Free The Reluctant Bride by Anne Marie Duquette Page A

obsession with the past could’ve cost you your life! You didn’t follow the rules, you just jumped head over heels—literally—for a stranger in another raft. I thought you had more sense than that.”
    Karinne leaped to her feet, away from the rock and out of his arms. “So I’m an idiot?”
    â€œNo, I’m the idiot. Because from now on, I’m going to do everything I can to help you find this woman.”
    â€œYou will? Oh, Max!”
    â€œAnd then, after that, you’re going to choose between having a husband or chasing after your parents the rest of your life. I want to live mine with you. If it isn’t going to be that way, I want to know by the end of this trip.”
    â€œYou’re really giving me an ultimatum?” Karinne gasped.
    â€œNo, I’m giving myself one. This is our last chance to see if our relationship can work. I love you, Karinne, but if I can’t have you in my life—and so far I haven’t—it’s time to cut our losses.”
    â€œI’ve been with you every chance I get!”
    â€œA weekend every few months? That’s not enough. You know my father was a cruise-ship captain, and Mom and Cory and I were always without him. I hated it. I swore I’d never do that to my own family. I offered to move to Phoenix once, and you told me not to. The ball’s in your court. It’s time for you to make up your mind.”
    â€œAnd what about you?” she accused. “You keep saying you want children. Do you expect me to quit my job? I could, you know. But I just don’t see the point. You think we’ll see each other more with me and the babies at home and you rafting down the Colorado? I might as well be working.”
    Now it was Max’s turn to gasp. “You don’t want children? But you always said…”
    â€œYes, I do, but under normal conditions. I’d end up with the same thing your mom had. An absentee husband. There’s no day care on the river. Or if you stopped working and I continued, it would be the same thing. I’d be an absentee mother and wife. Why subject the children to what we already suffered through?”
    His voice grew grim, cold. “So you’re saying marriage wouldn’t change anything?”
    â€œI didn’t say that.” Karinne rubbed her forehead. “But sometimes I don’t know what to think.”
    â€œMake up your mind. I want to know where this relationship stands.”
    â€œIt’s where it’s always been! With me loving you!” she said hoarsely.
    â€œIt’s not enough, Karinne. It’s not.”
    Â 
    â€œY OU THINK SHE’S all right?” Anita asked, glancing over her shoulder at Max and Karinne in the distance as Cory started arranging wood.
    â€œIf dry clothes and a fire don’t do the trick, Max will.”
    Anita sank to her knees to join him, her arms filled with wood. “She could’ve drowned .”
    â€œNot with us on the job,” Cory said. “Sooner or later she’d have tired, and the current would have moved her clear. The smart thing is to do it willingly, without panicking.”
    Anita shivered. “It seemed like forever.”
    â€œBut everything’s fine.” Cory took out his waterproof matches.
    â€œI’m so glad. What would we have told her father?” Anita dropped her wood. She covered her face with both hands.
    â€œAnita?” Instantly Cory was at her side. “Hey, it’s okay.” He gently patted her shaking shoulders.
    â€œSorry.”
    â€œDon’t be,” Cory said. “You’re Karinne’s friend. Nothing wrong with that.” He retrieved his bandanna from her soggy jeans pocket, then pulled her hand down from her cheek to press it into her palm. “I nearly had a heart attack myself.”
    â€œYou did?” Anita sniffed.
    â€œFor a minute there, I thought Max was going to jump in after