The Reluctant Bride

The Reluctant Bride
Anne Marie Duquette

Karinne's been engaged to Max for two years, but everything conspires to keep them from actually getting married. His job as a guide in the Grand Canyon. Her job as a Phoenix-based sports photographer. Her family's troubled past. And now, making matters even more complicated, Karinne has reason to believe that her mother - long presumed dead - might be alive, after all. Now Karinne and Max are spending a week in the Grand Canyon on a rafting trip.It's supposed to be a pre-wedding vacation, a chance to enjoy some time together, an adventure. But it could be a little too much adventure. Especially when Karinne's mother, Margot, shows up - with a shocking request. It's another thing that comes between Max and Karinne. They love each other, but that might not be enough for this reluctant bride to walk down the aisle!

Max was waiting for Karinne

Leaning against his car, he eagerly watched the incoming traffic for her. He hadn’t seen Karinne enough recently. Between the time she spent working and Max’s own schedule, they weren’t in physical contact very often. Max missed her so much he ached inside.

Two women climbed out of a just-parked vehicle, but Max only had eyes for Karinne. His pulse quickened at the sight of her. She wore an old pair of denims and a sweatshirt. The childhood blond hair he remembered had long ago deepened to a darker shade, although her green eyes remained the same. Bare toes peeped out from casual summer sandals, and the sweatshirt didn’t hide the sweet curves beneath. But his eyes lingered, as always, on her face.

He didn’t call out her name. He enjoyed anticipating her beautiful smile of recognition. When she finally caught his gaze, that smile rewarded him.

Dear Reader,

Grand Canyon National Park is famous for its beauty and the river that carved it, the Colorado. The word “canyon,” however, is deceptive. Even “Grand” doesn’t adequately describe its abundance of life and land mass, its history and ancient culture.

As a child, I grew up walking the Colorado’s beds and tributaries high in the Rocky Mountains, searching for gold nuggets. That treasured ore is long gone, but the Colorado River now provides new treasure—irrigation and electricity for the Southwest. This means supporting mega-farms, huge crop fields and cities with increasing populations—but modernization has a price.

Sadly, the millennia-old flow into the Gulf of California has disappeared in the past seventy-five years. Long before reaching the sea, the empty riverbed turns to dust. The overconsumption of this now-clear river threatens almost a third of North America’s ecosystems, while water and power rights representing billions of dollars are fought in national international courts. The Colorado has replaced the Nile as the most heavily litigated river in the world.

I have taken certain liberties in my story. My description of flooding in the present-day Grand Canyon National Park is now impossible. I have resurrected the “Rogue” Colorado of fifty years ago, before modern technology “tamed” it.

The Hopi believe the Grand Canyon is a Sipapu—a sacred place where “The People” emerged to enter the beautiful Southwest. My hero and heroine share this deep respect for the outdoors—and each other. Welcome to the grandest canyon in the world!

And be sure to visit my website, www.paperbackgems.com.

Anne Marie Duquette

The Reluctant Bride

Anne Marie Duquette

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anne Marie enjoys the Southern California lifestyle with her husband, two grown children and two grandchildren. When she’s not reading or writing, she’s relaxing on the beach—or upping her adrenaline on Disneyland’s roller coasters. Her stories focus on the security and the adventure of romance because she feels every relationship should have both!

My most heartfelt gratitude to Paula E., editor, teacher and friend.

Thank you for everything!

CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter One

Her mother couldn’t be alive…could she?

In ordinary circumstances, Karinne Cavanaugh should be smiling as she packed for vacation. The Grand Canyon, one of the most spectacular parks in the world, awaited her photographer’s eye. For once she wouldn’t be photographing men in sports uniforms. She’d be lost in the blissful glory of the Southwest’s July landscape. As an added bonus, she’d get to see her fiancé, Max Hunter. Their wedding would be in the fall at the Grand Old Lodge—seventy-five years old—three times her age, and boasting many other weddings in the past. She was driving up to Flagstaff to actually see the place for herself.

Max, a rafting guide, had even promised a longer raft trip instead of their short weekend treks down the Colorado River at Karinne’s urging—a prehoneymoon vacation.

“Since we’re getting married, I should be more familiar with what you do for a living,” she’d coaxed him with a kiss. “It’ll be romantic.”

“I wish you’d said something sooner. I’m already booked, Karinne,” Max warned, although he didn’t resist her kisses. Rafting trips were booked years in advance, rain or shine. “But if I get a cancellation, I’ll call you.”

A cancellation had occurred during rainy weather, and Max had called, as promised. If Karinne could show up in two days, she’d be in luck. Max worked a single craft in the rafting concession with his younger brother, Cory. The brothers had outfitted a private expedition that had canceled, despite the deposit. Her own boss agreed to the short notice. She and Max could check out the wedding and honeymoon accommodations sooner rather than later. The trip down the river would be just the two of them, a few precious days together before their wedding in November. She should consider herself the luckiest woman in the world.

Karinne Cavanaugh, engaged, educated and employed, didn’t know what to think.

Her mother, long thought dead, a woman who’d disappeared during Karinne’s childhood, had seemingly come back to haunt her.

During one of Karinne’s home-game baseball photography sessions, she’d caught a familiar face in the background crowd. This in itself was rare. She clicked off some rapid shots. Seconds later, the woman was gone; whoever the “double” was didn’t return.