Page 84 of Vacation Friends

CHAPTER

THIRTY-SEVEN

NOW, BENCHMARK SUNNY DAYS RETREAT, DAY 5

Today’s excursion was a kayaking trip down the river, followed by a hike through the jungle, ending at a waterfall with a swimming hole beneath it.

Maddie and Josh had already signed up to participate in the excursion before all the near-death experiences had started happening. Maddie had decided to go anyway, to not cower in fear. However, she would need to be careful.

Especially after someone had sent her that mugshot.

Seeing it had freaked her out. What if someone else saw it?

In order to ensure that didn’t happen, she’d torn it into hundreds of small pieces. Then she’d flushed it down the toilet. She couldn’t risk anyone seeing it in her room.

Josh had met her outside this morning and had agreed they could both be civil enough to stick to their plans. Josh had tried to talk about more, but Maddie had shushed him. Now, a cool tension rippled between them.

At the river, they’d met their guide, Nightmarcher—but they could call him Nighty. The man, in his late thirties, was muscular but stout and stoically serious.

The trip up the river in the kayak had been quiet. Other people had been around them in their own kayaks, and Maddie made sure to stay close so Josh wouldn’t force her into a tense conversation.

Her shoulder still hurt from her fall off the balcony. Kayaking had been uncomfortable, to say the least.

Memories of her mugshot distracted her from her pain, however.

How had someone found out about her past? She’d done everything in her power to hide what had happened. She’d been desperate to conceal it.

That one event had changed everything about her life.

If people knew that aspect about her past, no one would ever want to hire her. To be associated with her. At least not people of reputable character.

Those reasons were why Maddie had worked so hard to become a different person.

Now everything was threatened.

Not even Josh knew her secret, and Maddie never intended on sharing it with him.

But it might be too late. Now someone here at this retreat knew the truth. They could tell Josh.

Maddie knew she should tell him before someone else did. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She was too upset with him and the way he was treating her—as well as others—lately.

After kayaking, they hiked through jungle grasses and over large river rocks as they headed toward an unnamed “secret” waterfall. There were so many waterfalls on Kauai that she had to wonder if most of them had names or not.

The good news was that Adrienne and Brody as well as Bree and Fowler were on this trip. Their presence made the whole thing so much more bearable. None of them made her feel like she was being scrutinized or under a microscope. The instant bond she felt with them was refreshing, something she hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Darla, Tom, and Nico were also on the excursion. Another group from the company had been scheduled to leave an hour later, so they’d most likely run into that crowd at some point also.

Maddie vowed to keep her distance from Brody from here forward. She was attracted to the man and had to put some space between them. Brody was with Adrienne. Maddie was officially with Josh.

Her feelings were inappropriate, yet every time she was around the man, her attraction seemed to grow. She’d always dreamed about marrying someone strong and protective yet laid-back. She’d given up thinking that person existed. And Josh had seemed like the total package at first. She’d been swept away. But now she realized he wasn’t the person for her.

She glanced in front of her now at Adrienne and Brody as they hiked. She still remembered Adrienne’s statement about Brody. About how he was like Danny.

Maddie wasn’t sure why the thought bothered her so much. But it still did.

The two images didn’t merge in her mind. Because of that, she didn’t know exactly what to think.

She supposed whatever was happening between Adrienne and Brody wasn’t any of her business. Every relationship had problems. The two people involved eventually had to figure out whether or not working through those problems and staying together was worth the effort.