Page 79 of Kiss Across the Universe
Chapter Thirty-One
After dinner, Joe and Kitheaded somewhere outside. Alannah guessed they wanted to talk privately. Checking the barns to make sure the cows were okay was merely an excuse.
Alannah insisted on helping Maryann with the dishes. She refused to sit on her ass and watch the woman tackle the small mountain of dirty dishes their meal had generated.
Maryann accepted gratefully, leaned back against the counter to relax for a moment, then pulled a scotch bottle from a high cupboard and shook it in Alannah’s direction. “Call it a night cap.”
“Oh, we can’t stay the night!” Alannah exclaimed.
“Canmore is a good two hours away by road, sweetheart,” Maryann said. “And Joe has put the truck away for the night. You planning on walking home?” She raised a brow.
If she had been intending to go home at all, Alannah would have jumped there. But she still had to have that conversation with Kit. Instead, she grimaced. “I see.”
Maryann poured two thick fingers into two scotch glasses and put one on the back of the sink where Alannah was working. “To fuzzy and sweet dreams,” she said and moved back to the counter.
Alannah began loading the dishwasher. “What is JTF2, Maryann? Why did Kit tell you to shut up?”
Maryann sighed. “Can I ask a personal question first?”
“Oh. Um…yes?” Alannah said cautiously.
“Do I have to make up two beds tonight, or will the queen sized in the spare bedroom be enough?”
Alannah could feel her cheeks burning again, and kept her gaze on the suds in the sink. “I…um…just the one bed is enough.” She bent over the dishwasher again.
“Figured,” Maryann said with a pleased tone. “Guess that means I can be indiscreet for a bit longer and tell you what JTF2 is. You’re American, Kit said.”
“I was born in L.A, but I’m seriously thinking about immigrating here, the way my parents did.” She replayed what she had just said in her head and felt a touch of surprise…but not a lot of it.
“Because of Kit?”
Alannah cleared her throat. “I think…because my life in L.A. is pretty much at a dead end.”
Maryann moved around Alannah and leaned against the counter with one hip, facing her. “It’s no big secret that Joint Task Force 2 is the Canadian equivalent of your Navy SEALs. It’s just a fairly close secret who serves with them.”
“Kit served with them…” Then Alannah remembered what she was supposed to be doing and bent to stack more dishes in the bottom rack of the machine. “I knew he was a good soldier. It shows. My sister in law was a US Ranger and a hero, so I know the signs. But I didn’t know he wasthatgood.” She rinsed out the gravy pot and slipped it between the rows of dishes. “Kit is the first in the family to join the Army? He said the family was…well, shocked, when he joined up.” She glanced at Maryann, to catch her reaction.
Maryann grimaced, peering at the bottom of her glass. Then she drank a deep mouthful and grimaced again. “Kit fought family history to get his way. Ever heard of Kalysta Marlow?”
Alannah nodded. “Yes! She was a British model and actress, a minor player in Hollywood in the 80s. Everyone says she could have gone on to be an A-lister—she was turning a lot of heads. Then there was…” She frowned, digging up the details. “A messy affair of some sort. An actor…” She straightened. “ACanadianactor.” She did what Maryann had done to her, and raised her brow.
Maryann smiled. “So far, so good. Know who Robert Mahihkan McDonald is?”
Alannah pressed her lips together. “No. But given the last name, I’m going to guess it’s a relative of Kit’s. His father?”
“Good guess. But that’s probably not taking it near far enough. Rob McDonald made his first million before he was twenty-two. He stacked on quite a few more million after that.” Maryann shrugged. “It’s a family trait, acquiring money. I didn’t know that when I married Joe, though I’ve learned a lot since then. Joe is a laggard, compared to the rest of the family. He was twenty-nine before he reached his first million.” Then she laughed. “He’s made up for it since then. But Rob is the all-star champ.”
Alannah realized she was standing still, her hands in soapy water. She didn’t want to miss a word.
“In 1988, Calgary hosted the Winter Olympics. Rob was invited as one of the VIP guests. So was William McMenzies, the Canadian actor whose name you were trying to remember. He took Kalysta Marlow with him.”
Alannah connected it together with a near-audible click in her mind. “Kalysta met Rob McDonald there?”
“And married him less than a year later. That’s the mess that ended her affair with William McMenzies.”
Kalysta Marlow was Kit’s mother.
“Kalysta died the year Kit turned eighteen,” Maryann added.
