A Year of You Read Free Page A

out.”
    Mattie scowled at him. “I don’t need or want their money. I don’t have a lot of my own money, but it’s enough to survive.” Mad at him, she turned toward the window and jammed the earbuds back in her ears. She hated it when people doubted her. Nothing ruined a day quicker. Underestimated all the time, it had affected her entire life. She fumbled with the plug before finally getting it back into the MP3 player. She hit the play button and Godsmack roared in her ears.
    K underestimated her now. The further away from him she went, the more confident she became. There was a plan forming in her mind, one that would get her away from him for good. The only reason she was doing this one last job was to pave the way for her final escape. Maybe it wouldn’t even have to involve any sort of scam. There was always the possibility that Ruth Ellen was feeling guilty about sending her bastard oldest granddaughter off with a well-paid maid and wanted to recompense her somehow.
    She really didn’t want to hurt anyone ever again, in any way, and avoiding any sort of illegal activity was always a plus. What she was leaving behind broke her heart, but it was necessary. Molly and her family were so much safer if Mattie was far, far away. Everybody she loved was safest when she was far, far away.
     
    ***
     
    The barking orders of the flight attendant woke her up. Mattie sat up straight, startled. For a second she wasn’t sure where she was.
    “You okay?” West said, raising an eyebrow. “Buckle up. We’re landing.”
    “Yeah.” She sat back and buckled in. After tucking her MP3 player into her backpack, she bit her lip and waited for the nerve-jarring impact of the plane’s landing gear against the tarmac.
    To her immense relief, the plane didn’t careen off the runway or burst into flame. West tagged along behind her as she headed the exit.
    “So, am I giving you a ride or what?” he asked. “Wait a sec.” He stopped at Baggage and waited for his bag to cycle around. Mattie looked toward the doors, wondering if she should just ditch the guy and go on her own. She had Ruth Ellen’s address in her back pocket.
    He bumped into her when he lurched forward to snag his bag before it drifted out of reach. He missed and plowed through a group of men in suits and power ties to grab it.
“Come on. It’ll be better this way. I know the family. Trust me.”

    “Yeah, but—”

    “Save yourself some cash, Miss Moneybags. Taxis aren’t cheap here.” Before she could protest, he took her suitcase from her and loped off into the bustle of the airport.

Chapter Two
     
    “It’s nothing fancy,” West warned the curvy stranger who claimed to be Elaine McKendrick. Granted, the Elaine he remembered was perpetually five years old, but she had white-blonde hair that fell in tight ringlets all around her heart-shaped face.
    Over the last twenty years, he’d memorized the little girl’s features. He was sure he’d know her the minute he saw her, just as sure as he recognized his own face in the mirror. At the airport, he’d watched the crowd around the terminal, desperate for a glance of a fair-eyed beauty.
    James McKendrick made sure he’d purchased a seat next to Matilyn Smith, the soon-to-be-outed imposter. When West sat down next to the curvy woman, he’d been surprised.
    She’d looked nothing like Emeline at first.
    The more he watched her, though, the more he could pick out things that reminded him of Karen McKendrick. The way she scrunched up her nose when she was frustrated with the seatbelt. The shape of her hands and fingers. The astonished look that crossed her face when she listened to his song.
    When he boarded the airplane he’d been certain he could tell if she was just another con artist. There’d been so many over the years. Idiots, really, since the first thing the family did was order DNA tests. Hair could be bleached, features surgically altered, histories created. DNA didn’t lie.
    The