It was enough to convince Tom to leave. He did exactly what our father told him to do and built the company he’d envisioned for years. None of us had any idea how important that company would be in just a matter of months. When our mother was diagnosed with cancer while our father was still fighting, it felt like everything was falling apart. They couldn’t work and needed so much care. It was overwhelming and frightening in a way I had never experienced.
That’s when The Hollow came into our lives. We didn’t have the luxury of just being upset, worried, and afraid. That wasn’t an option. We needed to stop thinking about ourselves, step up, and take care of our parents. Tom gave us the ability to do that when he bought us the bar.
I had to admit it was a bit of a shock when he told us. We were used to him checking in every couple of days and sending care packages, but that day, the video chat took an unexpected turn. All-but-instant millionaire or not, Tom couldn’t be expected to take on the responsibility of caring for all of us and our parents on his own. The rest of the brothers still in Astoria had jobs, but nothing particularly lucrative, and definitely not flexible. We didn’t have the option of just taking off if there was an emergency or adjusting our schedules to be there when our parents needed us.
The bar was going to give us that, Tom said. We could run it as we saw fit. That meant controlling our own schedules and bringing in a steady income without having to rely on someone else. He bought the bar, gave us enough money to get started, and we were on our way.
And also on our own. That was the day Tom decided all this was too much for him. He couldn’t cope with the stress or bear the emotional pain that came from it all. He needed to focus on himself and his life in San Francisco. We all tried to say we understood, especially when he promised he would stay in touch and visit, but in reality, none of us did. We all thought he was being cowardly and tossing our parents aside.
Some of that still lingered. We missed him and were mad at him at the same time. It wasn’t a comfortable state to be in.
But neither was trying to figure out how to deal with the bar. It wasn’t like we were completely going under. Fortunately, Jesse had the foresight to suggest we didn’t just run The Hollow as a neighborhood bar. That would be a primary draw, of course, but we needed to offer something else. Our lunch service and dinner in the evenings proved popular. A once-a-month brunch gave another boost of income that helped to compensate for the dwindling crowds coming in at night. Customers coming to eat kept the place afloat and enough income flowing in. But it also left the four of us exhausted.
As a cost-cutting measure, we kept to a minimum staff. It meant we didn’t have to pay a bunch of people and could keep more of the profits for ourselves. It also meant we were running ourselves into the ground. That was the message on our brother Matt’s face when he came into the bar and let out a deep sigh before dropping down onto the barstool beside me.
“Has it been like this all night?” he asked.
“Pretty much,” I confirmed. “Dinner was pretty good tonight, though.”
“So, does that mean I can leave?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Don’t even think about it. It’s just us on staff tonight. We have to handle the kitchen, the bar, the front of the house, and management. We need all hands on deck even if it doesn’t get busy.”
Matt let out another sigh and sagged against the stool. If it wasn’t so frustrating, the dramatic response would be funny.
“We need to hire a bartender,” Jesse said. “We’re overworked as it is, and if we can get this place busy again, we’re not going to be able to handle it totally on our own.”
“We’re never going to get it busy again if it’s just us,” Tyler said. “All of us are scrambling just to handle the basic stuff around here. We can’t do anything to bring in more crowds.”
I nodded in agreement. “Having a dedicated bartender certainly would help things. I’ve been looking over the books the last few days, and it seems like we have just enough cash to do it.”
“Then let’s do it,” Jesse said. “The longer we wait, the more nights like this we’re going to have.”
The door opened and a small group walked in. I nodded toward them. “Jesse, you take care of them. Do we still have anything left from dinner service?”