“Epic.”
“Deep pockets.” Epic Snowboards was second only to Burton in the world of snowboards, and definitely the biggest name brand of all winter sports gear and apparel across the US and Europe. “But I’ve never worked with one of their athletes. Why would they be willing to stretch their budget for me?”
“You’re not exactly a hard sell. All I had to do was toss out a few names of your previous clients, and they responded.”
“You can’t give out that kind of information,” she scolded, a streak of unease sliding down her breastbone. “There are confidentiality agreements, HIPAA restrictions—”
“I didn’t share anything that wasn’t already public information. Come on, what do you say?”
She let her breath slip from her lungs, relieved. A lawsuit would tip her stress levels into the homicidal range. The idea started to creep past her resistance—and her better judgment. She rested her hip against the back of the sofa, thinking she should stick with her gut feeling on this and tell him no. But that kind of money would give her a huge leap toward buying the equipment she needed to set up her own physical therapy practice. “That’s a lot of money for six weeks. Just how many other therapists has he gone through since his injury?”
Drake’s shoulders fell an inch. His mouth kicked sideways. “Three,” then quickly added, “but look at Bonner and Magnus and Tobiano—they couldn’t hold on to a therapist either, and you found a way to reach them. You brought them back to the top of their games. Hunt’s no worse.”
“Not encouraging,” she said. “What else?”
“It’s a live-in situation. You’d stay in a guesthouse on his property.”
“And?”
>
“And…he lives in Lake Tahoe. But,” he added quickly, “Epic understands that they’re compensating you for the risk of leaving your job and relocating for the short time frame.”
“Uh-huh,” she murmured, watching him closely, letting the silence linger.
“And…” he started again, giving in to her silent demand for the whole scoop, “he’s a lousy patient. In fact, he’s been rehabbing himself since the other therapists didn’t work out. He doesn’t think he needs help, and I’m not gonna lie, Jules, one of the reasons I need you is because he’s going to need a heavy hand to keep him in line.”
She’d dealt with her share of difficult patients. In fact, all elite athletes, even the sweetest, most considerate, were difficult in some way. Julia just kept seeing dollar signs in her mind. Dollar signs that opened a light at the end of this dark tunnel she’d fallen into.
“What’s the injury?” she asked.
“Fractured talus. Lateral margin.”
Julia winced. An ankle break was a snowboarder’s worst nightmare. A possible career ender. Or worse. “Surgery?”
“Within a week of the injury. They had to wait until the swelling went down.”
Empathy crept in. That had to have been a long, hard fall from his pedestal. She knew exactly how difficult it was to climb back up after an injury that severe, and the thought made her heart ache a little. “How long ago?”
“End of September, so almost twelve weeks.”
“If he’s trying to rehab himself, he’s still in the denial phase—a long way from being where he needs to be for me to work with him. You’re pulling me in awfully late in the game.”
“He’s had complications.”
She rolled her eyes just thinking about what an ass this guy had to be to chase off three other therapists. “Of his own making. And without knowing what kind of therapy he’s had so far, without seeing the injury, assessing him…” She blew out a breath, everything in her gut telling her to back away. “I don’t know…”
Drake slipped his hand into his blazer pocket, retrieving a thumb drive he then offered Julia. “These are all his medical records for the injury, imaging, labs, doctor’s notes. To open the folder with his case file, you have to electronically sign a confidentiality agreement, a HIPAA form, a few other things.”
The thought of taking that tiny thumb drive laid a huge burden of responsibility on her shoulders—one both exciting and stressful. She pushed Drake’s hand away. “I don’t think—”
“Just consider it.” He reached out and squeezed her bicep. “It’s a win-win, Jules. Noah gets the help he needs; you get to do the work you love while making some extra cash. You need to get back in the game too. Hit up a few of your old contacts. Reassess your options. We both know that you working here is like putting Donald Trump behind a McDonald’s counter.”
“Please tell me you use something more creative to pep-talk your clients.”
“Just say the word, and I’ll let him know you’re coming. If you decide to take the job”—he held up his hand, index finger raised—“go in strong”—he added a second finger—“be prepared for resistance”—he put up a third finger—“and when he makes you crazy, take heart in the fact that you’ll be bettering the quality of a good man’s life, one only you can make.”
He’d turned her own words back on her. “You ass.”