Free The Girl He Left Behind by Patricia Kay Page B

office.
    â€œWell, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer,” Joan said. “You’re not in any danger of being laid off.”
    Relief coursed through Eve.
    â€œHowever, there are going to be some changes.”
    That didn’t surprise Eve. As the public increasingly relied on the internet for their news, the Courier had steadily been losing money. Fewer readers meant less advertising revenue. Change was inevitable.
    â€œWe’re letting Penny go,” Joan continued, “so you’ll not only be covering city news, you’ll be taking over lifestyle and entertainment, too.”
    Eve’s heart sank. Her workload would double. And not only that, it was going to double at the worst possible time of year—the beginning of summer—when she wanted to spend less time at work, not more. Her mind raced. What would she do about the twins? They were too old for day care and not old enough to be on their own.
    They can always stay at Bill’s for the summer.
    She wiped the unwelcome thought away. Yes, that was always an option, but she would only resort to that solution if she became desperate. Maybe her mother would be willing to keep them during the days Eve couldn’t work at home.
    Joan looked at her thoughtfully. “That means you’ll have to spend more time here and out in public and less time working from home.”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œWill that be a problem?”
    â€œI’ll make sure it isn’t.” Eve couldn’t afford to let anything be a problem if it meant keeping her job and her paycheck. Although Bill was generous with money and never questioned what she did with his child-support payments, Eve needed to work. The money she earned wasn’t an option; it was a necessity.
    â€œOne very good thing—your blog is really taking off.” Joan smiled. “I’m tremendously pleased at the numbers we’re seeing.”
    Eve returned the smile. She was pleased, too. A year ago, when Joan had first approached her about blogging, Eve had thought she would do something geared to working mothers. But after doing some research, she’d seen that there were tons of blogs on that subject, but no one seemed to be blogging about small-town life. And so “The Front Porch” was born. Twice a week Eve wrote about small-town living as seen from her front porch. And for some reason, the blog had found an audience. She had lots of steady readers, more and more all the time. Some had suggested she even turn past blogs into a book, and she’d been seriously considering it.
    â€œDoes Penny know she’s being let go?” Eve asked after a moment.
    â€œI’m calling her in next,” Joan said. “I hate doing this, but I don’t have a choice.”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œSo later, after I talk to her, maybe you can go over things with her. Find out if there’s anything hanging fire that you’ll need to complete.”
    Eve nodded, dreading the meeting with Penny, who was a friend, and who was bound to be upset. She needed her paycheck, too. “Okay.”
    â€œAnd one more thing before you go... I know Penny was planning to try to get an interview with Adam Crenshaw while he’s in town. Since according to the grapevine, you seem to know him, that’ll be your assignment now.”
    Eve hoped her expression didn’t reveal the instant turmoil Joan’s words had caused. She’d promised Bill she would not see Adam again. And although she resented having to do so, she knew, given her circumstances, not seeing him again was her wisest course.
    What was she going to do now?
    The rest of the morning turned out to be even more stressful than her interview with Joan had been. Penny wasn’t the only staffer to get bad news that day. The classified-advertising manager’s job was cut and her duties were given to the display-advertising manager. Neither woman was happy. In addition, the