The weather said there would be rain, it said that there would be thunderstorms. So far it wasn’t raining. It was around lunch time and Calgary stepped out the back to look out over Peak 6 as it looked like rain clouds were finally starting to come over the mountain. The faint smell of a wildfire hung in the air. Frowning as she glanced up at the sky again willing it to rain, Calgary turned back around and headed in. She was working in the back bar, thank god, the front of the rustic restaurant/bar was packed with tourist families with kids running around and complaining about something or other.
The back bar had a little darker feel, more seats around the bar. When she’d headed out there had been a few locals and a few tourists who wanted to get away from the loud main room were seated around the bar and a few in the booths along the side.
There was one new person at the bar as Calgary ducked to get behind hide the bar.
“Looking for food, drink, or both?” She asked with a smile.
It wasn’t the travelling part that made her tired, but the actual getting to the destination and unpacking. The mundane stuff. Madeline would much rather be out and about, exploring and getting reacquainted with the area. However, she was too tired to do that now and all she wanted was a nice feed and then bed.
On her way to the place she was staying, Madeline had spotted a pub and retraced her steps back there, figuring it was just as good a place as any to grab a bite to eat and maybe a drink or three. The front part was packed, people talking louding in groups and not appealing in Madeline’s current state, so she followed a sign that looked promising to a back area that was far more chilled and quiet.
Sitting at the bar, she looked over the small menu the back bar offered and almost reached a decision when she heard a voice address her. “Both. Definitely both.” Madeline returned the smile. The server seemed familiar but Madeline had seen so many people that their identities were starting to blur. Maybe after a little more conversation, it would come to her. “Is there anything you would recommend?”
Calgary tilted her head as she thought about it. “I’m partial to the chicken fingers and a side of fries, but the guy over there,” she said pointing to one of the booths where a man with scraggly dark hair and a face full of wrinkles was slowly sipping on a tall whiskey. “Swears by the spam fries and Crispy Pickle Spears.” Glancing back she shrugged. “It kinda depends on how hungry you are.”
Calgary never suggested the watermelon, she liked watermelon but she thought it was a weird thing to order. “Cocktail or beer kinda day?” She asked.
Madeline looked in the direction of the guy and then back to the server, her face kind of wrinkled in disgust. “Yeah, no. Let’s go with the chicken fingers.” Did she feel like a cocktail? Why not. “A cocktail too, thanks. Have you got one with watermelon?”
Not many places did watermelon flavored cocktails so Madeline wouldn’t be surprised if the answer was no. But watermelon was refreshing so it was worth a try.
Waiting for her food, Madeline took in more of the girl before her. She was young, pretty and there was definitely something about her. Maybe it was the fact she bore a resemblance to her mom. Maybe she was the long lost daughter her mom spoke of. Only one way to find out. “Hey, you don’t happen to know a girl named Calgary, do you? She’d be about your age.”
“We do sell just watermelon slices,” she answered with a shrug. “We don’t have a watermelon cocktail on the menu but I’m sure I can come up with something.” One of the things she’d learnt while working here was how to mix different kinds of drinks and come up with her own. “If you don’t like it no problem.” She offered as she set to work on a watermelon margarita after placing her order.
After delivering the drink and serving someone else she was a little caught off guard when she heard her name. She’d caught the hey but the rest took her a little bit to really processes. No looked for her normally. Her adoptive uncle, sure. Calgary though? Nope.
“Yeah, I think I’ve met her once or twice.” She answered before offering her hand. “I’m Calgary Smith, who's asking?”
Madeline was about to tell the younger woman to not worry about it when she went about and start making the fixings for a watermelon margarita. After the drink was made, Madeline took a sip and hummed with approval. “It’s perfect, thanks.”
She watched the younger woman go about her job before capturing her attention again. The possibility that the woman might not be forthcoming with the information didn’t cross her mind. But Madeline smiled and chuckled a little at the introduction, shaking the offered hand. For a split second she was stumped but years of doing book tours and awkward press conferences allowed her to keep her cool.
“Madeline Lillie,” she replied, before letting go of the offered and taking another quick sip of her drink. “This is going to sound completely ridiculous but I’m pretty sure we’re sisters.”
The words that came out of Madeline's mouth took a while to sink in. Looking directly at her she opened her mouth a few times and shut it before starting to laugh.
"How, I mean," she tilted her head. "That's not possible. I don't have family. I mean, I could, somewhere, but..."
Calgary turned around and grabbed a glass and poured a shot and took it quickly.
"Okay, start from the start, the beginning, because as far as I know, even if I have family they kinda didn't want much to do with me or anything."
The laugh was expected. After all, it was kind of crazy that some woman would come out of nowhere and claim to be another woman’s sister. It was like one of those episodes of Long Lost Family or whatever it was called. Madeline sat there calmly, waiting for Calgary to absorb the information she was given.
“Grab a seat, this could take a while.” Madeline offered before downing the rest of her drink. Placing her empty glass on the bar top, Madeline began her part in their bizzare family story. “A little background history first. My dad was in a band that was big in the late seventies, early eighties and was constantly on tour. In fact, I was born on his tour bus in a hospital car park and spent a lot of my childhood on the road.” She paused briefly when her chicken fingers and fries arrived, picking one off the plate.
“As you could imagine, life on the road wasn’t always ideal and by the time I was seven, my parents were fighting. Dad thought everything was fine how it was. Mom wanted to settle down somewhere, get me into a school where I could make friends and possibly go on into higher education.” It all sounded kind of reasonable now, looking back on it, but Madeline didn’t like giving up her life on the road at the time. “We moved to Breckentale when I was eight. It didn’t last long, the fighting between my parents continued and they divorced when I was nine. By ten I was back on the road with Dad.”
The divorce didn’t seem to affect Madeline any. It had been obvious that her parents were no longer right for each other. It might have been odd that her Dad had been awarded custody of her but Madeline never questioned it.
“Mom moved around a bit, occasionally sending me postcards. But all of a sudden she stopped. I just guessed it was too hard because a tour bus doesn’t exactly have a mailing address.” She shrugged, eating another small fry off her plate. “It wasn’t until I released my book a few years ago that she made contact again. Anger and life trauma aside, it was good to know I was in her thoughts. Skip to three months ago, Mom drops the bombshell that I’m not an only child. I did some sleuthing and lo and behold, all evidence points that we’re sisters.”
There were a lot of words, and she stayed quiet as she listened to this person, this person who was apparently her older sister talk. Calgary was trying to figure out if she'd been hit over the head and was in some kind of coma dream. Did people dream when in a coma? Was she really awake? It was hard for her to believe anything.
" Let me get this straight, parents didn't work out, Mom moved around, had me, dropped me off in a Calgary blanket and waited 20 years to tell her other daughter that she ditched a kid?" It was sort of a question but she also was trying to figure out how exactly to even believe it.
"How'd you find me anyways? I only ended up here after a lot of foster families and some old dude took me under his wing." The old dude being Abe, he wasn't that old but she teased him a lot. "What'd she say? I dropped off a kid in a blanket?" Calgary knew she should be more understanding of what had happened in Madeline's life but she was still so overwhelmed by the fact that she could possibly have family.
For once in her life, Madeline was quiet. Letting her words sink in. She knew this was a delicate situation and had had false leads that didn’t pan out before but this one felt right. Her instincts were telling her that Calgary was the right woman. Madeline tended to always trust her instincts.
“Exactly.” Madeline gave a little shrug, not sure what she could add to make the story sound less ridiculous.
The next question was one she had been expecting. After all, it was a little creepy that she just turned up and was like hey, I’m your sister. “Kind of. Mom had a birth certificate from a hospital in Denver and a newspaper article about a baby abandoned in a Calgary blanket. It was hard to track down from just that and I may have slightly bent a few laws to get more info. But I had five candidates. You’re the third and given what you just told me about the blanket, I think it confirms it.”
It was still really hard for her to believe the words that were coming out of the woman, well her sister's mouth. She opened and shut her mouth as she tried to come to terms with the idea that there was family out there and that a least one of them gave enough shit to go looking for her.
"So," she paused trying to figure out how to word it. "Mom sounds kind of like a bitch." It was a natural reaction to feeling abandoned and Calgary had her fair share of abandonment issues. "Any clue who my father is? Or is he a no-name guy who was running around Denver or something?" She asked before shaking her head.
"I need a drink."
Madeline chuckled and nodded in agreement. “I would have went with selfish asshole myself but that works.” She grinned at the younger woman. Her younger sister - that was going to take some getting used to but Madeline felt like she wanted to embrace the title of older sister.
At the next questions, Madeline shrugged. “I have an idea but I need something to confirm my suspicions.” Her tone was apologetic but Madeline didn't want to just fly in and point the finger at some guy. Although it was tempting. “After that drink, we can do some investigating together. If you want. Otherwise, I am okay with whatever you decide.”
Calgary nodded, yeah, she could be on board with the selfish asshole aspect of it as well.
Tilting her head she was trying to decide if she should press more or if she should just go with the flow. Madeline, her sister, sure seemed to have things pretty much under control and she liked the idea of figuring out exactly who her father was. “Okay,” she said looking around. “I’m going to text my boss and tell him I need to take the rest of the shift off.” Calgary picked up her phone and sent Abe a quick text. Hey, someone showed up claiming to be my sister, need to take the rest of my shift off to figure shit out.