Page 1 of Missing Pieces (Men of Manhattan 3)

Chapter 1

Hailey

Friday

I glanced once more at the closed door. My father wouldn't be arriving to the bar for another 30 minutes, but I was still nervous. If he caught me snooping, he'd have a fit. I quickly opened the last drawer and found what I had hoped I wouldn't. I pulled out the stack of envelopes and spread them out on the desk.

All I could do was stare in silence. I was stunned. Final notices of payments due were staring back at me. They matched the one that had arrived in the mail that afternoon. There were half a dozen from different suppliers and even one for the electricity. I swallowed hard when I lifted up the envelope at the bottom of the stack. A notice of foreclosure.

A knock on the door made me jump.

"Jeff, you in there?" someone said from the other side of the door.

"No, it's just Hailey," I called to the closed door as I shoved all the bills back into the drawer and slammed it shut.

The door immediately opened. Anna, the assistant manager, stepped into the office with a huge smile on her face. "Hails!" She ran over to me and embraced me in a hug. "I didn't know you were going to start work quite yet." She held me at arm's length.

"Yeah, I just got home a few days ago, but I wanted to get back in the swing of things."

"It's so good to have you back, hon," she said. "With your fancy new management degree, I bet you have a ton of ideas for the bar."

"Mhm," I said. But the realization had already hit me. My new degree wasn't going to be able to fix anything. It just added to the debt that was already hanging over our heads. The bar was failing. Why hadn't my dad told me?

"Do you know when your dad will be in?"

"He said he'd be here by 8."

"Great. I was hoping to have a quick word with him. Are you helping behind the bar tonight? The regulars are starting to come in already."

"Sure," I said with a small smile. We needed as much help as possible. "What did you need to talk to my dad about?"

"Oh, well, a few months ago he promised me he'd give me a raise if Billy got into college. And we just got the acceptance letter this morning!" Her smile seemed to grow tenfold. "He'll be heading off to school in the fall."

I tried to hide my grimace. If anyone deserved a raise, it was Anna. She had been working here for as long as I could remember. She was basically a part of the family. All my dad's employees were. But my dad was also drowning in debt. I was drowning in debt. He couldn't afford to give her a raise. What had he been thinking?

"Tell Billy congrats from me," I said with as much positivity as I could muster. "I'm going to go get to work."

"It's great to have you back, Hails," she said.

I walked out into the hall, leaving Anna behind. When I had visited during winter break, business was booming. Well, as booming as it had ever been. Things had been good. And I was excited to come home and help the bar grow even more. But now there was a lump in my throat and tears prickling the corners of my eyes. How long had the bar been in trouble? My dad and I never hid things from each other. Ever. So why had he hidden this from me?

I walked behind the bar and grabbed an apron off the hook. This business was everything my dad had. It was his baby. And it was supposed to be my future. I had plans. Suddenly I felt so incredibly naive. I had gone off to college with hopes and dreams on how we could expand. Coming home to this wasn't what I expected. This bar didn't just mean everything to my father. It meant everything to me too.

I tied the apron around my waist and looked out at the patrons. Like Anna had said, the regulars had started to filter in. Even though I hadn't been here in months, the regulars were all the same. Our small town was notorious for never having any newcomers. But that was probably an exaggeration, because in order to be notorious, outsiders needed to know our town existed, which they did not.

At first I kept glancing at the clock, waiting for my dad to arrive. As everyone started coming up to me and welcoming me home, though, I quickly forgot about the time. It was so great to see everyone. I was happy to be home. And with how packed the bar was, I felt optimistic. We could turn this around. I came home with ideas and I could still implement them. Maybe they wouldn't help us grow, but they could help save the bar. My dad and I would get out of this mess. We always found a way.

I started to wipe down the bar counter during a down moment.

"As beautiful as ever," said a deep voice.

I rolled my eyes and glanced up at my ex boyfriend from high school. "It's good to see you too, Jack."

He smiled.

His smile used to make my legs feel like jelly. It hadn't had that effect in a long time though. I had learned the hard way that all relationships were fleeting. And I could thank Jack for part of that. He had cheated on me with my best friend, Claire, my senior year of high school. I hadn't been in a serious relationship since. Besides, I was too busy with my classes. I was happy to see that his smile no longer affected me though.

"I'm surprised to see you back here," he said.

"I was always coming back, I told you that. Can I get you a refill?"

"Sure." He slid his empty glass to me.

I refilled it a little lower than the brim. We were going to have to make some conscious cuts. And I certainly didn't mind making Jack pay for that. I placed the glass down in front of him. "How's Claire doing?"

"Good. She's pregnant."

"Wow, congratulations." I tried to make myself sound enthusiastic. Most people in this town did stay together. Jack and I were probably the exception. And most of them got pregnant young. Now that I was back, maybe I'd try to talk to Claire again. She had

apologized to me right after she had kissed Jack and I forgave her. But it still felt like a stab in the back when they started dating after I went off to school.

"Thanks, Hailey."

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" I casually glanced around the bar, hoping that someone might need a refill. I maybe wasn't affected by Jack anymore, but I didn't want to be stuck talking to him about his wife and future child all night.

"A girl."

"That's wonderful." What was the appropriate question to ask next? Do you have any names picked out? Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone lift up an empty glass and wave at me. Thank God. "Table seven needs another round," I said. "It was great talking to you, Jack. And congrats on the baby," I added over my shoulder.

Chapter 2

Tyler

Friday

A beeping noise made me glance down at the dashboard. My gas light had just turned on. "Shit." I hit my turn signal and took the first exit off the highway. There was no sign of a gas station despite what the sign on the interstate had promised. Actually, there was no sign of anything. Just dark building after dark building. And a ton of farmland.

---