A Year of You (2 page)

The day after she turned thirteen, he got her drunk on wine coolers. She woke up the next morning naked, bleeding, and, as she found out a couple months later, pregnant. K laughed. Isabelle called her a whore. When she tried to tell Carmen what happened, all she got was a,
“you probably deserved it.”

Even when Mattie got the nerve to tell the counselor at school what happened, Carmen, K’s father, and K himself wove a convincing story about her delinquent behavior that--insert heartbreaking sobs--led to Mattie ending up in ‘that situation.’ No matter how far she ran or who she ran
to
, Carmen always dragged her back into hell.

A mother and daughter duo entered the bathroom, chattering in Dutch. The girl glanced up at Mattie and smiled shyly before her mother ushered her into a stall. Cute kid. The long blonde hair and bright blues eyes made Mattie think of Molly.

That’s who I’m doing this for. Molly. Not K.

Satisfied with her makeup, Mattie left the bathroom. She melted into the people hurrying through the lobby toward the security checkpoint. Once in line, she kicked off her shoes and fished her phone out of her pocket. She made it through the line and on to the plane with a few minutes to spare.

When the plane was finally high above the earth, she slipped her earbuds in and set her ancient MP3 player to shuffle. Everybody else had slick iPods and smartphones, but nothing took the place of the tiny eight-gig Wal-Mart special she’d had for years. The soothing crash and thunder of hard alternative rock eased the tension out of her muscles. For the first time in two weeks, since K had coerced her into his devious scheme, she let herself relax. With a sigh, she leaned back against the stiff seat back.

Everything since Ruth Ellen’s representative had shown up on her doorstep had been surreal. Even though she was half a country away from K, he heard about the woman’s request that Mattie fly to Florida for a meeting. With plenty of threats and promises, he flashed pictures of their daughter and her adoptive family in her face, making lots of vague promises laden with threats. Mattie knew him well enough to know what he really meant when he said she’d regret it.

What had frightened her was that he knew where Molly was, and had known for a long time.

It meant he knew a lot more than she thought he did. She never would have accepted the bizarre packet of papers Ruth Ellen had sent with her personal lawyer if K hadn’t been right beside her on the couch, arm around her shoulders. Only she knew he wasn’t being brotherly. The aching grip of his hand on her shoulder was a threat in itself.

For four years she had managed to avoid him, but in the space of a day, her hard-earned life crashed down around her ears. K left her shaking inside, nearly mindless with fear of what he could do to Molly and the Thompsons.

From now on, she wasn’t Matilyn Delacourt. Ruth Ellen’s representative never told them completely what the woman wanted, other than she wanted to see Mattie, and as long as she was in Florida, she had to pretend to be yet another McKendrick daughter.

She was Elaine McKendrick. Elaine, she said in her head, over and over again. The fake ID in her wallet said Matilyn Smith. Another name to keep straight. Ruth Ellen wanted her to use a different name, a new identity, so that when McKendrick ran his background checks, his investigator wouldn’t find out about her past easily.

Someone jostled her arm. She jumped and jerked away from the warm contact. “Sorry,” the guy in the seat next to her said. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Reluctantly, she plucked the earbuds from her ears.
The insanely gorgeous eyes left her mind blank and her cheeks on fire.

“I’m West.” He extended his hand to her.
Numbly, she shook it.

“Mattie. I’m Mattie.”


“Where are you headed to, Mattie?”


“Daytona Beach.”
Live the lie.


“Really. That’s interesting. I’m going to good ole’ DB as well. Who’re you going to see? Maybe I know them.”


“Um, I don’t really know you...”


“I’m not a stalker. I swear. Scout’s honor.” He grinned, charming her with a million-watt smile.

“Um, the McKendricks,” she said.


“James McKendrick? Ruth Ellen?”
Mattie felt sick. She pasted a cheery smile on her face and nodded. She wanted to puke. “Yeah! That’s them. I just found out James is my biological father. Ruth Ellen wants to meet me.”


“No shit! You’re Elaine, then. What a small world!”
He turned toward her, grinning. She didn’t like the intensity of his eyes. Way too intense. They bored into hers, turning into a bowl of quivering jelly and a sack of nerves at the same time.
The smile on his lips didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m that Elaine.”


“Well, Elaine. I’m a close family friend. I was stunned to hear about you. We’ve all thought you were dead for twenty-something years.” She might be mistaken, but that looked like pain in his eyes. She’d relied on her instinct when it came to reading people. Everything about the man warned her to be careful.

His damn smile was way too disarming.

“You did?” That was news. As far as she knew, the real Elaine vanished in the middle of the night when she was five or six.

“Yeah. What else would we think? You disappeared in the middle of the night.”

Mattie shrugged. “I just thought I was adopted. It was a pretty big surprise for me, too.”

“Ruth Ellen’s pretty sick.” His eyes turned predatory. A little chill of fear made goose bumps pop out up and down Mattie’s arms. “Bet that money of hers sounds pretty sweet.”

“I’m not doing this to make a dime, Mr. West. I just want to find my roots. My mom died a few years ago, and I want to get to know my real family. I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

He nodded, a satisfied expression on his face that did nothing to dilute the piercing quality of his eyes. She knew without a doubt that she had to be careful around this guy.

“Is West your first name?”
That should change the subject.

“No. My first name is Brant. When I was in middle school, teacher started calling me by my last name, and it stuck.” He laughed, a rich sound that made her smile, too, despite her instinctual fear of the man. “Sounds awesome when you’re in a band, though.”

“You’re in a band?”

“Lead singer for a little local cover band.”

“That’s cool.”

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Without asking, he tugged the cord from her earbuds from her MP3 player and plugged it into his phone. He scrolled through the menus and finally tapped ‘play.’

The voice crooning one of her favorite Breaking Benjamin songs, “Rain,” made her jaw drop in surprise. He had an edge to his voice, a gentle rasp, and he sang with the passion of a heartbroken angel. He started to remove the earbud cord after a few seconds, but she stopped him with a soft touch.

“Wait.”

The longer she listened, the bigger his smile got. When the song ended and she pulled the earbuds from her ears, she wasn’t sure if she should go all fan-girl on him, or play it cool.

“Ho-ly crap, Mr. West,” she said, breathless. “Is that really you?”

He smirked and cleared his throat. He thought for a second and launched into the chorus. When he was done, half the airplane broke out in applause.

His voice did things to her that she hadn’t experienced in years. Heart aflutter, she grinned back at him. “I don’t even know what to say. That was amazing. Why aren’t you singing for some huge record label.”

“I’m content with my life as it is. My band plays a few concerts a month at small venues or weddings or whatever, and I can run my business without aspirations of fame and fortune getting in the way.”

“I don’t blame you. A quiet life is all I want.”

Despite all his banter and laughter, his piercing, suspicious gaze didn’t let up. She took a second to look him over. He wasn’t a bad looking guy, just a notch above ordinary. His hair was an unusual color stuck somewhere between copper and brown and dark blond. The sun, flashing off the wings of the plane, made his natural golden highlights shift and change. His eyelashes were the same prismatic blond-copper-brown. His eyes were the most striking of his features. They were the color of a deep lake, and in the depths of those dark gray-blue colors, a storm brewed. Bright gold flecks twinkled in his irises.

The way he filled out his vintage
Star Wars
T-shirt and ragged, faded jeans didn’t bother her one bit. He was tall and lean, with broad shoulders and wiry, corded muscles flexed in his arm. He passed her earbud cord back to her. She tucked the MP3 player into her pocket. “You’ve spoiled me for other men,” she joked.

“After we land,” he asked, “what’re your plans?”


“I was just going to grab a taxi and go see my grandmother.”


“I’ll drive you, as long as you don’t mind stopping by your father’s place on the way out. My car’s at the airport.”


“Oh, no I don’t want to put you out. I wasn’t really planning on seeing him--them--until I’d spoken with Ruth Ellen.”


“It’s where I’m headed. Me and your sister, we’re almost engaged.”
A rock dropped in her stomach. Amazed by her automatic, disappointed response, she forced another smile.

“That’s great. I’m excited to get to know her.”

“Emeline.” He sighed. “She’s a real sweetheart. An absolutely amazing woman. I love her so much.”
For the first time the blazing arrows of suspicion stopped firing from his eyes. He squinted at her, studying her. “You don’t look much like her.”


“Sorry. I guess I got the short end of the genetic stick.” Did he just insult her? She wasn’t anything special--dark blonde hair, grayish-blue eyes, maybe a bit on the curvy side--but she’d never considered herself unattractive. She’d seen Emeline in the tabloids for a while after her sex tape leaked. She was gorgeous. Tall, willowy, perfect. Karen had been gorgeous as well.

My dad was probably the milkman.

Anyway, it didn’t matter. All she had to do was make nice with the family, figure out how to get the money for K, and Elaine McKendrick would drop back off the face of the Earth.

West watched her for another long moment. “They’ve been through a lot, Mattie. If you’re out to try something shady, they’ll figure you 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 woman who claimed to be Elaine raised an eyebrow at his beat-up thirty-year-old Ford truck. She wasn’t very tall—height was a trademark trait in the McKendrick family—and she had abundant curves that made him wonder what she’d feel like pressed tight against him. Those breasts, hips.... He banished the thought, seeking a mental image of his Emeline. Willowy, super-model beautiful, Emeline.