Page 105 of Missing Pieces (Men of Manhattan 3)

rrible misunderstanding. I'd go to him. He needed to know about the baby. This couldn't wait. And I knew he'd be as excited as I was. This baby would have a mother and a father who loved him. We'd be a family.

My heart was open. I was going out into the world. I would be doing everything my father wanted. I pulled the duffel bag over my shoulder. He'd be proud of me. I was proud of myself.

The mailman was placing down a huge stack of mail on the bar counter when I walked out of my dad's office.

"Morning, Hailey. You have quite a bit of mail there." He tapped the side of the counter. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm good, Chuck." For the first time, it wasn't a lie. I was taking a step forward. I was living my life again.

"That's good to hear." He tipped his hat. "Keep your head up." He whistled on the way out the door.

I lifted up the stack of mail and it felt like my heart crashed to the floor. I dropped my duffel bag and let myself sink into one of the bar stools. All the letters I had written to Tyler were sitting on the bar counter. They were all stamped with different things. Undeliverable as addressed. Return to sender. Insufficient address. Rejected.

Every single letter I had sent. They looked just like the letters I used to write to my mom. The ones I'd always get back.

He promised he'd write back. I swallowed hard. This was a bigger offense than the lie. Who the hell cared if he was really in the marines? I'd rather he wasn't. But this? He knew about the letters I wrote to my mom. He knew and he still gave me a fake address? I bit my lip.

This past week had been a living hell for me. But I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. I thought...fuck, I don't know what I thought.

I turned over each envelope. They had all been opened and then taped shut again. He read them? I swallowed hard. My pleas for him to call me. My desperation. He hadn't given me a fake address. He had seen all of it. He just didn't care enough to reach out to me. He didn't care about me.

I would have driven to the end of the earth for Tyler. But I didn't even know him. I didn't know where he was. I didn't know if the week we had spent together was even real.

Time hadn't stopped. Time had sped up, chewed me up, and spit me back out. I felt ten years older. And ten years wiser. Love did make people do stupid shit. It had given me hope about something that never would be. But I was done being stupid. Fuck him.

I didn't need Tyler Stevens. Which was good, because I was probably never going to see him again.

I grabbed all the letters and went back into my dad's office. I was embarrassed that I had thought that it was more than what it was. My grief had made me grasp on to straws. But I was stronger than this pain. I was. I slammed the letters down on the desk.

I didn't need anyone. I could pick up my own damn pieces. It suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe. God, I'm such an idiot. I collapsed into the desk chair in a fit of tears.

Just like with every guy in the history of men, it had been about sex. That's all it ever was. I should have never climbed in his car. I should have been with my dad.

I put my face in my hands as I let my grief swallow me whole.

Chapter 58

Tyler

Saturday

I turned on my blinker and exited the highway when the annoying voice on my GPS instructed me to. Even though I hated it, I didn't want to miss the exit. For some reason it felt like I was running out of time. It had been over a week since I had left her in that motel in Santa Monica.

She had probably been writing to me, wondering why I wasn't writing back. I never wanted to make her feel like I didn't want to respond. I knew how much that hurt her because of her mom. Please don't let me be too late. I wanted her to jump into my arms, not slap me.

I drove by the sign promising a gas station and smiled. It was like I had turned back time. Except this time I wasn't heartbroken and lost. I had fallen in love with a girl from Indiana. And she loved me back. I hadn't signed my life away. I was free. Free to stay, free to love her. I'd get to hold her in my arms again. I'd get to shake her dad's hand.

As soon as I saw the bar, I sighed with relief. There were a few cars parked outside, but I didn't doubt that it was packed inside. I put the car in park and grabbed the bouquet of flowers.

When I walked into the bar I thought Hailey would be standing behind the counter and that our eyes would instantly meet. And that I'd see her beautiful smile as she ran toward me. It would be the perfect reunion. In reality, Hailey was nowhere in sight. I glanced around the bar. The only person that seemed to be working was an older woman. She was wiping down the counter.

I walked over to her. "Hi, is Hailey here?"

She gave me a small smile. "May I ask who's asking? I don't really think she's expecting anyone today."

"I'm Tyler."

She gave me a blank stare.

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