Free The Reluctant Bride by Anne Marie Duquette

upward into the air, the light, and into view of the glorious yellow raft captained by the man she loved, waiting just as he’d promised.
    But even as she swam toward safety, her mind reeled with old images, and new ones.
    That woman in the other raft… Could it be…her mother?

Chapter Six
    Mile 31.9,
Vasey’s Paradise
    Karinne still felt queasy with fear and adrenaline. She also felt incredibly foolish for falling into the river and not following Max’s directions. Eventually, she’d let the current grab her, take her under and bring her back to the surface of the Colorado.
    Max and Anita had pulled her inside the raft. Cory soon docked at the closest camping area downriver. Max hadn’t left Karinne since they’d arrived on the shore and he’d helped her out. He threw a dry towel around her shoulders, briskly rubbing them, and making her feel like a two-year-old instead of the confident woman she usually was.
    â€œAre you okay?” Anita asked.
    Karinne nodded.
    â€œCory, why don’t you start a fire?” Max suggested. “Come on, Karinne, time to get out of those wet clothes.”
    A few minutes later, she entered the Porta Potti with dry clothing and a replacement pair of socks. She refused to give in to the urge to be sick to her stomach—an urge not related to the potent odor of chemical treatment—and, once she’d changed clothes, hurried outside again, the door flapping closed behind her.
    Karinne took in the Porta Potti door and read the sign posted to prevent campers and wild animals from close contact. It read For Safety and Hygiene, Please Latch This Door Securely! With trembling fingers, Karinne tried to fasten the outside catch. She couldn’t. The cold, her nerves and aftershock made it impossible. And she’d left her soggy wet mass of clothes inside on the wooden floor. Max got them and closed the door latch for her.
    â€œThis place has more rules than a courthouse,” she said, trying to make a joke. Her voice shook.
    â€œCome on, sit down.”
    â€œWe can’t.” Karinne gestured to another sign in front of bubbling springs and the garden of ferns, mosses and flowers to the far right.
    Please Do Not Approach! Protected Area For Endangered Kanab Ambersnails.
    â€œI thought we’d sit over here.” Max guided her to an area where a weatherworn wooden bench allowed visitors to lounge safely behind the edge of the springs’ boundaries, the water itself surrounded by saddleback-shaped boulders, rubbed smooth by thousands of years of erosion. Karinne sat while Max dropped her wet clothes onto one of the rocks and joined her on the bench. He put his arm around her and drew her close.
    â€œWarmer?” he asked.
    â€œDrier, anyway.” She couldn’t help shivering.
    â€œCory’ll start a fire,” Max assured her. “What happened out there?” he asked.
    â€œI fell,” Karinne replied.
    â€œI checked the hand loop. It’s fine. Did you lose your balance?”
    â€œNo, I just…didn’t hold on.”
    â€œThat’s not like you, Karinne.”
    â€œI got distracted.”
    â€œHold tighter next time.” He urged her even closer.
    â€œI will. Promise me you won’t think I’m crazy.” At his nod, Karinne gulped in a deep breath.
    â€œI thought I saw my mother.”
    â€œHere?”
    â€œIn the silver pontoon. Max, it looked like her. I swear it was Mom again. I twisted to see better. That’s when I fell in.”
    â€œYou scared the hell out of me,” Max said.
    â€œI scared myself more.” Despite her dry clothes, she shivered again. “You never told me about the whirlpools. I’m starting to hate surprises. How can you live in a place like this, Max?”
    â€œFirst of all, you said you wanted to see what I did for a living. Second, if you weren’t chasing a ghost, you wouldn’t have fallen out of the raft. Your