Free Double Take by Melody Carlson

Jacob.
    “Madison!” He threw his arms around her. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
    “I, uh, I didn’t hear it.”
    “I decided to surprise you,” he said as she tugged away from him. “I looked up the arrival time on your bus and figured out that you’d—” He stopped speaking, peering curiously at her now. “I still don’t get why you’re riding on a bus. And why you were out by Allentown.”
    “It’s a long story,” she said, remembering how she’d read that line in a book once.
    He put his arm around her shoulders. “Well, you can tell me at dinner. I made reservations at Palo’s.”
    Suddenly Garret—at least, she assumed it was him—was leading her onto a very busy street with vehicles everywhere and lots of honking and people and noise. He waved to a shiny black car, which somehow managed to squeeze past the other cars, pulling right in front of them. Garret helped her into the back of the car. It was roomy, similar to a wagon, only much nicer, and the seat was very comfortable—softer than a bed. The next thing she knew, she was actually riding in an automobile. Thanks to all the other cars clogging the street, they weren’t going very fast.
    “I assume you’ll want to change.” Garret leaned back and smiled at her.
    “Change.” She nodded as she tried to absorb his meaning. She had already changed from Anna to Madison. But she suspected he meant her clothing, that she would want to exchange it for other clothes, something suitable for dinner. How strange this all was. “Yes. I want to change.”
    “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time. I know how you don’t like to be rushed.”
    She looked at Madison’s watch and nodded. She needed to get into this role better. Having him pop up like that had caught her off guard.
    “So you didn’t go to Tuscany.” He sounded pleased about this. “You didn’t go to Palm Beach or Boston either, so . . . what does that mean?”
    Anna had no idea what that meant. She just shrugged and opened her purse as if something in there was highly interesting. She wanted to pull out her folded notes and study them closely, but she knew that would only make him curious. Thus far, she felt he was so pleased about being forgiven that he was slightly blinded—or maybe he wasn’t a very observant fellow. If so, that was good.
    He leaned over, gently placing his hand on the side of her face. “Did I tell you how beautiful you look?”
    She felt her cheeks grow warm as she pulled away. Somehow she had to slow this down with him. “Just because I forgave you does not mean I—”
    “I’m so glad you did forgive me, Maddie. Do you know how hard this has been on me? You know how much I love you.”
    She snapped her purse closed and looked evenly at him. “We have gone through a rough patch,” she told him, again using words she’d read in a book. “For that reason I want to take things slow now. If that’s not accept—”
    “That’s fine, Maddie.” He threw back his head and laughed. “Why are you talking weird like that? You sound so different.”
    “Maybe I am different.” She stared directly at him now, almost as if to challenge him to question her real identity, but he looked baffled.
    “Okay, I get you.” He frowned slightly. “You’re acting all prim and proper just to keep me at arm’s length. You probably expect me to prove myself to you. Right?” He looked at her with those big brown eyes so much like Jacob’s—puppy dog eyes.
    She nodded. “Right.”
    “That’s what I plan to do.” He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back. “You’ll see.”
    Anna turned to look out the window. She had really meant to observe everything as she rode through the city. Perhaps she’d even imagined she would spot Jacob walking by, that she would tell the driver to stop, and she would jump out and call his name and they would embrace and all would be well. But as she watched people and cars and buildings moving past her, she