Missing Pieces - Chapter 3
Hailey
Friday
I glanced back over at the stranger as I wiped up a spill on the counter.
For some reason, I wanted to know his story.
I wasn't sure if it was because of the odd way he had answered my questions or because of his baby blue eyes.
Maybe I didn't feel anything when I looked at Jack, but I felt something when I looked at him.
I was currently holding his phone hostage, so it wasn't like he could just walk away into the night.
Plus he had just downed a whole beer. He wouldn't be going anywhere for a while.
I smiled. He needed a refill. I walked back over to him. "Need a refill?"
"No, I'm okay."
Crap. "Are you sure?"
He looked up at me. There was something else in his blue eyes I hadn't seen before. He looked sad. He gave me a small smile. "Yeah, I'm sure. I need to go find that gas station."
Now all I wanted to do was comfort him. I leaned on the counter and tried to hide my smile when I caught him steal a glance at my cleavage.
Growing up working at this bar had taught me how to flirt at an early age.
I was almost positive I could lighten his mood.
"I really have always wanted to go on a road trip across the country. Are you taking any hitchhikers?"
He laughed.
I leaned slightly toward the sound. I had known he wasn't from around here as soon as I laid eyes on him.
He was dressed a little more sleek than the men from town.
I wasn't at all surprised that he had said he was from NYC.
And I couldn't deny that he was handsome.
Even though I didn't actually want to hitchhike with him, a little flirting never hurt anyone. "Is that a yes?"
"I'm pretty sure hitchhiking is illegal."
"Not one to break the rules?"
He smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "I didn't say that."
I laughed. "Well it wouldn't be hitchhiking if we knew each other." I stuck my hand out for him. "I'm Hailey."
He stared at my hand for a second before grabbing it. "Tyler."
"Nice to meet you, Tyler. So, why exactly are you going to California?"
He scratched the back of his neck. For some reason I found it incredibly sexy. "I just needed a change," he said.
"How mysterious."
He smiled again.
"Do you have a bunch of stops planned? I've always wanted to see the Grand Canyon."
"Not really. I'm just...driving." He shrugged his shoulders.
I could tell he was running from something. He didn't need to say it.
"But if you're coming along, I guess I could make a stop there."
I smiled. He was finally flirting back. I had successfully cheered him up.
His eyes left mine.
I turned around to see that he was staring at the TV screen behind me.
There was a news broadcast on about the tech mogul, James Hunter, and his new wife.
He had gotten shot on their wedding night.
It wasn't looking like he was going to make it.
They had been reporting on it for the past several days.
"It's tragic. Aren't they the sweetest couple? I really hope he pulls through."
"Yeah. Yeah, me too. I should probably get going. Could you check on my phone?"
I turned back to him. Like a switch, he looked grim again. "Yeah, sure. Let me go check."
As I walked down the hall I heard my dad coughing in his office.
It probably wasn't the best time to have the conversation we needed to have.
But I couldn't stand the thought of him lying to me.
Just the thought made my blood boil. I needed to know why he didn't tell me about the bar failing.
I needed to clear the air between us. I knocked on his door and poked my head in. "Hey, Dad."
"Hi, honey. How's business tonight?"
I bit my lip. Anna could handle everyone for a second. I stepped into his office and closed the door. "Good." I took a deep breath. "Dad, I saw the bills."
He raised his eyebrows. "What bills?"
I put my hands on my hips. "The overdue notices. The foreclosure."
His pretend shocked face disappeared. He nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was waiting for you to finish school. I didn't want..."
"The bank is taking back the bar at the end of next month? We barely have any time to fix this. You should have told me."
"I didn't tell you because there's nothing we can do."
"Of course there is. I don't even understand what happened. Everything seemed fine over winter break. And there's tons of people out there right now. It doesn't add up. We should be cash flow positive."
"We are. I've...been using the money."
"For what?"
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I didn't want you to find out like this."
"Find out what?"
"All the money has been going to my chemo treatments."
My whole body suddenly felt cold. "Chemo? What are you talking about?"
His eyes looked slightly teary. He clasped his hands together on the top of his desk, like this was just a normal business meeting. "I have lung cancer."
I shook my head. "No. Dad. You can't..." I put my hand over my mouth.
"I do."
"No. We have to go get a second opinion. That's impossible. You've never even smoked."
He shook his head. "I've gotten a second opinion."
"Okay, so what can we do next?"
"Nothing. I'm dying, Hails."
"But can't you get treatment? Can't..."
"We can't afford to try anything else."
"Of course we can. We can figure it out. Just like we always have."
"I borrowed money against the bar. Against our house. Against my car. There's nothing left."
I shook my head.
"And we have your college loans to think about now."
"Screw that. There has to be something else we can do."
"Insurance won't cover any of the experimental treatments that my doctor has recommended. There is nothing else. Chemo didn't work. Radiation didn't work. It's the end of the road for me. We just have to use the time we've been given."
I tried to blink away the tears. "How much time?" My voice came out as a whisper.
"Four months."
I shook my head as the tears started to spill down my cheeks. "You can't just give up."
"I'm not giving up." He stood up and put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm choosing to enjoy my last few months with my girl."
"Dad." My voice cracked. I couldn't lose him. He was the only family I had.
"Chin up," he said and lightly tapped under my chin. He used to do that whenever I was upset growing up. It reminded me to be brave. It reminded me to be strong.
And I needed to be brave for the next thing I had to say to him. "What about Elena?"
He sighed. "She won't help us. And I don't want her to."
"Dad, I know she has the money."
"And she has no reason to give it to us."
"I've never asked her for anything. I could..."
"No. I don't want a cent from her. We've never needed a thing from her and we don't now either."
I pressed my lips together. How could he not want to try? How could he be giving up? And then I realized that maybe he had been fighting this for longer than I knew. Maybe he had been fighting alone the whole time I had been away. "When did you get diagnosed?"
"Halfway through your junior year."
"Why didn't you tell me?" For a year and a half he had been suffering alone. We told each other everything. At least, we used to.
"Because I knew you'd come home to help. I wanted you to finish school."
"You should have told me, Dad."
"And wouldn't you have come back?"
"Of course."
"Then I made the right decision."
"We're supposed to be a team, Dad."
"We are a team. But being a parent is also about making sacrifices for your child."
"I didn't ask you to do that."
"You being born asked that of me." He touched the bottom of my chin again. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But I'm glad you're home now. I could use the extra help around the bar. I haven't been feeling up to it."
I nodded. I suddenly saw the wrinkles around his mouth and the hollow look of his eyes.
He looked sick. He looked like a shadow of the man I had left behind to go to college.
And he was telling me not to feel guilty about that.
But I felt horrible. Had I really been so self centered that I hadn't noticed he was hurting?
"I'm sorry about the bar. I thought...well, I thought I'd get better."
I shook my head. "Don't worry about the bar, Dad." I embraced him in a hug. I didn't give a shit about the bar. All I really cared about in this whole world was him. He was it. I had to figure out a way to get the money for his treatment.
"Now get back to work, your old man needs to sit down."
"Okay." I wiped away my tears. All I could think about was that he'd never get a chance to truly grow old. I watched him sit down. He coughed again. How had I not realized he was sick?
"It's going to be okay, hon. You're going to be okay."
Without you? No, I wasn't. I nodded my head, but it was more of a reflex than an actual agreement.
I wasn't a child. I knew that life wasn't fair.
But this? My dad didn't deserve this. I swallowed down the lump in my throat as I made my way back to the bar.
If the bar did well the next month, that wasn't going to change anything. That wasn't going to be enough money.
"Here," I said and put Tyler's phone and charger down on the counter.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine." I put on my fake smile. The one I so often used around customers. The one I so often used around campus. The one I seemed to use way more than my real smile.
"Thanks for this," he said and grabbed his phone. For a brief second his fingers brushed against mine.
I felt a spark. This tiny spark that suddenly made me not feel like crawling under the bar and crying my eyes out. I frowned.
He immediately moved his hand away. "And for the directions," Tyler said. "I owe you one."
I stared at him. He owed me one? I'd never see him again. "Have a safe drive." I folded my arms across my chest.
"Thanks." He hopped off the bar stool and walked out the door where he had come.
I glanced back toward my dad's office. I wasn't ready to give up like he was. And staying here wasn't going to fix anything. I needed to see Elena. Despite what he said, she owed me. She owed me this one thing.
I couldn't let my dad die. I couldn't. I untied my apron, threw it on the bar counter, and ran after Tyler. He was just climbing into his car.
"Let me come with you!"
He turned his head toward me. "Um...what? I didn't think you were serious about wanting to hitchhike."
"You said you owed me one. Let me come with you."
"That's just an expression."
"Please." I could hear the exasperation in my voice. He was going to think I was completely crazy.
"Look, I don't even know where I'm going."
"It doesn't matter. As long as you end up in California."
"Why don't you just take a flight?"
"I don't have the money. But, I mean, I have some. I can help pay for gas. Or whatever you need."
"I don't know if..."
I grabbed the handle of the passenger side door and climbed into his car. He was taking me to California whether he wanted to or not.