I was blindsided for a second, unsure of what I should call her. Choosing the safe route, I didn’t refer to her by any name.

“Oh, my God. What are you doing here?” It was haunting. I didn’t even remember getting out of my car. It was like seeing myself, but not really. She even wore a similar dress and had her hair back. I read once that twins separated at birth and raised apart often lived the same way. Her taste was the same as mine. I swear, it was like seeing myself in a mirror. Even more now than before.

Her fingers ran through her hair and she pulled on it with a tight grasp in both fists. The expression on her face surpassed the surprise on mine, and I noticed the swallow. A lump. Probably the same as the one I had. “Gabby! Oh, my God!”

“Izzy, what are you doing here?” Not waiting for her answer, I said, “I don’t have much time. I’ve got to get going.” My palms sweated and my body shook as if Paxton watched from around the corner. I wrung my hands and worried about this outcome. It was critical that Paxton not find out about this.

Izzy gawked at me like I had just slapped her across the face. Twice. Complete disbelief. “Are you joking? You desert your sister for almost thirteen years, and you’ve got to get going?”

My head tilted to the side, guilt riding my conscience. “I didn’t desert you,” I said in an unconvincing tone.

Izzy smiled and tilted her head the exact same way I had. Paxton used to tell me to stop doing it all the time. Sometimes, I still did it, forgetting that he forbade it.

“I’m kidding. How are you? You look, well, just like me.” Everything in me told me to brush her off, continue on my mission, and get home to my family. I tried my best to send her away. It was right there on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t want to. I wanted to sit on my sofa with her and catch up. Huddle up in pajamas and watch a movie. Find out what she’d been doing and let her meet her nieces.

I mirrored her smile and tilted my head—again—thinking about the ticking of the clock. I didn’t have time for this. Paxton would be furious if I came home empty handed. I had to go, yet I didn’t. I couldn’t. A hurricane could have been coming and I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. I laughed inwardly at my inside joke when I remembered a hurricane was coming. A tropical storm, anyway.

“Let’s go get a cup of coffee or something,” Izzy suggested with a pleading tone and sad eyes. I couldn’t blow her off. I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to.

“Izz, I can’t. We’re under severe weather warnings, you know? I have to get home. Rowan doesn’t do well with storms.”

Even with the smoky gray clouds, Izzy’s grin brightened the day. “Rowan? Boy or girl?”

That brought an instant grin to my face. God, I’d missed her. “Little girl—two girls. Rowan is six and Ophelia will be five in two months. They’re so cute, Izzy.” The sense of pride edged my words while a feeling of deep love burned my soul. I wished they could know her. I wished they could call her Aunt Izzy. The thought of them seeing us both brought joy to my heart. I pictured their confusion while they tried to figure out which one was their mommy.

“I can’t wait to meet them. How are you? Wow, Gabby. Two kids.” Izzy hugged me and I closed my eyes. There’s a feeling between twins that can’t be explained. In an instant, I felt whole again. I hugged her back, embracing her with everything in me, everything I had missed.

“Let’s go for a ride,” Izzy said in a coaxing tone with the same desperate plea, head tipping to the side. Her hands held a tight grip on my shoulders while her eyes fixated on mine. God. It was her. I couldn’t believe it.

My gaze darted to my phone when I realized the time. Paxton would be livid. I searched my brain for the best time to meet her. A time when Paxton wouldn’t be with me. Rowan’s dentist appointment. That was the best I could come up with. Paxton would be busy with his work. I grabbed my purse from the seat when the idea came to me. I handed her the appointment card with the address. Without thinking it through of course. Rowan and Ophelia would race to be the first one to tell their dad about Izzy. Someone who looked identical to their mommy.

“Meet me here tomorrow. I’ll come a little bit early.”

“Wait. Where’re you going? I haven’t seen you in almost thirteen years. You’re ditching me?” Izzy stared at me, eyebrows scrunched toward her nose with confusion and hurt written all over her face.

Silence stood between us while I tried to obey my husband. I knew it was a bad idea before I agreed, but it was so good to see her. I missed her. I missed us. I would make up some lie to tell Paxton and hope for the best. Maybe I could say I got stuck behind a wreck or something. Traffic. That wouldn’t be a lie. The road was a lot more crowded than normal. People like me, out for supplies, or going inland to get away from the storm.

I looked up to the dark clouds hovering above our heads with a heavy sigh. “We’ll go for a short ride,” I said in agreement. Izzy smiled with excitement and jumped in the passenger seat of my car. That worried me, too. Paxton would know. Her butt would leave a print in the new leather, she’d lose an earring, or her shoes would leave dirt. He’d find out some way.

Izzy’s fingers glided over the tan leather. “Wow, nice ride. I bet this cost a pretty penny. I love this.”

Personally, I hated the tan. I’d wanted the gray. Paxton had wanted the tan. “It’s not as much as you think. Paxton just knows people. He got a good deal.”

“It’s a Lexus,” she said with a nod and a smirk, fingers brushing over the soft leather in front of her. “I don’t care how good a deal he got. This car cost a shiny penny.”

I stared at her, unbelieving. Izabella really sat there, in my car. Right next to me. “It’s new. Paxton just picked it up yesterday,” I said while rambling off word vomit. I didn’t know what to say. All these years of rehearsing it, of practicing what I would say. Gone. Noting came to mind.

“You look great, Izzy,” I said. A feeling of nostalgia blanketed me when I glanced at her and remembered us. Gabby and Izzy. Jonnie and Clydes.

“I’m a carbon copy of you, silly,” Izzy said in a quiet tone.

“You do amazingly resemble me. It’s a little creepy. We could swap clothes and you could take my place. We’ll swap lives for a while,” I said with a laugh. If she only knew how I wished we could. Like we did when we were kids. There was only one person we could never fool. We tried. We tried many times and she always knew. Our mother could tell us apart from fifty feet away.

Izzy dropped her eyes and crossed her ankle over her knee. “Yeah, you wouldn’t want my life.”

“Don’t tell me that, Izz. I’ve always pictured you with a really cool job, happy and in love.”

“It’s sort of that way,” she said through a lie. Even after all these years, I could tell she wasn’t telling me the truth.

“What have you been doing? Tell me? Did you go to school?”

“I did go to school. Want to know what for?”

A concrete smirk froze on my lips. “Duh! Of course.”

“Business, landscaping, and design.”

My heart felt a pang of longing, but I wasn’t sure what for. Missing all of that, or wanting it. I never got to go to college. “I’m not surprised by that. You were just like mom. Always needing to be on the move and outside. I can see you doing that. So you have your own business?”

Izzy played with the strap on her sandal with a troubled expression. I internally smiled when I realized her shoes were almost identical to mine. Other than the gold buckle, mine were just likes hers. Her closed-mouth grin faded into a frown, and then it returned. “Nah, not really. I tried it, but it didn’t really take off. I live in Michigan; not really the market for something like that. I need to move to Los Angeles or something. Ya know?”

“Is that the plan?” I questioned, returning her frown.