The Reluctant Bride

by Anne Marie Duquette

As he took it, Jon studied Max, who wore hiking shorts and a T-shirt.

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll tread water until I find something else.” Max anchored his bare feet against the submerged cabin roof shingles.

  “There isn’t anything,” Jon said.

  “Then we’ll wait for something to float by—the raft, if we’re lucky. With Karinne on it.”

  “What if she’s late?”

  “We’ll tag-team.”

  “What?”

  “Take turns floating and treading water. You float first. Then we switch.”

  “No, you first. You’re tired,” Jon said.

  “Stop arguing, kid.”

  The whole cabin suddenly swayed beneath them.

  “You hold the float. I’ll swim. Now!” Max said.

  That was when the cabin beneath them collapsed and burst apart in the water.

  The top bar of the porch ripped through the water. It whipped hard against Jon’s leg, hitting with a force that would’ve shattered bone had the water not cushioned the impact. Jon gasped in pain, and swallowed a mouthful of water as the blow separated him from Max—and from the buoy. Max didn’t see the injury, but immediately threw one arm across the boy’s chest and held Jon’s head high; as he did, he reached for and regained the floating container.

  Max tread water, desperately keeping Jon’s head above the water as the boy choked for breath. Jon had both arms on the float, and only one leg to kick with.

  “Are you okay?”

  “My leg hurts,” Jon gasped.

  “Can you move it?”

  “Some.”

  There was no way they could take turns treading water now. Max held on to the jug handle to keep Jon from being swept away. The two of them, human cargo, awkwardly bobbed and drifted amid the wreckage with other desperate campers.

  Karinne, where are you?

  CORY FOLLOWED the tree, going down legs first, his eyes useless in the clay-filled water. Holding his breath, he used his feet like feelers, probing in all directions while hugging the tree with his arms. He found nothing and was forced to surface for air. He looked for Anita, who was still on the door. He heard her calling Margot’s name as he ducked under again. Margot couldn’t have floated away; she’d fallen up-current, so the underwater branches of the tree should have snagged her.

  He felt a line stretch taut across his foot. The binocular strap! Cory didn’t resurface, afraid he wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the location again. Still submerged, he released the tree, spun head down into the water and followed the strap a little farther, his hand ending up at Margot’s head. He pushed her hard, his lungs bursting as he sprang upward off the branches, straining—afraid he wouldn’t make the surface with her, afraid to surface without her. Suddenly, Margot broke free, and Cory shot upward, Margot floating with him.

  Before her head cleared the water, Anita reached for Cory and pulled the two of them toward her.

  “She’s not breathing.” Cory started coughing, his lungs searing with pain as he took in fresh air. Anita dragged him onto the door, then began resuscitation procedures on Margot while Cory collapsed faceup, hyperventilating and praying Anita could breathe life back into Margot.

  KARINNE GROANED with effort as she lifted the small but heavy trolling motor and battery from the tiny rowboat and dumped it on the dock. She managed to drop Max’s larger gas motor from its mounts. She didn’t even try to save it. The engine sank quickly, resting beneath the dock on the bed of dark red clay. Then she scrambled back onto the dock, manhandled the rowboat’s electric motor and battery onto Max’s raft and used the hand clamps to reposition it.

  The motor looked pitifully small compared to the one she’d scuttled, but it was all she could lift. At least the electric motor turned on with a switch, no keys or pull start required.

  Karinne flipped the switch. Nothing. She primed the engine once and cautiously tried again. Success! As long as the marine battery had enough juice, she was in business.

  Karinne tossed off the line and motored the raft away from the dock. The craft handled clumsily as she oversteered with the troller. She felt like an inexperienced young teen behind the wheel of a car for the very first time—and on a speeding highway with no helpful instructor beside her. Despite her ignorance of boating, the chill of the water and, most of all, her fear for the others, she appreciated the power of nature at its rawest. She thought of Powell, who’d had only one arm to steer with. If he could do it, she could, too—at least long enough to get to Max.

  But Powell had navigational skills. Karinne had none. As she came within view of what had once been the cabins, her heart sank. Her only landmarks were half-destroyed chimney tops and the tops of partially submerged cottonwoods. She had to find the others.

  Where do I start looking?

  CORY WORKED on chest compressions as Anita continued to breathe into the unconscious woman’s mouth.

  “She’s not breathing yet!”

  “Switch!” he ordered. He cleaned out Margot’s mouth and nose a second time and pushed hard breaths into the woman’s lungs.

  “I’ve got a pulse,” Anita said thankfully.

  Cory couldn’t celebrate. Margot remained unconscious, eyes closed. She finally coughed and started breathing on her own, but she was limp, not responding to her name.

  “Roll her on her side,” Anita said. “I’ll dry her off.”

  Cory unbuttoned his shirt. Anita balled it up and wrung it out to sponge off Margot’s face.

  “She still breathing okay?” Cory asked. “How’s her pulse?”

  “Good, but I wish she’d wake up,” Anita said. “We’re down to one swimmer now—you. Where’s Max? Do you think he made it to the raft?”

  “I don’t know.” Cory took his shirt back, but didn’t have the energy to put it on. “He’d better show up soon. We’re running out of time.”

  THE RAIN ENDED monsoon-style—just as abruptly as it had started, with almost no transitional phase from pouring to stopping. The light was improved, too, as Karinne piloted the raft among the remains of cottonwood trees and chimneys. Unfortunately, the floodwaters didn’t disappear as quickly as they’d risen. That could take days.

  “Anyone there?” she yelled again and again. Her throat ached from overuse, but she kept yelling the question, calling out names. Her voice cracked, temporarily gone. She brought her fingers to her lips and whistled….

  And, incredibly, she heard a responding whistle.

  “Max?” she shouted.

  “Karinne!” a voice shouted back. “It’s Cory!”

  Karinne spotted him. He waved a shirt in the air. “Over here!” It was Cory. And Anita. And…who else? Karinne wasn’t close enough to see, nor could she maneuver over to the trees.

  “Stay put.” Cory jumped into the water and swam toward the raft, replacing Karinne at the tiller. He took the raft much closer, close enough for Karinne to see Anita, and her mother’s motionless body.

  “What happened?” Karinne asked, her heart in her throat. “What’s wrong with Mom? Where’s Max?”

  “Max went after Jon. Margot went under,” Cory said.

  “She’s not—”

  “She’s breathing, but still out of it. It’ll take both of us to load her into the raft,” Cory said.

  “Anita, you okay?” Karinne studied Anita frantically.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Except my wife can’t swim.”

  “What?”

  “It’s true,” Anita said.

  “I’ve got life jackets.” Karinne grabbed two and rolled overboard with them.

  Cory edged the raft a little nearer. “I can’t get any closer—not with this motor. Where’s ours?”

  “Broken,” Karinne said, reaching the door. She gasped aloud, shocked at the sight of her mother’s limp body. Karinne passed Anita a life jacket.

  “Cory pulled her out of the water. She wasn’t breathing when he brought her up,” Anita said bluntly. “Oh, God.”

/>   Anita helped Karinne put a life jacket on Margot.

  “It’s okay, Mom,” Karinne said to the unmoving figure. “We’re getting out of here.”

  Soon the three women were in the raft. Karinne held Margot, her mother’s head motionless on her lap.

  “Give me a paddle,” Anita told Cory.

  Cory tossed her one from the bottom of the boat.

  “We’re making progress,” he said encouragingly.

  “Two more passengers and we’re home free,” Anita added.

  Karinne settled her mother more carefully in her lap and reached for the other paddle. “We aren’t there yet. We have to find Jon and Max.”

  MAX KEPT HIS ARMS linked under Jon’s arms, the boy’s back against Max’s chest. Max’s muscles were cramped with the cold. He suspected the water had long since siphoned away much of Jon’s body heat, as it had his. The boy’s leg had to be throbbing from its lashing by the rail, and his strength was fading. Max’s own energy was severely taxed. He’d let the water take them where it wanted, conserving his strength, kicking only when dangerous flotsam threatened them.

  “You okay?” he asked Jon, repeating the conversation they’d been having for the past hour, both of them saying the same words. “How’s your leg?”

  “Fine. Where’s the raft?”

  “Maybe in another ten minutes.”

  This time, Jon’s response varied from the script.

  “You said that before…” His weak voice sounded impatient. “Check your watch.”

  Max carefully angled his wrist. The digital dial had gone blank. “It’s broken.”

  “Why didn’t you buy a waterproof one?”

  “I did,” Max said ruefully. “I guess it just died.”

  “Are we gonna die?”

  “No.”

  “Is anyone gonna find us?” Jon asked. His voice trembled, not from cold or pain, but from fear.

  “They’ll be here soon.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Max cuddled the boy closer. Jon’s limbs felt stiff, wooden. So did his. “We just have to wait a few more minutes.”

  “I wish I had a cell phone.” Jon sighed.

  “Won’t work here. They don’t make waterproof ones, anyway, do they?”

  “They do, too! Go online and look.”

  “Tell you what,” Max promised. “When we get out of here, I’ll buy you a cell phone. Waterproof.”

  “Mom won’t let you.”

  “Yes, she will. I’m an old friend of Karinne’s. I’m practically family.”

  “Then you ask Mom,” Jon said.

  “I will…when we see her.”

  “Soon.”

  Max managed to smile, despite failing strength and the taste of dirty water. “Soon,” he agreed.

  KARINNE CONTINUED to steer, her eyes scanning the waters. She couldn’t lose Max. He was her heart, her soul, her life. Somehow she’d repair the rift between them—but first, she had to find him. And Jon, the brother she’d never known. She couldn’t lose him. She’d just found him.

  “Where can he be?” Anita asked anxiously.

  “There!” Cory sang out. “I see them! Max!”

  Cory directed the raft toward them as Karinne and Anita stowed their paddles. Max shoved Jon toward the waiting arms above him. He was numb from the cold. He couldn’t feel his fingers as he pushed Jon upward into the raft. Anita and Margot, who’d regained consciousness, took the boy as Cory and Karinne carefully pulled Max in without swamping the craft. Cory dropped the tiller to help, but Karinne reached Max first.

  HE FELT HER ARMS around him as he was half pulled, half rolled over the edge of the raft. He fell into Karinne’s lap—limp, spent, eyes closed against the muck. Karinne tenderly wiped his face with gentle fingers. He’d never felt so tired. He’d never felt so good, either.

  The others in the boat shot out rapid-fire questions about Max’s and Jon’s welfare. Max couldn’t make sense of any of the words, but even with his eyes shut, he registered Karinne’s soft voice. She was the one person not shouting his name over and over, Cory loudest of all, but only Karinne’s presence registered.

  “Open your eyes, Max,” Cory insisted.

  “Max…Max…Max…” Everyone shouted his name.

  “Quiet, everyone!” someone ordered.

  Karinne? To Max’s amazement, everyone obeyed the command.

  “Give him some air. Let him catch his breath.” Karinne’s voice, sweet and low, rang with love.

  “Max, listen to me. We’re all here. Every one of us. Help will be here soon. The storm’s over.”

  He felt Karinne wrap herself more closely around him, his head tucked under her chin. Max sighed, soaking up her love. He still couldn’t talk, but he was starting to feel warm again….

  “You look better,” she said, smoothing his wet hair.

  “I feel better.”

  “Just relax for now, okay?”

  Relax? Max couldn’t remember lowering his guard, ever. He hadn’t allowed himself a break. He hadn’t dared. His whole life he’d been the leader, and the leader never rested—until now. Karinne was taking charge, taking care of him. With Karinne, he could catch his breath. That was all he’d ever needed to make life perfect. A loving woman to share life’s load.

  He almost lost faith in that strong, kindred soul he’d recognized, but now he wondered if perhaps Karinne had remained true to herself, and to him.

  “Can you open your eyes?” Karinne asked.

  He could move mountains for this woman—with this woman—but only if she could stand on her own two feet. He opened his eyes to her face.

  I thought I’d never see you again. He took in a deep breath, but could only gasp out, “You’re here….”

  “Of course I’m here.” Karinne smiled, her love shining. She brought one of his hands to her lips, kissed his palm and held it against her cheek. “I told you I’d never let go of you.”

  “You’re just saying that…because I went missing.”

  “Yes. And no.” She kissed his head and hugged him so tightly that once more he couldn’t breathe. But this time, he didn’t mind. He kept her face in focus as his strength returned.

  Max held Karinne’s hand, continued to hold it as a helicopter’s rotary blades sang high above the Colorado. He sat up with her fingers in his, wishing she still wore his engagement ring, wishing things could be right between them and praying for a future with the only woman he’d ever loved as the approaching sound of rescue reverberated against the walls of the Grand Canyon.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Karinne concentrated on her driving. She was headed back to Phoenix with Margot, Jon and Max. After their rescue and helicopter flight to the top of the canyon, EMTs had checked everyone out. No one showed lasting effects of the ordeal and exposure to the cold, although Jon had a severely bruised leg and had been ordered to stay off it for a few days. Margot’s submersion underwater and the near-loss of both her children had left her shaky and subdued. Max had simply been exhausted, but that was nothing rest wouldn’t cure. A good night’s sleep topside had done wonders.

  Cory and Anita were staying at the canyon.

  “I’m giving you swimming lessons as soon as I can get you to a pool,” Cory told his wife. “And you want to join me in the rafting business?”

  “I never said I didn’t need on-the-job training,” she replied. “I am an accountant, after all.”

  “Don’t ever surprise me like that again,” Cory said. “I can’t take it.”

  Karinne wanted to go home to Phoenix. As she explained to Margot, “You need to see Dad again, Mom. You two have a lot to talk over.” She didn’t add, And divorce papers to sign, but that was implied.

  “I’ll go with you,” Max had volunteered. And he had. He sat beside her in the front seat, for once not offering to drive. Karinne suspected the ordeal in the water had taken more out of him than he’d admitted, both physically and emotionally.

  Margot and Jon dozed in the backseat,
still recovering, the long drive to Phoenix giving them time to rest. Max remained awake, but quiet.

  “Thanks for coming along with me,” Karinne said.

  “No problem. I told you I’d see this through to the end.”

  Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “I don’t like hearing those words from you.”

  “What?”

  “The end.” Karinne kept her eyes on the road. “Although I’ve realized that change, whether good or bad, is always stressful. But speaking of ‘the end,’ I’ve got to end some things in my life, Max. The first is my job.” She could feel his gaze on her, and flicked him a quick glance before looking out through her windshield again. “I’m tired of living a nomad’s life. I have no free time for anyone or anything, not myself, not you. I know it’s a little late, but I’m moving up north. I want us to rediscover each other, to be together as a couple—whether we get married or not.”

  “You sure you wanna give up your job?” Max asked. “You’ve worked hard to get where you are, Karinne.”

  “I know. But…I need to. I have money set aside I’ve never had time to spend, nor have I had time for the people I love. That’s why I cling so hard to my father. But my brief visits with him—and with you—aren’t enough. And now there’s Mom and Jon. I want a regular life—but most of all I want to be with you. I know you think it’s probably too late, but it doesn’t have to be.”

  She tried to keep the pleading out of her voice, but she didn’t hide the love she felt.

  “I did a lot of thinking myself while I was treading water,” Max said. “I was so worried about you…afraid I’d never see you again. I can’t believe you went after the raft, Karinne. You swam in a flood, you’d never piloted a raft, yet you went, anyway. You’ve got courage, more courage than I realized. You’re not a child waiting to grow up. I was wrong. You’re a woman—a woman any man would be proud to have as his bride.”

  Karinne blinked the tears from her eyes. “I don’t want any man. I just want you.”

  “We’ll try again,” Max said. “But let’s not make any promises. Let’s see what’s going to happen with Margot and Jon. It’s easier to break ties with a job than it is to rock the boat with your family. Jeff isn’t going to want to let you go, and I can see him using Margot’s reappearance as another reason to hold on to his only daughter. That’s what he does, Karinne. It’s what he’s done ever since Margot ran away. He’ll have to deal with the pain of Margot’s rejection—something you haven’t done, either.”