Read Online The Reluctant Bride by Anne Marie Duquette - Free Book Online

soon?” Anita asked, overhearing them.
    â€œBadger Rapid, Mile 8,” Cory said. “Named after an explorer who made badger stew there.”
    â€œBut the alkaline water turned the animal fat into soap. Hence, Soap Creek Rapid, right after Mile 11.” Max spoke with a guide’s practiced ease, his arm firmly around Karinne’s waist.
    â€œI’ll pass on eating badger,” Karinne said. “But the rapids should be fun.”
    â€œAs long as we stay in the boat,” Cory warned.
    â€œWise words,” Max said. “The white water is tricky here. Cory and I will steer. If you go overboard, don’t try to push off from the rocks or fight the current. Just concentrate on getting air, and you’ll beach down below. We’ll find you.”
    â€œWe’ve never lost a customer,” Cory said, reassuring Anita, who looked a little nervous. “And we’ll have calm water for a bit.”
    The four stood and gratefully drank their coffee, warming themselves until Max ushered them back into the raft.
    â€œAhh…here comes the sun.” Karinne took out her sunglasses with the sports strap as the miles of multihued rising cliffs and shoreline boulders heated and baked the humidity, first into steam, then into air. The smoother waters calmed her nerves, as did the company of the others, particularly Max, but the mist seemed unsettling.
    â€œWe’re rafting through shale now,” Max said. “Keep an eye open for prehistoric fern and insect fossils. After a heavy rain, you can easily see the exposed ones in the rocks.”
    Karinne spotted the first fossil—and Anita whipped out her digital camera to snap some shots.
    â€œBadger and Jackass Canyons coming up,” Cory sang out. “Ladies, stow your paddles and hang on.”
    â€œBadger’s on the right, Jackass on the left. The rapids form where their streams empty. Check your life jackets, and hold on tight,” Max warned. “Remember, if you fall out, don’t fight the current. Keep your arms close to your body. Just let the current take you into the calmer waters and wait for us.”
    â€œI’m not going swimming today,” Karinne insisted. “You ready, Anita?”
    â€œAs ready as I’m going to be.” Anita held tight to her straps.
    â€œI’m right here.” Cory met Anita’s gaze, then turned to face the rapids.
    The Colorado River frothed more white than dark as the side canyon stream tumbled into the main body of river water.
    Karinne heard Anita gasp as Max and Cory expertly guided the raft though the obstacles. Karinne laughed, her spirits lifting. She felt as if she was on nature’s greatest roller coaster, bouncing up and down, her sunglasses spattered, her grasp secure on the raft’s handles. When they finally emerged into calmer waters, Karinne felt happier for the experience.
    â€œEveryone okay?” Max asked.
    â€œStill breathing,” Anita replied. She seemed to have lost much of her nervousness.
    â€œGreat,” Karinne said, pulling down her life jacket, which had crawled up in the roughness of the water. “In fact, I could do that again.”
    â€œYou will. Soap Creek Rapid is three miles down,” Max told them.
    â€œAre you ladies still warm?” Cory asked.
    â€œWarm enough, I guess,” Karinne said.
    â€œOkay, then, we’ll just bail and keep on going.”
    The water had soaked everyone from head to toe, despite the women’s slickers. The men, who rarely bothered with them on the river, untied the plastic folding buckets and passed them to the women to bail water. The inflated raft wouldn’t sink, but navigation would be easier without the extra water weight downriver. For this trip, Max shut off the motor, which he’d used for the rapids. The current alone would propel them.
    â€œI wonder if I should become a river guide,” Anita said suddenly. “Accounting is