had skied until the end of the season. She was a remarkable kid. Jessie wished her own worked as hard.

  As they had agreed, Jessie took a cab from the airport, and met him at his house. It was a shambles, with construction still in progress. He had told her he was putting in accommodations for Lily, and he was expecting her home soon, so the heat was on to finish.

  When she rang the doorbell, Steve, the architect, had just delivered a model of The Lily Pad to Bill, who was looking at it with delight. Every detail he had described was there. It was The Lily Pad just as he had dreamed it. And he was still smiling about it when he opened the door to Jessie.

  “Well, hello,” he said, opening the door wide. “Welcome to Denver!” The house looked like a bomb had hit it, and they had to climb over lumber to get to the kitchen. She left her bag in the front hall. And as soon as they walked into the kitchen, he introduced her to Steve.

  “Dr. Matthews, Steve Jansen. Dr. Matthews has come from Squaw Valley to consult on The Lily Pad.” He pointed to the model, and Jessie stared at it with awe.

  “This is amazing,” she said, smiling at both of them. “It looks like a whole village.”

  “It will be, when we’re finished. Everything is already there now, it’s just not adapted to us yet,” Bill explained. “The only thing we have to build is the pool, and we’re starting that in June. It should be finished by October, before the winter. And we’ll be working on everything else this summer too. Would you like something to eat? Coffee? How was your flight?” He looked happy to see her, and she noticed that everything in the kitchen had been lowered for Lily. The kitchen was almost complete, and they were still finishing the elevator. And Bill said he had put in a whole new bathroom for her, and changed her closets.

  “She’s going to be thrilled,” Jessie said as she sat down at the kitchen table. She had worn jeans and a peacoat and running shoes.

  “How’s your brood?” he asked her, while pouring her a cup of coffee.

  “Hanging in. My son just got in to DU. So now I really have an excuse to come to Denver. I can meet with you and visit him.”

  “You can always move here,” he teased her. “Think how convenient that would be.”

  “Yeah, and the others would kill me. How’s Carole? Has she been back?”

  “She’s coming next week. I can’t wait to show her the model too. I just got it.” Steve left then, after checking on the elevator again. He promised it would be finished by the end of the week, and Bill said he hoped so. The construction mess would be hard for Lily to navigate. But the work was almost complete. “I can’t believe you’re here,” he said to Jessie, with a look of pleasure.

  “Neither can I. I figured one of my kids would do something, or get sick, and I’d have to cancel.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t.” He hadn’t seen her since February, but he had talked to her every few days for the last month, with questions, ideas, doctors he’d heard about from other people and wanted to check out with her. She had been very patient with his calls, and so had Carole, who had been an invaluable source of help to them. He knew from Joe that he called her regularly for advice about administrative issues. Bill wanted to put Carole on a retainer, so he didn’t abuse her time and good nature, and he would have liked to do the same with Jessie, but so far Jessie had declined.

  “Are you ready to see The Lily Pad in the flesh?” he asked after they’d sat at the kitchen table for an hour, talking and catching up on the latest developments in his project. Right now they were just concentrating on remodeling and staffing. The rest, the designing of all the programs, would come later. He hoped to have all construction finished by the end of the year. And he was willing to hire a skeleton staff six months before they opened, but he had to find them first. He was working on that almost full time.

  They chatted on the way to the property, and he didn’t say it, but he noticed how tired Jessie looked. She had gotten thinner and was almost gaunt, and very pale. He suspected she’d been having a hard time, which Carole had mentioned too. It was to be expected, but Bill knew that being a single parent wasn’t easy, and he had had only one child when he lost his wife, not four, and hers were older, active, and needed more attention from her, while she managed a demanding job.

  “It was a good time to come,” she commented. “Things are quiet right now. Ski season’s over, so we have no nasty head injuries, except car accidents and things that happen at home. This is the first time I’ve been away in ages,” she said, and he thought to himself that she looked it. She seemed tired, and he could see what she’d been through. Her eyes were bleak, with dark circles under them, and it was easy to see she wasn’t getting a lot of sleep. But she sounded lively and excited whenever they talked about The Lily Pad.

  They arrived at the property then, and got out of Bill’s car, and she commented on how beautiful it was, which was the first thing everyone said who saw it, and how lovely and peaceful the location was, and how well laid out it was. And as they walked, she saw the buildings and the elegant architecture that fit right into the landscape in total harmony. There was an instant feeling of calm, the moment you entered the space, and it was the perfect marriage of nature and fine architecture.

  “This is beautiful, Bill. It’s much prettier than I expected, and the buildings are lovely.” He let her into the larger of the houses, and they walked around the spacious common rooms, while he described what he was going to do with them. And she was impressed when she saw the bedrooms.

  It took them over an hour to tour the property, and she sighed as she looked at him. “You’re doing something so wonderful here. I hope you know that.” Everything he had described made perfect sense now, and she only had a few suggestions that would help medically. She wanted him to use some of what he’d allotted for offices as space for medical exam rooms, which they would need. She showed him how it would work best, and it all sounded sensible to him and was an easy fix. He pointed out the stakes where they had marked off the pool and the building that would house it. It was perfectly placed and close to the gym, with an enclosed walkway. And the gym was fantastic.

  “Wow! It makes you want to stay here forever.” She loved everything she had seen. And there were little gathering areas outside, where the kids could play games or have story time in good weather. There was a large barbecue area too for outside dining. There would be campfires in summer, and the roof over the pool was going to be retractable. “It’s almost like a school or a camp, isn’t it? It doesn’t feel like a hospital at all.” She was immeasurably impressed.

  “That’s the idea.” He showed her the therapy rooms then, and all of the changes Carole had requested, which she agreed with. There was absolutely nothing about it she didn’t like.


  “I wish we had something like this near Squaw. It’s tough sometimes sending patients all the way to Denver. It worked for you because you live here, but for a lot of people this is a long way away.”

  “If this works, maybe we can open one there one day,” he said, smiling at her. “But then you can’t turn me down as medical director.”

  “I wish I could do it here,” she said honestly, looking around, “but I can’t. And Jimmy’s not going anywhere for twelve more years. I’ll help you find someone, though.” The right person for medical director hadn’t shown up yet, but she was sure someone would, and Bill was hoping she was right.

  Before he drove her back to the hotel, they stopped in to see Lily at Craig. She was on her way to her tutor and couldn’t stay long with them, but she was happy to see Jessie and gave her a big hug.

  “I’m so glad you came out here! I missed you,” she said warmly.

  “I missed you too.” Jessie smiled at her and could see that she was flourishing. Craig had really helped her, and she looked confident and comfortable with her wheelchair, and her skiing had done wonders for her. She felt like herself again.

  “Did Dad take you to see The Lily Pad?” Lily looked excited as she asked her.

  “Yes, he did, it’s amazing.”

  “I’m jealous. He hasn’t let me see it yet. He wanted to fix up some things first. He’s going to take me there when I come home.”

  “You’ll love it!” Jessie said, and meant it. She was enormously impressed by the location and Bill’s plans, and everything he had described to her that afternoon. He was a man with a vision, and the courage to see it through.

  Lily had to leave them then to meet her tutor, and Bill drove Jessie back to the hotel.

  “Are you too exhausted to have dinner tonight?” Bill asked her when he dropped her off.

  “No, I’d love it.”

  “I want you to meet our administrator. He’s an old friend of mine from school. He just moved out here from New York last month. He’s been a godsend.”

  “I’d love to meet him,” she said as a bellman picked up her bag.

  “I’ll pick you up at eight.” She waved and followed the bellman into the hotel.

  Jessie lay on the bed and turned on the TV when she got to her room. It was the first time she didn’t have to do anything for anyone, in years, she realized. All she had to do was lie there and relax until dinner, and five minutes later she was sound asleep.

  She woke up with a start at seven, took a shower, and dressed. And at eight o’clock she was downstairs, wearing a short skirt and flat shoes, and a white wool jacket. She looked pretty and relaxed, and her blond hair was in the familiar braid. He had seen her so often in Squaw, and talked to her so frequently since, that he felt like he was meeting an old friend, and she felt that way too as she got into his car with a smile. She had called all the kids before she came downstairs, and everyone was doing fine, so she could enjoy the evening.

  “Not too tired?” he asked with a look of concern.

  “I fell asleep. I feel great,” she said happily. She needed this respite desperately, from all the responsibilities she was carrying alone now. It was the first break she’d had since Tim died. She was on duty all the time, at work or at home.

  “Joe is meeting us at the restaurant. He’s been dealing with the planning commission all day. Zoning problems. Thank God he’s good at stuff like that—I hate it. We need a million permits. He’s a genius at getting the minutiae done, and dealing with all the officials I just get mad when they put up roadblocks. Joe is a magician, and he makes friends with everyone and gets them to give us what we need. I don’t know how he does it. He’s a great guy to have on our team.”

  “So are you,” she said with a smile as they drove through Denver to the restaurant where he’d booked a reservation. It was lively and full of young people when they got there. He had taken a date there in the last month and had been surprised to run into Penny. She’d given him a big hug, and the woman he’d been with had looked annoyed. It was the only time he’d gone out since Lily was at Craig, and there was no one he cared about at the moment. His mind was on other things. He had just taken the woman out because she was attractive and he had nothing else to do, but he’d been so bored by the end of the evening, he knew he wouldn’t take her out again. And as much as he’d enjoyed Penny’s company while he dated her, he didn’t miss her either. He had too much else to think about, with The Lily Pad, and Lily almost ready to come home. He was much more excited about having dinner with Jessie and Joe and talking about their plans than going on any date.

  Bill introduced them to each other, and they went to their table, as Bill asked Joe how it had gone at the planning commission.

  “We’ll get there,” he said calmly, with a confident smile.

  “Better you than I,” Bill said as they sat down. “I always want to kill someone when I have to deal with officials like that. They’re so unreasonable.” Joe laughed, they had been just that all day, but he was a patient man, far more so than Bill. And he had discovered that he and the head of the planning commission had friends in common. It never hurt.

  They ordered wine before dinner, and Jessie felt very adult being out with two men, in a nice restaurant, wearing decent clothes and not just jeans, or her hospital coat or scrubs. She hadn’t let herself relax in months.

  “This is the most civilized evening I’ve had in ages,” she said with a look of amazement. “My poor kids have been living on frozen pizza. It’s been a mess.” Bill couldn’t even imagine what a juggling act Jessie’s life was, especially now alone, with major professional responsibilities and four kids. But he could see on her face how much she was enjoying having a night off. He was sorry they didn’t live in the same city. It would have been nice to see her more often, and talk about their project as it developed.

  Joe and Bill talked about Harvard then, since they had gone to business school there, and she to medical school. It was a common bond they shared. And they all had fond memories of school.

  “I don’t think I could get in today,” Jessie said modestly. “It’s so much harder to get into decent schools.” But Bill was certain she could have.

  “What about your kids?” Bill asked with interest. “Are any of them likely to go east to school?”

  “Not a one,” she said honestly. “They’re California kids, and none of them are great students. Except my little one. He says he wants to be a doctor and go to Harvard, but who knows what he’ll want to do by then? Probably be a pizza baker or something. What about Lily? Where do you think she’ll apply next year?” He looked worried when she asked him.

  “She’s always wanted to go east to college, to one of the Ivy League schools, and she’s got the grades, but I want her to stay close to home now.”

  “What does she want?” Jessie asked gently.

  “Probably the same schools she always did, but things have changed.”

  “Not academically. There’s no reason she can’t go east to school. She can get the care she needs there. You don’t want her to give up her education because of her injury.” She looked shocked at the idea.

  “I want her close to me, and close to home. I’d be worried sick about her there.”

  “Then you’re going to have to work on that, aren’t you,” Jessie said firmly, as their dinner came, and she and Joe struck up a conversation about summers in Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.

  She brought up the subject of Lily and college again when Bill drove her home. “You’re not serious about making Lily stay in Denver because of her injury, Bill, are you?” She looked worried about it when she asked him, and so did he.

  “Yes, I am. This whole thing has been so traumatic, and I want her here where I know she’ll get great care, and I can keep an eye on her. I don’t want something happening to her back east.” He looked terrified as he said it, and she felt sorry for him, and she knew Lily well enough to know that she wouldn’t give in easily. S
he was too much like him to do that, and she wanted a normal life. That was why she was at Craig.

  “You can’t keep her in a bubble. She’d be miserable.”

  “So she says,” he said sadly. “It’s bad enough that she’s skiing. I have my heart in my mouth every time she goes up to Winter Park.”

  “She’s not a kid you can tie down or confine, or keep in a rocking chair, knitting,” Jessie said wisely, and he knew it was true. He had seen her chair skiing once, and he was so frightened for her, it nearly killed him. And now she wanted to enter the Paralympics, downhill racing. “She’s your daughter, Bill. She won’t give up and sit quietly in her wheelchair.”

  “I know. But I think going away to college is too risky for her.” Jessie smiled at him as they got to the hotel.

  “I think you’re going to have a big fight on your hands if you try to keep her here. As her doctor, I can tell you she’ll be okay if she goes away to school. And if that’s what she wants, she should do it. She needs to follow her dreams.”

  “As her father, I can tell you the stress of it would put me over the edge.” He smiled at Jessie too. “These kids don’t make it easy for us, do they? Yours won’t let you leave Squaw Valley for a great job here, and would rather keep you chained up there. And mine wants to drive me into an early grave, downhill racing with a spinal cord injury. I swear, they’re trying to kill us.” She laughed at what he said—some of it was true.

  “They still have to be who they want to be, within reason. I’m not sure how much voice we get in it, or should. It’s our job to let them go when the time comes.”

  “Not in a wheelchair,” he said softly. “I can’t do it.”

  “You may have to,” she said, smiling at him gently. “I understand, it would scare me too. But you don’t want her living like an invalid, do you?” He shook his head and looked into Jessie’s eyes, wishing she were just a woman he had met. But instead she was someone he wanted to hire, and Lily’s doctor. She was a wonderful human being, and he felt so comfortable with her. And she was so smart, and so wise about many things. If nothing else, she was a great friend.