I hold back on letting out a huge breath right into my phone. There’s an immediate weight lifted off my chest at his words. “Thank you so much, Mr. Nye. I promise you that this is going to be a good advertising investment.”
“We’re also sending a charitable donation your way.”
Now I have to let the breath out, though I do it as slowly as possible to keep the noise to a minimum. “That’s very generous of you.”
“Our ad team will be in touch. Have a good evening.”
I don’t even get to respond before the call disconnects, and I let out a scream of joy.
Hugh Nye’s son, Peter, was my roommate for four of my six years at Stanford. Pete connected me with his dad when I reached out about the sanctuary’s needs.
Hugh’s company, Particle, is going to be the next big thing in mobile game development services. All signs point to this thing taking off like a rocket, and soon. Getting them to advertise in our app is going to be an amazing boost. And a cash donation?
Holy shit.
My phone dings with Adley’s chime, and I peer at her message.
Adley
Um, what the hell is this?
Below her ominous text is a screenshot from her phone, which I tap on. It’s the new bank account for Springer's Sanctuary that we opened a couple of weeks ago to take donation deposits.
Circled in red, about a million times, is a deposit. From Particle. For $50,000.
My eyes might just pop out of my head. That is way more generous than I expected. But, tax write-offs for big companies are always the name of the game.
Still, this is huge.
My thumbs fly.
Me
I’m coming by to explain. Be there soon.
“So, this donation is from a tech company?”
“Yes.”
“And you worked with a local game developer to make a mobile game… for the sanctuary?”
“Also, yes.”
Adley drops down onto the old couch in the living room and stares blankly at the wall across from her, where the even older TV sits on an entertainment-center-slash-scratching-post.
Shock. It must be shock.
I keep my voice calm and as soothing as possible, approaching her slow and easy. “Adley. I’m sorry I didn’t come to you first. I just wanted to help so bad, I went straight into Work Mode. Any changes you want made—”
I’m cut off as Adley throws herself at me, wrapping her arms around my ribs and hugging so tight, it’s tough for my chest to expand on a breath. But I couldn’t give less of a shit.
I embrace her back, circling my arms around her shoulders and holding her tight, craning my neck just enough to rest my cheek on top of her head.
“I can’t believe you did all of this for us.”
Her words are whispered, hoarse, but filled with gratitude I can feel in my veins. Relief washes over me from head to toe, the tension in my muscles draining away as I sigh against her hair.
“You had me worried.”
