Suit (The Twin Duo #1)(4)

“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.

Izzy sighed, a look of shame and disappointment marring her face. But then she smiled. “I doubt it. I don’t know. It takes a lot of money. I’m working as a waitress on the side. Weekend tips pay pretty good.” Izzy’s grin wasn’t convincing. It seemed fake. Something weighed heavy on her mind. I could tell Izzy had trying events in her life, too. I wanted to hear all about it, every last detail of the past thirteen years. Everything.

“Oh, yeah? Where?” I tried not to sound depressed. I wanted her to have the fairytale, the one where she was happy, in love, and successful. I suddenly thought of Paxton and his fury. The digital clock screamed for me to turn around and go home where I belonged.

Izzy laughed and jiggled her boobs. “Hooters.”

I giggled and glanced away from the clock. I need this time with her.

“You’re doing all right for yourself. I love your house, the neighborhood, the beach. You live by a beach! Oh, my God, Gabby,” she said with happy excitement.

“I know. Who would have thought, right? Do you have someone, Izzy? Are you married, kids?”

Izzy playfully drummed a rimshot off the dashboard with two fingers, the kind a drummer plays after a joke. “No kids, and I just got out of an eight-month relationship. Before that, I was just a slut, trying to drink you away.”

She meant it to be cute and happy. I didn’t feel that way. “That makes me sad, Izz. You drink?”

“Nah, not much. I’m fine. I had a decent upbringing. I’ve made mistakes, but hey, who hasn’t, right?”