Read Online Break of Day by Mari Madison - Free Book Online Page A

pursue my interest in journalism. To take summer classes in high school, to apply for the school newspaper editor job in college. Without her influence I had no idea where I would have landed. Wherever it was, I was guessing “You want fries with that?” would have been part of my daily vocabulary.
    â€œI’m pretty psyched,” I admitted, happy to be able to show my true enthusiasm at last. I hadn’t wanted to say too much in front of Asher. I still didn’t like the idea of him swooping in and saving my career and I wished I could have gotten the job completely on my own. The randomness of the opportunity bothered me, too; what if Beth had chosen someone else as her maid of honor instead? Would she have been Asher’s producer now? Would I still be stuck in production assistant hell, sick about being passed over for promotion yet again?
    But I knew better than to say any of that in front of Toby. The woman had no tolerance for that kind of “woe is me” bullshit. Things happened for a reason, she always liked to say. And one didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Or bite off your nose to spite your face, for that matter—which I had almost managed to do earlier that day. In Toby’s world, if something good happens? You celebrate it. You appreciate the crap out of it. No matter how it came to pass. After all,life didn’t hand people like us many gifts. And we weren’t rich enough to refuse the ones it did out of some sense of stupid pride.
    Besides, at the end of the day, I did deserve the job. Okay, maybe not this particular job—but a good job nonetheless. As Asher had reminded me, I worked hard. I stayed focused. I did everything right. Why shouldn’t I reap the rewards? Someone had to—it might as well be me.
    â€œSo, superstar,” Toby teased, “does this mean we’re losing you for good?”
    I smiled at her. I knew if I said yes, she would have been completely supportive of my decision. But I also knew how much she needed me to stay. The Holloway House had a shoestring budget, mostly funded by private grants, and they couldn’t afford to hire enough qualified candidates to support the amount of kids that came through the doors. So many helpless kids. Kids just like I had been, back in the day.
    â€œNah,” I said, waving her off. “I may have to switch around some of my hours, but you’re not getting rid of me that easy.”
    Her face shone with relief, but her mouth stayed grave. “Are you sure, honey?” she asked. “I mean, a new job like this is going to have a lot of pressures attached. And you’re going to want to be able to give it your all. I don’t want you to feel conflicted. Like you’re being pulled in two different directions. You’ve worked so hard to get here—you need to give yourself a chance to succeed.”
    I gave her a rueful smile. I knew she wasn’t wrong. And with my new salary I no longer had to work two jobs to make ends meet. But at the same time there was no way I was just going to walk out on her and the kids now.
    â€œI’m sure,” I told her. “Now, tell me what needs to be done.”
    As usual she didn’t hesitate with an answer. There was always something that needed to be done here and never enough hands to do it. “You can go check on Jayden,” she told me. “He’s having a rough day. Shut himself up in his room again.”
    â€œWhat happened?” I asked worriedly.
    Toby gave a small shrug. “I think his mother called him. You know how he gets after hearing from her. He refuses to talk to anyone. Wouldn’t come down for lunch either.”
    I sighed. Ten-year-old Jayden had been at the Holloway House for three years now and he was one of my favorites, even if most of the other staff couldn’t stomach him. I didn’t blame them—not really. Even when he was in a good mood he could be