Free The Weight of Shadows by Alison Strobel Page B

he had to jump on the opportunity but wasn’t ready to pack up and leave the house so soon. He hadn’t found another place for he and Maddie to live yet, and with temp positions as his only income now, he was loathe to take time from his job hunting to start house hunting.
    After hanging up with Scott, Joshua logged into the websites where he’d posted his resume and searched for half an hour for new job postings, but as usual there was nothing.
    I don’t remember praying for patience or faith, Lord. What’s up?
    The classifieds from Sunday’s paper were still on the corner of his desk, so he read through them again, this time allowing himself to consider anything that made more than minimum wage and didn’t sound like something college kids did on their summer vacations. It doesn’t even have to be a new career. Just a job that will pay the bills. C’mon, God, throw me a rope, here. But even as he scanned the listings he knew there weren’t any for him there.
    The temp jobs weren’t coming as often as he needed. He couldn’t afford many more days like this—days spent at home, staring at the computer, begging God to put his resume in front of the right person. He was doing everything he could, but with unemployment so high, he knew the only way he’d find a job was by God making the connection.
    “This is nuts.” He stood, running his hands through his hair and staring out the window. He had an hour before he needed to pick up Maddie. As much as it hurt his pride, it was time to start going after any full-time job that would get him a paycheck. Who cared if it was minimum wage? A little money was better than none.
    He opened the classifieds once more and started at the top. He skipped the first three ads, which asked for experience in their field, then called the next six. Each one ended the same way—“Thanks, but you’re overqualified.” He didn’t care if their jobs were “beneath” him—but they did.
    He called a few more before leaving to pick up Maddie but only got more of the same. When he arrived at the preschool, a woman he’d never seen before was waiting near the front door, talking on her cell phone. He didn’t recognize her as one of the usual moms, and he couldn’t help overhearing her phone conversation.
    “But I’m leaving Wednesday for New York. I can’t do it! Are you sure none of the others could be trained for it? Not even Tammy?…Alright, well, post an ad, then.”
    Joshua was dying to break in and ask what kind of ad they were going to post, but gave the woman a brief smile instead and passed her to enter the building.
    He was tying Maddie’s shoes when the woman appeared be hind him. One of the girls came running from the dress-up corner, shouting, “Aunt Lori! Where’s Mom?”
    “Hey kiddo! She got stuck in traffic coming back from Detroit and asked me to come get you. Go get your things and I’ll talk to your teacher.”
    “Who is that?” Maddie asked the girl.
    “She’s my aunt. She owns a store that makes sandwiches that are so good . I go there sometimes with my mom and we get to eat for free!” The girls ran off together to their cubbies to retrieve their backpacks, and Joshua felt a prick of hope. A sandwich shop? He could do that.
    When the woman came back to the door, Joshua smiled at her. “Your niece says you own a sandwich place?”
    “Oh, yes—Zelman’s Deli on Detroit Avenue.”
    “Really! I’ve eaten there before, and your niece is right, that was a good sandwich.”
    She laughed. “Well thank you.”
    “I couldn’t help but hear you on the phone when I came in—it sounds like you’ve lost an employee?”
    She sighed. “Yeah—one of our managers quit without giving us any notice. Usually I’d just step in, but I’m going out of town for two weeks, and my business partner is already covering for another employee that just had surgery. It’s been messy. The joys of owning your own business, right?”
    An idea began to form in