Chapter 5

CHAPTER

FIVE

Maddie liked Adrienne, she decided. The woman wasn't as pretentious as most people Maddie had encountered on this retreat.

She remembered her earlier thought. Remembered how she'd imagined how fun it would be to come on vacation at this resort with a friend.

Maybe Maddie could make the best of this trip.

Maybe she could make friends.

Vacation friends.

"Aloha, Adrienne," a deep voice said behind her. "I've been looking for you."

Maddie glanced over her shoulder, and Brody's eyes filled with recognition when he saw her. He gave her a nod as he stood beside Adrienne.

Maddie sat up straighter, her mind scrambling through what she should say. She finally settled on, "Thank you again. You could have been killed yourself."

Adrienne stood and rested her hand on his chest, her eyes beaming. "That's Brody for you. Always selfless."

"It's a good thing you both were out jogging," Maddie said.

"Adrienne insisted we get some exercise. If not for her, I would have still been sleeping. She's probably the one you should be thanking." His Texas drawl saturated each word.

"I certainly appreciate the fact you were both out so early," Maddie said.

Brody smiled stiffly. Was it because of Maddie's praise or because of Adrienne's hand on his chest? Maddie wasn't sure.

Two other people headed their way—Bree with her emu shirt and the man Maddie had seen doing CPR.

"We thought we'd join the party." Bree offered a soft grin. "But really, my boyfriend and I were out hiking on the cliffs of Shipwreck Beach when we heard something happening. We rushed over to make sure everything was okay. This is my boyfriend, Fowler Johnson."

Everyone said hello to the man, who had dark, wavy hair to his chin and oversized glasses—a Johnny Galecki vibe.

Adrienne and Fowler seemed to recognize each other from the office, though they didn't appear to know each other very well.

The sound of someone singing off-key filled the air. "Cheeseburger in Paradise."

They all turned and saw a man walking near the pools, a beer in his hand.

"A little early for drinking," Brody muttered with a frown.

"A little early for us to hear him singing so off-key," Adrienne quipped.

They shared a chuckle.

The man paused, raised his bottle in the air, and when he started to walk again, he stumbled into a line of chairs. A loud clatter filled the air.

He quickly straightened and glanced around as if to make sure no one had seen. Then he continued walking, singing off-key again.

"Should we help the guy?" Bree asked.

"It looks like he's headed to his room," Brody said. "I think he'll be okay. We just need to make sure he doesn't fall into one of the pools."

Maddie liked these people, she realized. She appreciated how they'd been selfless this morning on the beach. They'd gone out of their way to help strangers. It was something Maddie didn't see very often.

She hadn't realized how much she craved basic kindness. But she did.

Being around them now felt like a balm to a wound she didn't know she had.

She'd felt all alone as she tried to integrate into Josh's world.

But maybe it was time to change that.

A moment later, Josh returned with a bottle of water. He paused when he reached the group, and his gaze flickered—almost suspiciously—from Adrienne to Brody to Bree to Fowler and then back to Maddie.

Josh handed her the water, and Maddie took a long sip.

Then he glanced back at Fowler. "Hey, man. Good to see you."

Fowler clearly worked for him. Maddie hadn't been sure who in this group was with the company and who was a plus one.

"You too." Fowler nodded.

"Good morning, Mr. Harding." Adrienne suddenly sounded more professional, her shoulders looked more squared and her composure more uptight.

Josh observed Adrienne for a moment, a flicker of recognition in his gaze. "Remind me of your name again?"

"Adrienne Peters." She extended her hand with a smile. "I work in event planning for your company. I'm actually just an assistant in the department, but I hope to be more one day. All that to say, I understand why you don't recognize me. It's such a large company that I'm sure you can't get to know everyone."

Some people would sound like a suck-up saying those words. But somehow Adrienne sounded sincere.

"I thought you were familiar. Good job with this retreat. I think it's going to be wonderful." His gaze moved to Brody. "The two of you are here together?"

"That's right." Adrienne grinned. "Brody is my plus one."

"They're all heroes." Maddie told Josh. "Brody pulled me from the water, Adrienne and Bree stayed with me to make sure I was okay, and Fowler did CPR on the man in the water. They're all?—"

"You're all lifesavers—truly." Josh shifted. "I'd love to take the four of you out to dinner tonight as my way of saying thank you for looking after my beautiful fiancée."

"You don't have to do that." Brody waved the idea off.

"I insist," Josh said. "It's the least I can do. I can make reservations tonight at Terrapin."

Adrienne's eyes widened. "When I talked to the resort yesterday, they said it takes months to get reservations there."

"I can pull a few strings." Josh shrugged as if it weren't a big deal.

That was how it worked when people were rich. They could get things that others couldn't.

Adrienne raised her eyebrows, making it clear she was impressed. "If you insist, then that sounds perfect. I'd love to try that restaurant out—and to get to know everyone better as well."

"We'd love to join you," Fowler said with a slow, thoughtful nod. "You've done a great job since you took over as interim CEO. It would be an honor."

Dinner with this group tonight did sound intriguing, Maddie thought as she twisted her engagement ring on her finger.

She'd been on her own yesterday since Josh had meetings. She'd gone on a shopping excursion—alone—where she'd grabbed some lunch from a food truck. The sushi hadn't agreed with her, and she'd spent most of the rest of the day in the bathroom.

It had been miserable on more than one level.

She now had something to look forward to and something else to think about.

Something other than the fact that she believed her fiancé might be trying to kill her and the realization that the man she'd tried to save—and who'd possibly sent her that text—was dead.