Table Of Contents

  Other Books by Quinn Ivins

  Acknowledgments

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  Other Books from Ylva Publishing

  About Quinn Ivins

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  www.ylva-publishing.com

  Other Books by Quinn Ivins

  Worthy of Love

  The Love Factor

  Acknowledgments

  I wrote this book during a rough year, and some of my stress unfortunately leaked into the first draft. Characters indulged in excessive self-pity and complained about many topics at length. My beta readers and editors slogged through the griping, and their feedback spared readers from doing the same.

  I am grateful to my beta readers—Faith Prize, Amy Bright, and Melanie—for early feedback that greatly improved the manuscript. The mood, accuracy of the setting, and likability of the characters all benefited from their comments.

  Sandra Gerth edited this book as if a single mistake or missed opportunity would result in her execution. The time and care she put into the manuscript went far beyond her obligation, and I am so thankful for both the results and the opportunity to learn. If anything is wrong with this book, I probably added it during a later stage.

  Sandra is also a twin—a fact I shamelessly used to secure her as the editor in the first place—and her insight added depth and authenticity to Caitlyn and Chloe’s relationship.

  Another twin, who wishes to remain anonymous, also provided valuable feedback.

  Thank you to Sheena Billett for polishing the manuscript and to Daniela Hüge for formatting the book. Thanks also to Jenny Spanier and Glendon from Streetlight Graphics for their work on the cover, Karen Reno-Cobb for and extra proofread, and to Lee Winter for writing a fabulous blurb.

  I love Ylva Publishing and our international family of authors. Thank you to Astrid Ohletz for giving me the chance to join Ylva and for supporting my work ever since.

  Finally, thank you to my wife who just looked over and asked, “Am I in the acknowledgments?” In the immortal words of Vanessa Williams, I saved the best for last.

  Dedication

  For my kitty

  Chapter 1

  When her sister called instead of texting, Caitlyn’s twin sense prickled. Something is wrong. Then she realized it was a video call, and sirens blared in her mind. Oh no. Her hand shook as she swiped to answer.

  Chloe’s face appeared on the screen, almost a mirror of Caitlyn’s own, but her brown hair was shorter with shaggy bangs. Her heavy eye makeup looked smudged. “Hi.”

  “What’s going on? Is Mom okay?” Caitlyn dropped onto the futon.

  “Huh? Of course she’s okay.”

  Thank God. Caitlyn took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “You scared me.”

  “Sorry. I should have known you would think someone died when I called.” Chloe’s lips quirked into a half-smile.

  “You have to admit it’s unusual. I can’t remember the last time we did a video call.”

  “I do. It was when you found that spot on your foot, and you thought it was cancer.”

  “Right.” Caitlyn’s foot twitched. “In my defense, it looked exactly like the pictures online.”

  “Sure, until it came off in the shower.” Chloe’s grin was teasing, yet affectionate. “Oh, and the time you thought you found toxic mold in your apartment.”

  “If you had seen the documentary, you’d be worried too.”

  “Uh-huh.” Chloe chuckled, but then she turned serious. “Anyway, nobody died. But I want to ask you something, and I thought video would be best.”

  “Okay.” Caitlyn tightened her grip on the phone. “What’s up?”

  “Mom said you’re coming home on Friday.”

  “That’s the plan.” Caitlyn gestured at the boxes behind her. “My lease expires tomorrow, so I have to leave. I’m almost packed.”

  “And you don’t have a job lined up, right?”

  Caitlyn winced. Chloe knew perfectly well that she had struck out on the academic job market. Everyone knew.

  “Oh no—no. That’s not what I meant,” Chloe said quickly, as if reading her thoughts. “I know you didn’t get a professor job. Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up. I meant a summer job. Weren’t you talking about teaching online classes or something?”

  “I’m looking at online tutoring, but I don’t have a job yet. Why do you ask?”

  Chloe chewed her lip, gaze darting back and forth. “I’m in a jam, and I was hoping—well, I was wondering if you could help.” She sighed as though resigning herself to a bad reaction in advance. “It’s about my boyfriend.”

  Boyfriend? Caitlyn searched her memory. Chloe often fell in and out of love in the span of a few weeks, making it difficult to keep track. “Do you mean the guy you’ve been talking to online? The one who lives in Colorado?”

  “Yes. Nick. He bought me a plane ticket to visit him so we can finally meet in person. We’re going to spend the week together.”

  “That sounds…nice.” Alarm bells rang in her mind. “Um, you’ve seen this guy on video and verified his identity, right?”

  “He’s not a catfish.” Chloe huffed. “I’m not idiot. We chat on video all the time.”

  “Okay, that proves his age and gender. But what if you get there and he turns out to be married? Or an axe murderer?” A shiver ran through her at the thought of Chloe knocking on the door of someone she’d never met in person.

  “You’ve met people online before.”

  “Sure. But usually it’s for a brief date in a public place. You’re flying to his city for a week.” Caitlyn frowned. “Are you staying at his place?”

  “Of course I am. We’ve been talking for four months. He’s a normal person who works in accounting, not some monster from your anxiety dreams.” Chloe seemed to catch herself and adopted a more conciliatory pose. “It’s sweet of you to be concerned, but I’m sure about him. The problem I’m having is with my job.”

  Caitlyn tried to recall Chloe’s latest employer. It was easy to lose track of her ill-fated stints in various unrelated occupations. “This is the one at the college?”

  “Yeah, at Pulaski. I’m the president’s executive assistant.” Chloe made air quotes. “It’s a really good job. I mean, my boss is kind of awful, and it’s extremely boring. But I’ve never made this much money in my life—and the benefits are awesome. I have an actual retirement savings account for the first time ever.”

  “Oh wow. Those benefits are great.” Caitlyn had never had a retirement account, a consequence of spending her twenties in graduate school. She shook off a pang of bitterness that her free-spirited twin had one first. “So what’s the problem?”

  Chloe took a deep breath. “They won’t let me take time off. I’m out of vacation days and sick days. I’m out of everything.”

  “Why are you out of leave?” As far as Caitlyn knew, Chloe had been perfectly healthy.

  “Because I just started two months ago, so I only had a handful in my bank. That’s hardly anything.”

  Typical Chloe. She’d probably used the days on impulse, not bothering to consider if she might need them in the future. “So why can’t you wait until you’ve earned more days?”

  “Nick surprised me with the ticket. I can’t ask him to pay a big fee to change the date—and besides, it would take months to earn enough vacation days. I don’t want to wait that long to see him.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Well…” Chloe drew out the word. “If I go to Colorado, I’ll lose my job. But I really, really need to go on this trip. So I was thinking, since you’re coming home anyway, and you won’t have anything to do… I was wondering if maybe you could cover for me.”

  “Cover? You want me to impersonate you at work?” Caitlyn nearly dropped the phone. “You can’t be serious. These people know you. They’d figure it out, and they’d probably have me arrested.” Didn’t Chloe remember the pranks they’d played as teenagers? Sure, they had fooled a few teachers, but most of their friends had guessed within minutes.

  Chloe rolled her eyes. “They don’t know me at all. Ruth, my boss, barely looks at me, and the faculty treat me like an airhead. I’m one of the little people—the help. I don’t think they’d notice if I grew a second head.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t know how to do your job.” The mere thought of trying to fake her way through someone else’s workday made Caitlyn’s blood pressure rise. It would be like walking into one of her stress dreams with no way to
wake up.

  “But it’s easy. I answer the phone and do menial office tasks. Sometimes I take notes in meetings, but you just write down whatever they say. I’m sure my genius sister can figure it out.”

  Caitlyn noticed that Chloe said genius without the usual animosity, probably because she was asking for a favor. “Well, I appreciate your confidence, but I’m not going to pretend to be you.”

  “Fine.” Chloe slumped. “I don’t know why I even asked.”

  “Look, I’m here for you. You can ask me for anything else. But taking your place… If we got caught, we would get in so much trouble. You would lose your job for sure. Besides, I can’t take a risk like that, especially when I’m going on the job market again in the fall.”

  “Sure.” Chloe tugged at her hair. “I understand.” Her bitter tone said otherwise.

  “Anyway, it might not cost very much to change the ticket. You could reschedule for—um, when will you have five vacation days?”

  “Five months from now.”

  Caitlyn winced. “Ouch. Well, maybe a long weekend…”

  “Uh-huh.” Chloe looked past the camera, apparently done with the conversation. “I should go. I’ll see you when you get home.”

  “Okay. Love—” The call disconnected. “…you.” Caitlyn hated to disappoint Chloe, who rarely asked for anything. But what else could she say to such a reckless proposal?

  * * *

  Just go in.

  Caitlyn stood on the porch of her childhood home, hesitating at the final step after four hours of driving. She had already told her mother about her job-market failure over the phone, but she wasn’t ready to see the disappointment and worry on her mom’s face.

  Chloe would offer condolences, but with a hint of satisfaction that only Caitlyn could detect. After a lifetime of resenting her reputation as the underachieving twin, Chloe probably viewed Caitlyn’s misfortune as validation that her freewheeling approach to life wasn’t so bad after all. Look where Harvard and a PhD had gotten Caitlyn—absolutely nowhere.

  Caitlyn just hoped Chloe wasn’t still mad that she had shot down her outrageous twin-switch idea. She didn’t want to deal with tension between them on top of everything.

  There was only one way to find out. She opened the door. “Hello?”

  “Mom, I love him!” It was Chloe’s heated voice.

  “You can’t be in love with someone you’ve never met!” their mother said.

  Oh no. Caitlyn cursed her awful timing. She glanced back at the sleepy residential street behind her, tempted to take a long walk before coming back to the house. But she’d already disappointed Chloe by refusing to cover for her. She couldn’t abandon her twin now.

  Caitlyn closed the door behind her, dropped her suitcase, and slipped off her shoes.

  “You just don’t understand,” Chloe said. “Everyone meets online these days.”

  Bracing herself, Caitlyn rounded the corner and entered the kitchen.

  Chloe and their mom stood on opposite sides of the table, where dirty dinner plates sat untouched. While their mom gripped the back of a chair, Chloe’s arms crossed her body like a shield.

  Caitlyn cleared her throat. “Hi.”

  Their mom turned her head. “Oh! You’re home.” She reached Caitlyn in two strides and enveloped her in a snug hug.

  “Hey.” Chloe walked over, dressed in yoga pants with a pink spaghetti-strap top. “Good to see you.” Her hug was quick and loose. When she pulled back, tension creased her forehead.

  There was no point in pretending Caitlyn hadn’t heard the argument. “You were talking about Nick?”

  “Yes.” Her mom sank onto a kitchen chair with a weary thud. “Your sister wants to quit her job.”

  “What?” Caitlyn’s head whipped back to Chloe. “I thought you were going to cancel the trip.”

  “No,” Chloe said. “That’s what you said I should do. But I can’t do that to Nick. He spent a lot of money on the ticket.”

  “What about your money?” Caitlyn asked. “Your job is worth a lot more than a plane ticket.”

  “Your sister is right. It has health insurance.” Their mother ran her fingers through her gray bangs. “When was the last time you had a job with benefits?”

  “I’m perfectly healthy.” Chloe tossed her hair. “We should have Medicare for All anyway. It’s not my fault that America sucks.”

  “Still, you can’t change America,” Caitlyn said. “Can’t you visit another time, when you have more vacation days?”

  “Honestly…” Chloe’s bravado faltered as her gaze drifted to the floor. “I’m not sure how much longer he’ll wait for me.”

  “What do you mean, he might not wait?” Caitlyn asked carefully.

  “Long-distance has been hard for him. He cares about me, but he has said a few things like—you know, if we can’t see each other in person, what’s the point? Of course, I don’t want to lose my job. But Nick is more important.”

  Her mother balled up her napkin. “If this guy cared about you, he wouldn’t want you to give up your financial security. A woman needs her own income. When your father left…” She closed her eyes, then shook her head and refocused on Chloe. “Well, I was grateful to have a job. I know your boss annoys you, but you should hold on to this opportunity.”

  “I have to make my own choices. I’m not turning down the trip. And there’s no way I can go without getting fired.” Chloe glanced at Caitlyn. “Well, actually, I did think of a way, but Caitlyn said no.”

  “What are you talking about?” Their mom frowned. “Wait. You don’t mean…?”

  “I asked Caitlyn to cover for me. But, of course, she wouldn’t do me this one favor.”

  “A favor?” Caitlyn’s voice rose. “This is so much more than a favor. We’d be risking—”

  “Yeah, I know.” Chloe dropped her gaze and tapped her phone. “I’m going outside. Nick wants to FaceTime.” As Caitlyn and their mother watched in silence, she walked out.

  “Um, wow.” Caitlyn rubbed her eyes. “I didn’t think there’d be drama the minute I got home.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. That’s not how I wanted to greet you. Are you hungry? Thirsty? There’s pasta on the stove.” Her mom got up.

  “I’ll get some in a bit.” Caitlyn sat at the table. “I filled up on snacks an hour ago.”

  “Okay.” Her mom sat back down and rested her chin in one hand. “I’m concerned about your sister.”

  “Me too. Doesn’t sound like the best decision, to say the least.”

  “I don’t want this to become another Jacqueline situation.”

  Caitlyn winced at the memory of the ex-girlfriend who had persuaded Chloe to accompany her ska band on a tour of North American dive bars. “Yuck. I hope this guy is a better catch than Jacqueline. All Chloe got out of that relationship was credit card debt.”

  “Well. I already told her I can’t bail her out this time. I can’t—” Her mom shook her head. “I can’t be her safety net forever.”

  “Are you okay?” Caitlyn asked. “Financially, I mean? I know you said not to worry about paying rent, but I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

  Her mother gave her a reassuring smile, but her eyes held a worried expression. “You’re always welcome here. And I have enough money for my expenses. But if something were to happen to you or Chloe, some emergency—well, I don’t have much extra.”

  Caitlyn’s heart ached. Her mom had worked so hard to raise them, and the toll was written in countless lines on her pale forehead. The last thing Caitlyn wanted was to add to her mom’s stress. “We’ll all be okay. Chloe will come back and get a new job.”

  “If she comes back,” her mom said quietly.

  Caitlyn wanted to reassure her mom that Chloe would return, but the promise died on her lips. They both knew Chloe would follow her heart even if it led her straight off a cliff.

  “I’m afraid she’ll stay out there and become dependent on him.”

  “Yeah, that’s a possibility.” Caitlyn hated the idea of her sister stranded in Colorado with a stranger paying the bills. Chloe would feel obligated to continue the relationship even if her feelings changed.

  Her mom looked at her seriously. “If Chloe had a stable job waiting for her, she’d be more likely to come home.”