Page 69 of Vacation Friends

TWENTY-NINE

Maddie’s arms flailed, and she screamed as she felt herself falling.

In an instant, it became clear to her what would happen if she hit the ground below.

Pain. So much pain.

Above her, someone yelled. Then someone else shouted.

Her hand hit something.

Caught it.

Or it caught her.

Josh. He’d caught her.

Somehow, he had managed to lunge forward, land on his stomach, and grab her hand before she fell too far.

But she now dangled four stories in the air.

She made the mistake of glancing down.

Her head spun when she saw the manicured grass below her.

It was too far below for her comfort.

“Maddie?” someone screeched nearby.

She glanced over. Adrienne and Brody stood on the balcony next door.

They gawked at her.

The next instant, Brody climbed onto the railing of his balcony. He carefully skirted around the ledge before landing on the patio beside Josh.

Wasting no time, he dropped to a prone position and reached for her.

He grabbed her other hand.

On the count of three, Brody and Josh pulled her onto the balcony.

She sprawled on the tile there, her cheek pressed into the dirty floor. She was safe.

It would take a few minutes for her body to catch on to that fact.

Her heart raced out of control as she tried to catch her breath.

That could have been really, really ugly.

She was so thankful Josh had been able to grab her. That Brody had been close. That together they’d been able to lift her to safety.

Brody squatted on one side of her and Josh on the other.

“Are you okay?” Josh asked.

“Now I am.” She sounded breathless as she said the words. “Thank you. Thank you both.”

Brody looked up at Josh. “What happened?”

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