November 6th, 1971
“How long is this bus ride going to take, anyway?”
“Relax,” I told Dale firmly. “We’re not even past Belleville. It’ll be at least another four hours.”
“Four hours?” Colin repeated halfheartedly.
"What's the big deal?" I asked incredulously. "You've been on buses before. It's only six hours to Montreal from Toronto."
"Why couldn't we fly, again?" Dale pressed.
I shook my head. "It's only an hour by plane, but it's less trouble to drive." Dale opened his mouth to reply, but I pointed a finger at him and his mouth closed. “One more word, Dale, and the driver will pull over,” I warned him sternly, “and you will spend the rest of the drive stuffed in the luggage compartment.”
I heard a snicker from behind me and whipped my head around to see Willie looking out the window trying to hide his amusement.
“Don’t tempt me to put you there, too,” I retorted.
My jesting replies brought the bus into silence, though it wasn’t tense. After another hour the clouds began to spread and hid the sun, so I let Cameron drift into sleep undisturbed. I stood and walked towards the furthest row of seats, which was actually two rows facing each other with a table between them, and sat down.
My window-gazing solitude didn’t last more than ten minutes before Lee caught my attention, standing cautiously in the aisle.
“Can I join you?”
I smiled and nodded lightly. "Sure."
Taking the seat across the table from me, Lee noted my mood. “You’re excited to be back home?” he wondered aloud.
At the mention of home, I glanced over to Cameron’s sleeping figure. “More to see my sister, than to be back here,” I corrected him. “It’s the same for you, I suppose.” I framed it as a question, though I was well aware Lee was feeling much the same; he would have enjoyed a trip to the Arctic if it meant he’d see Liliane.
“Yes.”
His reply was suspiciously simple, and I waited for more to come. After a minute, he spoke again.
“I’m nervous, truth be told,” he confessed quietly.
“She’s been reading your letters, Lee.”
He shook his head and met my gaze. “In any case, it’s been nearly a year since she’s seen me,” he replied. “A lot can happen in a year. You know that, Emily.”
I raised my eyebrows and carefully considered my words. “What do you think has happened?”
“Anything, really, or everything.” Lee sighed and shook his head again. “She’s hardly plain-looking, I’m sure she’s had offers from other men. And she’s under no obligation to refuse them,” he added, though I could tell it hurt him to voice it.
“She’s not, you’re right,” I answered, maybe unhelpfully. “But the only thing she’s told me so far is that she wants to see you.”
“Really?”
I smiled. “I don’t think it would matter if I showed up or not, Lee.”
“You’re only trying to comfort me.” He wrung his hands and didn’t meet my eyes, so I kicked his shin under the table. “What?” he spat.
“You’d better not show up looking like a sad dog, or she’ll bring you straight to an animal shelter,” I snapped playfully. An amused smile crossed his face and I changed my tone. “Relax, Lee. I talked to her yesterday.”
“You did?” he asked in surprise. “And?”
“What do you think? She’s excited to see everyone and she misses us.” My statement didn’t seem to reassure him much, so I bit my lip and took a deep breath. “I’m going to tell you something, Lee,” I began in a stern tone, “but if you tell my sister about this conversation I will tie you up and leave you in an alley.”
Lee nodded silently, accepting my terms.
"She's scared of how much she cares about you. The last time she gave her heart to someone…" I shook my head, remembering Greg.
"He crushed it," Lee finished sadly.
"He did. But you won't, and she knows it. It's just hard sometimes, to accept the things you already know," I explained.
His forehead creased and I almost heard the gears in his head turning.
"You just need to remind her that you love her. Maybe tell her about the girls you've refused," I added with a cheeky grin.
"You noticed that?" he asked bashfully.
I nodded. "Very gallant," I noted with a smile.
"It wasn't for mere gallantry," he admitted slowly. "I won't lie and say I didn't indulge, but… when it’s not who you want to be with, it’s not much for enjoyment.” It was quite obvious that he wasn’t very comfortable telling me about his sex life, but I knew the meaning behind it.
“You wouldn’t be the first rock star to indulge,” I told him offhandedly.
A long moment of silence passed between us, but I knew that he still wanted to talk.
“I was wondering something,” Lee murmured eventually. “About your father, if it’s alright for me to ask?”
“Ask away,” I replied.
“I never want to remind her of the men she’s known,” he told me firmly. “Your father, Greg. It seems Liliane has rarely met a decent man. I would do anything to keep her safe, but what can I do to make her see that?”
Despite the concern in his voice, I smiled when I answered him. “You’re already doing it, Lee.”
We arrived in Montreal just after three o’clock in the afternoon, and it was another hour before we’d checked into the hotel and brought our luggage to our rooms.
“So, this is your city,” Cameron said to me. He put the suitcase on the floor and pulled me into his arms, kissing my forehead. “Glad to be back?”
“Moderately,” I admitted. “It’s nice to have you here with me, this time.”
His smile widened and he asked about my sister. “When will she be joining us?”
“She made a reservation for a table at Bérubé for eight o’clock,” I reminded him. Seeing his eyebrows raise, I explained. “It’s not a fancy place, but a reservation is the best way to make sure they’ll have a table for seven available.”
Cameron nodded and kissed me softly. I hoped he wouldn’t end the kiss, but he did after a moment. “You’ll be on your way, then?”
I nodded. “We’ll leave her place by six-thirty,” I informed him. “We should be here by seven.”
When I’d spoken with my sister while we had been in Toronto, she’d let me know of her schedule. Her shift at the department store ended at five, and she would have the next four days off, only returning to work on Thursday. I was planning to take a cab to her house in Saint Hubert, which was only ten kilometers away from the river surrounding Montreal, and return to the hotel with her to wrangle the men for dinner.
“Get on your way, then,” Cameron ordered playfully.
I turned to grab my purse, but spun back around when I felt his fleeting hand on my behind. “Did you slap me?” I asked, pretending to be insulted.
“I did,” he answered with a proud smile.
I struggled to keep my composure as I lifted a finger and pointed at him. “You’re on your way to a serious beating, Cameron.”
His smile grew, and he winked. “I look forward to it.”
I handed the driver his fare and tip before stepping onto the sidewalk. He thanked me and drove off, seemingly pleased with my business, so I walked across the street towards Liliane's house. She'd bought it after separating from Greg and the subsequent sale of their house. It was only a quick walk away from where I lived with Gran, and having her closer was a great deal of comfort while she and I cared for our grandmother.
Liliane wasn't home yet, but with a glance at my watch I realized she would be pulling into the driveway any minute. I walked over to the fence enclosing the backyard yard and fished between the wood planks for the spare key.
With the door unlocked, I stepped into the sunroom and closed it behind me. Originally, the house had only a front gallery with a railing but Liliane had decided on closing in the gallery and turning the space from outdoor to indoor— though with many windows.
I took a seat in the rocking chair placed in the corner, the familiarity of it making me smile. It had been Gran's chair, which she would haul in from her porch every night, and replace every morning.
The crinkle of tires on the rocky driveway made me turn my head, though the blinds were down and I couldn't see more than the faint outline of her car. I waited quietly until the outer door opened.
"You should have a better place for the spare key," I said nonchalantly as I stood. "It's been in the same spot for years."
Liliane shrieked my name and dropped her purse to the ground, impatiently grabbing me into a hug. "You're here!"
I held her tight and buried my face into her hair as I did when we were kids. “I’m here.” We stayed like that for a long moment before I gently pulled back and met her eyes. She was close to crying, I could tell, so I gave a reassuring smile. “How about a coffee, sis?”
“That sounds good,” she whispered.
A while later, we were sitting in the kitchen with our coffees in hand.
“How was the drive?” Liliane asked. “And the second show in Toronto?”
“Both were good,” I assured her. “Everything’s gone smoothly so far, surprisingly enough.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “It feels like years since I saw you last, Emily.”
“I know what you mean.” I lifted the cup and took a sip as Liliane asked how everyone was doing. “They’re good. I think everyone’s looking forward to wrapping it up and having a little break before Europe.”
“I’d forgotten about that,” Liliane groaned. “Does the touring ever end?”
“Not for long,” I chuckled. Her laugh joined mine, and she asked when we would start the next leg. “I think the first show is on the tenth of December, or so.”
Liliane nodded, then stood and went into the living room for a brief moment.
“You think they’d sign this for me?”
She placed a record in front of me and I smiled as I picked it up.
“You bought the album?” I asked in surprise. “Of course they’d sign it. Just don’t let Lee hold it for too long or he’ll write a love letter on the back,” I added with a laugh.
“I’ll bring it then, and leave it at the hotel while we eat,” she spoke. “And, he’s already done that,” she added.
“He’s written love letters for you? That’s too sweet!” I cooed. I remembered the stack of letters on the coffee table I’d noticed earlier. “Is that what those letters are?”
She nodded. “Yes. Yours, too, and some from Auntie.” She seemed to have added the presence of other senders as an afterthought.
“Are you looking forward to seeing him?”
“Yes.” A smile crept onto her face, then vanished as quickly as worry overtook her. “Is he not excited to see me?”
“Of course he is, Lil,” I scoffed. “He’s been almost annoying, even. I’m sure he’s dealing with sweaty palms right now.”
“Oh, good,” she said in relief. “I was worried, a bit.”
I raised my eyebrows and gave her a doubting look, only to have her glare at me.
“There’s always an enthusiastic woman around when you’re in a band,” she tried to reason. “Lee’s handsome, I know he gets noticed. And I’m not an idiot, Emily.”
I smirked knowingly and stood from the table. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Come on, we should head over to the hotel.”
Liliane and I took the stairs to the hotel’s second floor where all our rooms were. We went to my room first; I unlocked the door and announced to Cameron that we had arrived.
“It’s good to see you, Liliane,” he greeted happily. He pulled her into a hug and asked how she was doing.
“I’m fine, Cameron. You’ve been well?” she replied.
“Very,” he smiled. “I suppose we’re heading out? The reservation is in forty minutes.”
I nodded. “Will you let the guys know? Meet in the lobby,” I explained, then shot him a wink. “We’ll handle Lee.”
Liliane whispered my name angrily, but Cameron pretended he hadn’t heard her and left the room with a nod.
Though she followed me into the hallway, Liliane groaned. “I feel nauseous.”
“Don’t,” I insisted, still walking towards Lee’s room. “We’ve got a good meal coming up.”
“It’s not because of food!” she spat under her breath.
I shrugged, brushing off her worries. I knew she was nervous, but since I had spent the last three months with a pining bassist, I also knew she had nothing to worry about. I touched her hand reassuringly and confidently knocked on Lee’s door.
As he opened the door, his expression changed from a mix of nerves and uncertainty to one of pure elation. “Liliane,” he breathed.
Without a word, she threw herself onto him and hugged him. They held tight for a moment, and I glanced away to give them a semblance of privacy despite being two feet from them. Once Liliane slowly peeled herself off of him, she grabbed his face and kissed him.
“You look ridiculous with that ponytail,” she told him firmly.
Lee burst into a laugh and smiled. “I’m glad you like it! I’ve missed you.”
I stepped away from them and announced my departure. “Five minutes, then be in the lobby.” I turned my back to them and walked towards the end of the hall, catching my sister’s voice as I did.
“I missed you too.”
I smiled to myself as I went down the stairs and into the lobby. Willie and Cameron were deep in discussion and unbothered by my sudden appearance, but Colin interrupted Dale’s question to ask me one instead.
“Where’s the shifty one?” he quipped.
“Lee or my sister?” I retorted. “Either way, they’ll be down in a minute or two.”
I made small talk with the receptionist while we waited, though I only had time to ask if she knew the weather forecast and to refuse her offer to call us a cab before my sister walked into the lobby, Lee in tow.
Bérubé was a popular French restaurant that had been in operation for nearly forty years, and luckily it wasn’t too far of a walk from the hotel. The large circular table reserved for us could seat eight, but one of the chairs had been removed as to not have an eyesore in the dining room.
We were seated quickly, and two bottles of wine opened and poured before we’d even seen the menu. I strongly advised against Colin’s choice to order escargots à la bourguignonne, explaining that he would be served snails in a garlic sauce, to which he quickly reconsidered his initial decision. Everyone else steered clear of escargots after that moment, and the food brought to us consisted mostly of braised meats, onion soup, and scalloped potatoes, among other things.
"What's it been like for you guys, being in Canada for the first time?" Liliane asked, her voice a little loud in an effort to be heard by everyone at the table.
"Cold," Willie blurted immediately, only to have Dale agree with him.
Liliane laughed, only to be met with confused looks. "It's lucky you weren't here in March, then! We had almost two feet of snow come down in one day."
"What?" Dale was shocked, and he wasn't the only one.
"Twenty two inches, at least," she clarified calmly. "People were skiing on the road. You couldn't find your car, let alone start the engine. The papers called it the snowstorm of the century," she added.
I held back a laugh as silence engulfed the table. It was only Colin's voice that brought us back to conversation. "I thought we'd see more bears, if I'm honest," he chimed in.
"You didn't get enough at Mark's?" Cameron jabbed.
"We saw raccoons, not bears!"
Liliane touched my arm gently. “Was it nice, seeing Mark again? We never talked about it,” she noted quietly.
I smiled in an attempt to reassure her. “It was really great, Lil. And he says hello.”
Before we could say anything else, the eruption of laughter from the other side of the table drew our attention back to the band. Colin’s voice rose to the top of the loud mix. “I heard a shriek and it was Dale, clinging to a tree at the sight of a raccoon!”
“Toss off, Colin! That fucker runs fast with those little legs,” he defended himself.
“Autumn is less of a coward than you are, Dale! And she’d have joined Emily to feed them,” Colin pressed.
“It’s a shame Autumn isn’t here,” Lee interjected. “Willie would likely be smiling if she was, instead of the patented scowl.”
I quickly glanced at Willie in time to see his expression sour; though not even a full second had passed before he’d hidden the emotion under a veil of indifference. I began to worry, but Cameron gently laid his hand on my thigh and I turned to face him.
He looked mischievous with a half-smile on his face, making me regard him suspiciously. “What?” I asked quietly.
Cameron leaned towards me and put his lips close to my ear. “I’ve got twenty on the table that she spends the night with him,” he whispered.
“Only twenty?” I scoffed, though also in a whisper.
Cameron’s soft chuckle filled my head and I blushed as I felt his lips press against my ear lobe. He pulled away and returned to the conversation, though it took me a moment to regain my earlier train of thought.
The waitress appeared beside me with what must have been the fourth bottle of wine tonight, and asked if I wanted my glass refilled. I nodded to her and uttered a thanks, leaning back in my chair as a pair of busboys began to remove our empty plates from the table.
I felt a change of air to my right, and glanced to my sister. She was leaning close to Lee, who sat on her other side, and they smiled as they talked to one another. I smiled, too, pleased that she had found someone to be herself with. It had been too long since I’d seen my sister this happy.
“To the top.” Willie’s tone seemed sharp; he wasn’t usually one to be rude to waitstaff. I took a sip of my wine to make my gazing less obvious, but Willie knew that most of us were looking at him as he brought the dangerously-full glass to his lips and drank it all.
“Refill it,” he told the waitress, and then spoke to us all as he stood. “Excuse me.”
He stalked out of the dining room without another word and I gave a brief nod of my head at the waitress, whose worried eyes were asking if things were alright. The atmosphere at the table shifted and I realized that only Dale hadn’t been aware of Willie’s sudden departure, being too engrossed in a flirty conversation with a passing waitress.
“He’ll freeze,” Liliane pointed out.
“I’m sure he knows,” Cameron sighed. “I’ll speak with him.”
“No,” I said firmly as I stood. “Sit, enjoy.” My tone gave no room for leeway.
I made my way to the coat check in the restaurant’s front lobby and signalled the attendant. “Have you seen a man in a blue shirt, a couple inches taller than me, with a lot of hair?” I asked him casually.
The attendant looked fresh out of high school, and a little too awkward for my coat check tastes. “Out front,” the boy told me.
“Did he take his coat?” I asked, handing him the small paper with a number on it.
The boy shook his head as he searched the rack. “No.” He pulled my coat out and handed it to me.
“Give me his too, I’ll bring it to him,” I said as I slipped into my coat. The boy hesitated, and I pulled ten dollars out of my pocket. I thrust it into his hand and once he registered what it was, handed me Willie’s coat with a smile.
“Thanks, lady!”
I didn’t reply to him, as I was already nearly at the door, and instead walked outside into the cold air. The chill pierced my jeans and I shook my head in anger when I saw Willie. He was standing, shoulders hunched against the cold, with a lit cigarette in hand.
“You managed to bum a cigarette, good for you,” I said loudly.
Willie whipped around to face me. “What’s the matter, Emily?” he spat.
I held out my arm and spoke sternly. “You forgot your coat.”
His inner battle between maintaining his pride and freezing to death was clear, but the latter won. Willie grabbed the coat from me and put the cigarette between his lips to put it on. I leaned back against the building’s brick wall but said nothing. Willie took a few more drags of his cigarette before he eventually spoke.
“Thanks for the coat.”
“You left the table so fast I doubted you’d stop to take it,” I replied truthfully.
Willie huffed.
I waited a long moment before speaking carefully. “What was it?”
“What was what?” he retorted. I didn’t answer, so he turned to look at me. “You piss me off, you know that?”
“You wouldn’t be the first to say that,” I chuckled, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Willie didn’t react, instead tossing the cigarette butt to the ground and taking another from the pack in his pocket.
“I doubt he meant it,” I offered. “He was at least on his fourth glass.”
Willie’s reply was slow and deliberate. “Lee can be a twat, but he’s not always wrong.”
I frowned but couldn’t find words to say that might help.
“I’ve never been bothered much by it,” Willie continued. He spoke as if I wasn’t there, and maybe it didn’t matter if I was or not. “I suppose it just grated on me tonight.”
“What did?” I asked quietly.
“You,” he said, his voice annoyed. “All of you. Lee’s acting like a lost dog with your sister. Not that he’s faking it,” Willie added. “Dale with the waitress, you with Cameron. Even fucking Colin has been getting winked at all night.”
I knew his anger wasn’t resting with Colin, or any of us really, but with himself. Still, I wasn’t sure what I could say or do for him.
“It’s lonely, sometimes,” he mumbled.
I strained to hear his utterance, but it rang in my ears. “You might feel lonely, Willie, but you’re far from alone.” I put my hand on his arm and nodded towards the restaurant. “Come on, our family’s waiting.”
It was eleven o’clock by the time we hobbled back to the hotel in varying degrees of sobriety. Liliane pulled me to the side as the others slowly and carefully made their way upstairs to our rooms.
“This was fun,” she smiled. “Can the lady call me a taxi?”
“No fucking way,” I told her firmly. “You are not going home.”
Liliane had enjoyed more wine than I did at dinner, and it showed on her face. “Why not?” she whined.
“We’re in a hotel, there’s lots of rooms. You’re not taking a cab to the house,” I insisted.
Her eyes widened and she smiled. “Are you going to make Cameron sleep in Lee’s room?” she asked excitedly. “We can share a bed!”
I raised my eyebrows and laughed. “No. I’m going to my room to sleep, and you’re going to Lee’s room to sleep.”
She stared at me angrily, but I ignored her gaze. I took her arm and led her up the stairs to the second floor. “I can’t sleep with him tonight!” she hissed at me.
“So?” I questioned. “Give him a kiss, set some boundaries, and go to sleep.” We’d arrived at Lee’s door, so I knocked and flashed a smile at my sister. “Good night.”
When Lee opened his door, I took my leave and continued down the hall. My own room was two doors farther than Lee’s, and I slowly tried to put the key in the lock. I managed on the second try and entered the room, surprised at the quiet within.
The desk lamp was on, and I could just see the shape of Cameron’s body under the blankets. ‘Did we take that long in the lobby?’ I wondered briefly.
I stripped off my clothes and slid into bed beside him, gravitating to his warmth. I pulled him into my arms and heard his soft chuckle.
“So much for that beating you promised,” he said softly. I could hear his smile.
“I thought you were asleep,” I whispered.
“Not yet.” Cameron took my hand in his and kissed my knuckles. “Your sister?”
“With Lee.”
“You owe me twenty dollars.”
I snorted in amusement. “I don’t recall betting against you on that front.”
Cameron’s body shook with laughter. “Spoilsport,” he teased.
“Relax,” I told Dale firmly. “We’re not even past Belleville. It’ll be at least another four hours.”
“Four hours?” Colin repeated halfheartedly.
"What's the big deal?" I asked incredulously. "You've been on buses before. It's only six hours to Montreal from Toronto."
"Why couldn't we fly, again?" Dale pressed.
I shook my head. "It's only an hour by plane, but it's less trouble to drive." Dale opened his mouth to reply, but I pointed a finger at him and his mouth closed. “One more word, Dale, and the driver will pull over,” I warned him sternly, “and you will spend the rest of the drive stuffed in the luggage compartment.”
I heard a snicker from behind me and whipped my head around to see Willie looking out the window trying to hide his amusement.
“Don’t tempt me to put you there, too,” I retorted.
My jesting replies brought the bus into silence, though it wasn’t tense. After another hour the clouds began to spread and hid the sun, so I let Cameron drift into sleep undisturbed. I stood and walked towards the furthest row of seats, which was actually two rows facing each other with a table between them, and sat down.
My window-gazing solitude didn’t last more than ten minutes before Lee caught my attention, standing cautiously in the aisle.
“Can I join you?”
I smiled and nodded lightly. "Sure."
Taking the seat across the table from me, Lee noted my mood. “You’re excited to be back home?” he wondered aloud.
At the mention of home, I glanced over to Cameron’s sleeping figure. “More to see my sister, than to be back here,” I corrected him. “It’s the same for you, I suppose.” I framed it as a question, though I was well aware Lee was feeling much the same; he would have enjoyed a trip to the Arctic if it meant he’d see Liliane.
“Yes.”
His reply was suspiciously simple, and I waited for more to come. After a minute, he spoke again.
“I’m nervous, truth be told,” he confessed quietly.
“She’s been reading your letters, Lee.”
He shook his head and met my gaze. “In any case, it’s been nearly a year since she’s seen me,” he replied. “A lot can happen in a year. You know that, Emily.”
I raised my eyebrows and carefully considered my words. “What do you think has happened?”
“Anything, really, or everything.” Lee sighed and shook his head again. “She’s hardly plain-looking, I’m sure she’s had offers from other men. And she’s under no obligation to refuse them,” he added, though I could tell it hurt him to voice it.
“She’s not, you’re right,” I answered, maybe unhelpfully. “But the only thing she’s told me so far is that she wants to see you.”
“Really?”
I smiled. “I don’t think it would matter if I showed up or not, Lee.”
“You’re only trying to comfort me.” He wrung his hands and didn’t meet my eyes, so I kicked his shin under the table. “What?” he spat.
“You’d better not show up looking like a sad dog, or she’ll bring you straight to an animal shelter,” I snapped playfully. An amused smile crossed his face and I changed my tone. “Relax, Lee. I talked to her yesterday.”
“You did?” he asked in surprise. “And?”
“What do you think? She’s excited to see everyone and she misses us.” My statement didn’t seem to reassure him much, so I bit my lip and took a deep breath. “I’m going to tell you something, Lee,” I began in a stern tone, “but if you tell my sister about this conversation I will tie you up and leave you in an alley.”
Lee nodded silently, accepting my terms.
"She's scared of how much she cares about you. The last time she gave her heart to someone…" I shook my head, remembering Greg.
"He crushed it," Lee finished sadly.
"He did. But you won't, and she knows it. It's just hard sometimes, to accept the things you already know," I explained.
His forehead creased and I almost heard the gears in his head turning.
"You just need to remind her that you love her. Maybe tell her about the girls you've refused," I added with a cheeky grin.
"You noticed that?" he asked bashfully.
I nodded. "Very gallant," I noted with a smile.
"It wasn't for mere gallantry," he admitted slowly. "I won't lie and say I didn't indulge, but… when it’s not who you want to be with, it’s not much for enjoyment.” It was quite obvious that he wasn’t very comfortable telling me about his sex life, but I knew the meaning behind it.
“You wouldn’t be the first rock star to indulge,” I told him offhandedly.
A long moment of silence passed between us, but I knew that he still wanted to talk.
“I was wondering something,” Lee murmured eventually. “About your father, if it’s alright for me to ask?”
“Ask away,” I replied.
“I never want to remind her of the men she’s known,” he told me firmly. “Your father, Greg. It seems Liliane has rarely met a decent man. I would do anything to keep her safe, but what can I do to make her see that?”
Despite the concern in his voice, I smiled when I answered him. “You’re already doing it, Lee.”
We arrived in Montreal just after three o’clock in the afternoon, and it was another hour before we’d checked into the hotel and brought our luggage to our rooms.
“So, this is your city,” Cameron said to me. He put the suitcase on the floor and pulled me into his arms, kissing my forehead. “Glad to be back?”
“Moderately,” I admitted. “It’s nice to have you here with me, this time.”
His smile widened and he asked about my sister. “When will she be joining us?”
“She made a reservation for a table at Bérubé for eight o’clock,” I reminded him. Seeing his eyebrows raise, I explained. “It’s not a fancy place, but a reservation is the best way to make sure they’ll have a table for seven available.”
Cameron nodded and kissed me softly. I hoped he wouldn’t end the kiss, but he did after a moment. “You’ll be on your way, then?”
I nodded. “We’ll leave her place by six-thirty,” I informed him. “We should be here by seven.”
When I’d spoken with my sister while we had been in Toronto, she’d let me know of her schedule. Her shift at the department store ended at five, and she would have the next four days off, only returning to work on Thursday. I was planning to take a cab to her house in Saint Hubert, which was only ten kilometers away from the river surrounding Montreal, and return to the hotel with her to wrangle the men for dinner.
“Get on your way, then,” Cameron ordered playfully.
I turned to grab my purse, but spun back around when I felt his fleeting hand on my behind. “Did you slap me?” I asked, pretending to be insulted.
“I did,” he answered with a proud smile.
I struggled to keep my composure as I lifted a finger and pointed at him. “You’re on your way to a serious beating, Cameron.”
His smile grew, and he winked. “I look forward to it.”
I handed the driver his fare and tip before stepping onto the sidewalk. He thanked me and drove off, seemingly pleased with my business, so I walked across the street towards Liliane's house. She'd bought it after separating from Greg and the subsequent sale of their house. It was only a quick walk away from where I lived with Gran, and having her closer was a great deal of comfort while she and I cared for our grandmother.
Liliane wasn't home yet, but with a glance at my watch I realized she would be pulling into the driveway any minute. I walked over to the fence enclosing the backyard yard and fished between the wood planks for the spare key.
With the door unlocked, I stepped into the sunroom and closed it behind me. Originally, the house had only a front gallery with a railing but Liliane had decided on closing in the gallery and turning the space from outdoor to indoor— though with many windows.
I took a seat in the rocking chair placed in the corner, the familiarity of it making me smile. It had been Gran's chair, which she would haul in from her porch every night, and replace every morning.
The crinkle of tires on the rocky driveway made me turn my head, though the blinds were down and I couldn't see more than the faint outline of her car. I waited quietly until the outer door opened.
"You should have a better place for the spare key," I said nonchalantly as I stood. "It's been in the same spot for years."
Liliane shrieked my name and dropped her purse to the ground, impatiently grabbing me into a hug. "You're here!"
I held her tight and buried my face into her hair as I did when we were kids. “I’m here.” We stayed like that for a long moment before I gently pulled back and met her eyes. She was close to crying, I could tell, so I gave a reassuring smile. “How about a coffee, sis?”
“That sounds good,” she whispered.
A while later, we were sitting in the kitchen with our coffees in hand.
“How was the drive?” Liliane asked. “And the second show in Toronto?”
“Both were good,” I assured her. “Everything’s gone smoothly so far, surprisingly enough.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “It feels like years since I saw you last, Emily.”
“I know what you mean.” I lifted the cup and took a sip as Liliane asked how everyone was doing. “They’re good. I think everyone’s looking forward to wrapping it up and having a little break before Europe.”
“I’d forgotten about that,” Liliane groaned. “Does the touring ever end?”
“Not for long,” I chuckled. Her laugh joined mine, and she asked when we would start the next leg. “I think the first show is on the tenth of December, or so.”
Liliane nodded, then stood and went into the living room for a brief moment.
“You think they’d sign this for me?”
She placed a record in front of me and I smiled as I picked it up.
“You bought the album?” I asked in surprise. “Of course they’d sign it. Just don’t let Lee hold it for too long or he’ll write a love letter on the back,” I added with a laugh.
“I’ll bring it then, and leave it at the hotel while we eat,” she spoke. “And, he’s already done that,” she added.
“He’s written love letters for you? That’s too sweet!” I cooed. I remembered the stack of letters on the coffee table I’d noticed earlier. “Is that what those letters are?”
She nodded. “Yes. Yours, too, and some from Auntie.” She seemed to have added the presence of other senders as an afterthought.
“Are you looking forward to seeing him?”
“Yes.” A smile crept onto her face, then vanished as quickly as worry overtook her. “Is he not excited to see me?”
“Of course he is, Lil,” I scoffed. “He’s been almost annoying, even. I’m sure he’s dealing with sweaty palms right now.”
“Oh, good,” she said in relief. “I was worried, a bit.”
I raised my eyebrows and gave her a doubting look, only to have her glare at me.
“There’s always an enthusiastic woman around when you’re in a band,” she tried to reason. “Lee’s handsome, I know he gets noticed. And I’m not an idiot, Emily.”
I smirked knowingly and stood from the table. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Come on, we should head over to the hotel.”
Liliane and I took the stairs to the hotel’s second floor where all our rooms were. We went to my room first; I unlocked the door and announced to Cameron that we had arrived.
“It’s good to see you, Liliane,” he greeted happily. He pulled her into a hug and asked how she was doing.
“I’m fine, Cameron. You’ve been well?” she replied.
“Very,” he smiled. “I suppose we’re heading out? The reservation is in forty minutes.”
I nodded. “Will you let the guys know? Meet in the lobby,” I explained, then shot him a wink. “We’ll handle Lee.”
Liliane whispered my name angrily, but Cameron pretended he hadn’t heard her and left the room with a nod.
Though she followed me into the hallway, Liliane groaned. “I feel nauseous.”
“Don’t,” I insisted, still walking towards Lee’s room. “We’ve got a good meal coming up.”
“It’s not because of food!” she spat under her breath.
I shrugged, brushing off her worries. I knew she was nervous, but since I had spent the last three months with a pining bassist, I also knew she had nothing to worry about. I touched her hand reassuringly and confidently knocked on Lee’s door.
As he opened the door, his expression changed from a mix of nerves and uncertainty to one of pure elation. “Liliane,” he breathed.
Without a word, she threw herself onto him and hugged him. They held tight for a moment, and I glanced away to give them a semblance of privacy despite being two feet from them. Once Liliane slowly peeled herself off of him, she grabbed his face and kissed him.
“You look ridiculous with that ponytail,” she told him firmly.
Lee burst into a laugh and smiled. “I’m glad you like it! I’ve missed you.”
I stepped away from them and announced my departure. “Five minutes, then be in the lobby.” I turned my back to them and walked towards the end of the hall, catching my sister’s voice as I did.
“I missed you too.”
I smiled to myself as I went down the stairs and into the lobby. Willie and Cameron were deep in discussion and unbothered by my sudden appearance, but Colin interrupted Dale’s question to ask me one instead.
“Where’s the shifty one?” he quipped.
“Lee or my sister?” I retorted. “Either way, they’ll be down in a minute or two.”
I made small talk with the receptionist while we waited, though I only had time to ask if she knew the weather forecast and to refuse her offer to call us a cab before my sister walked into the lobby, Lee in tow.
Bérubé was a popular French restaurant that had been in operation for nearly forty years, and luckily it wasn’t too far of a walk from the hotel. The large circular table reserved for us could seat eight, but one of the chairs had been removed as to not have an eyesore in the dining room.
We were seated quickly, and two bottles of wine opened and poured before we’d even seen the menu. I strongly advised against Colin’s choice to order escargots à la bourguignonne, explaining that he would be served snails in a garlic sauce, to which he quickly reconsidered his initial decision. Everyone else steered clear of escargots after that moment, and the food brought to us consisted mostly of braised meats, onion soup, and scalloped potatoes, among other things.
"What's it been like for you guys, being in Canada for the first time?" Liliane asked, her voice a little loud in an effort to be heard by everyone at the table.
"Cold," Willie blurted immediately, only to have Dale agree with him.
Liliane laughed, only to be met with confused looks. "It's lucky you weren't here in March, then! We had almost two feet of snow come down in one day."
"What?" Dale was shocked, and he wasn't the only one.
"Twenty two inches, at least," she clarified calmly. "People were skiing on the road. You couldn't find your car, let alone start the engine. The papers called it the snowstorm of the century," she added.
I held back a laugh as silence engulfed the table. It was only Colin's voice that brought us back to conversation. "I thought we'd see more bears, if I'm honest," he chimed in.
"You didn't get enough at Mark's?" Cameron jabbed.
"We saw raccoons, not bears!"
Liliane touched my arm gently. “Was it nice, seeing Mark again? We never talked about it,” she noted quietly.
I smiled in an attempt to reassure her. “It was really great, Lil. And he says hello.”
Before we could say anything else, the eruption of laughter from the other side of the table drew our attention back to the band. Colin’s voice rose to the top of the loud mix. “I heard a shriek and it was Dale, clinging to a tree at the sight of a raccoon!”
“Toss off, Colin! That fucker runs fast with those little legs,” he defended himself.
“Autumn is less of a coward than you are, Dale! And she’d have joined Emily to feed them,” Colin pressed.
“It’s a shame Autumn isn’t here,” Lee interjected. “Willie would likely be smiling if she was, instead of the patented scowl.”
I quickly glanced at Willie in time to see his expression sour; though not even a full second had passed before he’d hidden the emotion under a veil of indifference. I began to worry, but Cameron gently laid his hand on my thigh and I turned to face him.
He looked mischievous with a half-smile on his face, making me regard him suspiciously. “What?” I asked quietly.
Cameron leaned towards me and put his lips close to my ear. “I’ve got twenty on the table that she spends the night with him,” he whispered.
“Only twenty?” I scoffed, though also in a whisper.
Cameron’s soft chuckle filled my head and I blushed as I felt his lips press against my ear lobe. He pulled away and returned to the conversation, though it took me a moment to regain my earlier train of thought.
The waitress appeared beside me with what must have been the fourth bottle of wine tonight, and asked if I wanted my glass refilled. I nodded to her and uttered a thanks, leaning back in my chair as a pair of busboys began to remove our empty plates from the table.
I felt a change of air to my right, and glanced to my sister. She was leaning close to Lee, who sat on her other side, and they smiled as they talked to one another. I smiled, too, pleased that she had found someone to be herself with. It had been too long since I’d seen my sister this happy.
“To the top.” Willie’s tone seemed sharp; he wasn’t usually one to be rude to waitstaff. I took a sip of my wine to make my gazing less obvious, but Willie knew that most of us were looking at him as he brought the dangerously-full glass to his lips and drank it all.
“Refill it,” he told the waitress, and then spoke to us all as he stood. “Excuse me.”
He stalked out of the dining room without another word and I gave a brief nod of my head at the waitress, whose worried eyes were asking if things were alright. The atmosphere at the table shifted and I realized that only Dale hadn’t been aware of Willie’s sudden departure, being too engrossed in a flirty conversation with a passing waitress.
“He’ll freeze,” Liliane pointed out.
“I’m sure he knows,” Cameron sighed. “I’ll speak with him.”
“No,” I said firmly as I stood. “Sit, enjoy.” My tone gave no room for leeway.
I made my way to the coat check in the restaurant’s front lobby and signalled the attendant. “Have you seen a man in a blue shirt, a couple inches taller than me, with a lot of hair?” I asked him casually.
The attendant looked fresh out of high school, and a little too awkward for my coat check tastes. “Out front,” the boy told me.
“Did he take his coat?” I asked, handing him the small paper with a number on it.
The boy shook his head as he searched the rack. “No.” He pulled my coat out and handed it to me.
“Give me his too, I’ll bring it to him,” I said as I slipped into my coat. The boy hesitated, and I pulled ten dollars out of my pocket. I thrust it into his hand and once he registered what it was, handed me Willie’s coat with a smile.
“Thanks, lady!”
I didn’t reply to him, as I was already nearly at the door, and instead walked outside into the cold air. The chill pierced my jeans and I shook my head in anger when I saw Willie. He was standing, shoulders hunched against the cold, with a lit cigarette in hand.
“You managed to bum a cigarette, good for you,” I said loudly.
Willie whipped around to face me. “What’s the matter, Emily?” he spat.
I held out my arm and spoke sternly. “You forgot your coat.”
His inner battle between maintaining his pride and freezing to death was clear, but the latter won. Willie grabbed the coat from me and put the cigarette between his lips to put it on. I leaned back against the building’s brick wall but said nothing. Willie took a few more drags of his cigarette before he eventually spoke.
“Thanks for the coat.”
“You left the table so fast I doubted you’d stop to take it,” I replied truthfully.
Willie huffed.
I waited a long moment before speaking carefully. “What was it?”
“What was what?” he retorted. I didn’t answer, so he turned to look at me. “You piss me off, you know that?”
“You wouldn’t be the first to say that,” I chuckled, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Willie didn’t react, instead tossing the cigarette butt to the ground and taking another from the pack in his pocket.
“I doubt he meant it,” I offered. “He was at least on his fourth glass.”
Willie’s reply was slow and deliberate. “Lee can be a twat, but he’s not always wrong.”
I frowned but couldn’t find words to say that might help.
“I’ve never been bothered much by it,” Willie continued. He spoke as if I wasn’t there, and maybe it didn’t matter if I was or not. “I suppose it just grated on me tonight.”
“What did?” I asked quietly.
“You,” he said, his voice annoyed. “All of you. Lee’s acting like a lost dog with your sister. Not that he’s faking it,” Willie added. “Dale with the waitress, you with Cameron. Even fucking Colin has been getting winked at all night.”
I knew his anger wasn’t resting with Colin, or any of us really, but with himself. Still, I wasn’t sure what I could say or do for him.
“It’s lonely, sometimes,” he mumbled.
I strained to hear his utterance, but it rang in my ears. “You might feel lonely, Willie, but you’re far from alone.” I put my hand on his arm and nodded towards the restaurant. “Come on, our family’s waiting.”
It was eleven o’clock by the time we hobbled back to the hotel in varying degrees of sobriety. Liliane pulled me to the side as the others slowly and carefully made their way upstairs to our rooms.
“This was fun,” she smiled. “Can the lady call me a taxi?”
“No fucking way,” I told her firmly. “You are not going home.”
Liliane had enjoyed more wine than I did at dinner, and it showed on her face. “Why not?” she whined.
“We’re in a hotel, there’s lots of rooms. You’re not taking a cab to the house,” I insisted.
Her eyes widened and she smiled. “Are you going to make Cameron sleep in Lee’s room?” she asked excitedly. “We can share a bed!”
I raised my eyebrows and laughed. “No. I’m going to my room to sleep, and you’re going to Lee’s room to sleep.”
She stared at me angrily, but I ignored her gaze. I took her arm and led her up the stairs to the second floor. “I can’t sleep with him tonight!” she hissed at me.
“So?” I questioned. “Give him a kiss, set some boundaries, and go to sleep.” We’d arrived at Lee’s door, so I knocked and flashed a smile at my sister. “Good night.”
When Lee opened his door, I took my leave and continued down the hall. My own room was two doors farther than Lee’s, and I slowly tried to put the key in the lock. I managed on the second try and entered the room, surprised at the quiet within.
The desk lamp was on, and I could just see the shape of Cameron’s body under the blankets. ‘Did we take that long in the lobby?’ I wondered briefly.
I stripped off my clothes and slid into bed beside him, gravitating to his warmth. I pulled him into my arms and heard his soft chuckle.
“So much for that beating you promised,” he said softly. I could hear his smile.
“I thought you were asleep,” I whispered.
“Not yet.” Cameron took my hand in his and kissed my knuckles. “Your sister?”
“With Lee.”
“You owe me twenty dollars.”
I snorted in amusement. “I don’t recall betting against you on that front.”
Cameron’s body shook with laughter. “Spoilsport,” he teased.
Lee and Lil are so cute. Emily is a mum to all. Willie needs Autumn. I laughed at the description of their grandma pulling thr chair in at night. Had a great-grandma that did the same with all her outside furniture.
ReplyDeleteI'm very pleased to hear that you enjoyed this part! I definitely agree with your three statements :) As for the porch chair, I think we all had an elderly relative who did something similar with their outdoor furniture! (In my family, it was my mother's uncle who did it more often than not!)
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