Chapter Two
The Jewels Vernes Orphanage has been a figment of Rockville, Indiana since long before Danica had been born. It had always stood as a testament of safety to the kids who were brought through the doors, and though the building was a little bit less sightly than it had once been in its prime, it was still that safe haven for the twenty-one children currently living within its walls. As she walked up the gravel path that had seen better days, her eyes took in all the maintenance that needed to be done. One of the eave spouts was clogged with pine needles. The paint on the front door was peeling away to reveal the old wood underneath. One of the windows was boarded up where Clark had thrown a ball and broken it. There hadn’t been enough money come in to repair the window, but it was on Danica’s list to fix next when Mr. Link paid the extra fees from the bet.
A pair of shoes danged from Danica’s hand, used but in good condition. Phillip had been wearing shoes too small because no new donations had come in. It seemed people were in a less giving mood these days. They donated to organizations that helped other people in need, but people could only give so much. Sad as it was to say, people tended to forget there were children in need right in their backyards. There was a serious lack of donations and good foster families, so Danica tried to help out as much as she could. During the summer, she organized fundraisers to help fund clothing and repairs. BBQs, car washes, bake sales; you name it, Danica had tried it, but each time, less and less money was made. It was a sad cycle.
In their small town, no one ever visited the orphanage, except for the guys at work. It was a requirement of working for her, to put in a few hours at the orphanage in the beginning, but they were able to stop after that. The thing was, once they started, no one had ever stopped going up to the orphanage for visits. Leo came the most, befriending each and every child the same way he’d once befriended Danica. The others came throughout the week, offering help as needed and spending time with the kids.
Polly, the head of the orphanage, was a sweet older lady who cared for the kids. She’d been desperately trying to keep the place open for years, fighting the bank and for donations, but there was only so much she could do. Danica dreaded what would happen if Polly was no longer there to fight for the kids.
It was as she was walking up the steps that Polly met her, her eyes creased with worry. Normally, the woman wouldn’t meet Danica at the front of the building—she’d wait until Danica came inside—but because she came out, Danica knew she wanted to speak privately, which never boded well. Whatever Polly would say, Danica knew it couldn’t be good. The older woman was usually a picture of ease. Today, she was a mess of nerves.
“What is it?” Danica asked, her heart kicking in her chest. “Is it one of the kids?”
“No, no. I’m sorry to worry you, dear. The children are fine, but we’ve received a bit of bad news, I’m afraid.”
“Are they dropping your funding again?” Danica scowled. The last time the state had decreased the funding, it had nearly crippled the orphanage. If they did it again, there would be no recovering from it.
“I’m afraid it’s worse than that,” Polly sighed. “The bank has decided to move forward on the debts.”
“But they can’t do that! You’re a nonprofit.”
“They can when the debt climbs too high, and I’m afraid there’s no way we can pay the debt off in the next two months, Danica.” She touched Danica’s shoulder. “I’ve already started the process of finding suitable homes for the children.”
“But the money I send you—”
“Is very generous, dear, but we’ve gone too low for too long. The bank is demanding the debt be paid in full by the end of next month or they’re going to foreclose on the building. There’s nothing to be done.”
“There has to be a law against something like this.”
“Not one that will help us. Danica, I’m sorry. I can’t ask for more money. You already do more than enough for us, fixing our vehicles for free, donating money, organizing the fundraisers. We’ve only been able to stay open as long as we have because of you. But there’s nothing else we can do. I want to make sure the children have safe places to be and not wait until the last minute.” Danica’s eyes wrinkled in thought, but Polly shook her head. “Don’t even think about it. The state won’t let you adopt all of them.”
“Can’t I still apply?”
“You can,” Polly nodded. “But that’s not how it works, and you know it. The red tape makes it difficult to circumnavigate, and you’re a single woman living in a camper, though you’re fully capable of taking care of every single child if you wanted to. There are flaws in the process that no one will change. We can try, but the chances of you being denied are almost guaranteed.”
Clenching her jaw, Danica ran a hand through her hair in agitation. It wasn’t fair for the children to be punished. It wasn’t fair that she couldn’t do anything to help them. They weren’t her children, not by blood, but they meant more to her than she could even fathom. After hearing their stories, after knowing what they’d been through, it was difficult not to want to wrap them all in bubble wrap and protect them, and now their main source of protection was being taken away. For most of the kids, the Jewels Vernes was the steadiest place they’d been in.
“I’ll find a way,” Danica promised.
“Danica—”
“I’m not letting these kids lose you and the only safe place they’ve ever known. You heard what Stephanie said about her last foster home. I’m not sending her back to that. None of them. I’ll figure it out. You have my word.”
But Danica didn’t know how she would pull it off at all. After all, she was only one woman, and the kind of the money the orphanage would need to pay off the debts was an amount Danica couldn’t possibly raise. But she was going to try.
That was the least she could do.
So, she put a smile on her face, hid the stress in her eyes, and walked through the doors for the weekly dinner with the kids who deserved far better than they’d gotten in life.