Page 61 of Vacation Friends

A few moments of blissful silence passed, and Maddie closed her eyes.

“Brody is out playing golf,” Adrienne told her. “Josh too?”

“Yes, he loves playing. Personally, the game bores me to tears.”

“Me too! One more thing we have in common.”

The two shared a smile.

As the therapist dug her elbow into Maddie’s back, Maddie glanced at Adrienne. “So how did you and Brody meet? Have you been dating for long?”

Her eyes opened and then closed again. “Me and Brody? Oh, we’ve been on again, off again for probably two years. But no matter what happens, we seem to come back to each other. Relationships are like that, aren’t they? Except probably not you and Josh. You two seem like you were made for each other.”

“You really think?” Maddie contemplated how much to say.

Part of her wanted to pour everything out to someone. But she questioned how wise that would be. Trusting the wrong person could have dire effects.

Instead of sharing, she clamped her lips shut.

“For sure,” Adrienne said. “You seem like the ideal couple. You complement each other so well.”

All the relaxation Maddie’s muscles had undergone moments ago deteriorated, and they tightened again. “I don’t know if the ideal couple really exists.”

Adrienne raised her eyebrows. “So, to be clear, you two are not perfect together?”

“Not by any means.” Maddie touched the diamond ring on her finger. “We’re far from it, actually.”

“Uh oh. Sounds like trouble in paradise.”

Again, Maddie wanted to share but chose not to. “It’s . . . complicated, you know?”

“I know all about complicated.” Adrienne rolled her eyes.

“So you never said how you and Brody met,” Maddie prodded, desperate for a subject change.

“Oh, it’s such a fun story,” Adrienne started. “I hadn’t been in the city very long, and I was supposed to meet some friends from work for dinner. But I got totally lost and was wandering around Greenwich Village close to a panic. Then Brody saw me.”

“Sounds like this is going to get good.”

“He took pity on me,” she continued. “He gave me directions, but I still must have looked confused because he insisted on walking with me to make sure I got to the restaurant safely. When I got there, I asked him to stay and eat—my treat. At first, he refused, but I finally convinced him. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“It sounds like he’s always been a hero.”

Adrienne grinned. “Yes, he really is, isn’t he? When I saw him jump into your UTV yesterday . . .” She fanned her face. “I knew he was the man I wanted to marry.”

Maddie wished she felt that way about Josh.

Instead, he was the man who abandoned her and almost got her killed as he looked out for himself instead.

The massage had been wonderful as well as the facial afterward.

Maddie felt markedly more relaxed when her session was over, and she’d enjoyed getting to know Adrienne more.

When they finished, they both changed back into their clothes. Maddie waited for the rest of the group to finish so she, as hostess, could tell everyone goodbye and make sure they’d enjoyed their treatments.

Adrienne volunteered to stay with Maddie as she lingered in the spa lobby.

Adrienne seemed like good friendship material, like the kind of person Maddie would like to hang out with back in New York. She’d had a hard time finding good friends in the city. Then when she started dating Josh, that didn’t seem to matter as much.

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