Unrequited Love

“She might have just curled up somewhere and fallen asleep,” Norman suggested hopefully.

“For five hours?” Ryan snorted incredulously.

“We have everyone out looking for her,” the groomsman assured him. “If she is around here, we will find her.”

The word ‘eventually’ hovered in the air between them.

Ryan nodded, but his handsome face remained grim.

“We have to go back up to the bluff and see if she has fallen.” He felt sick at the thought of what he might find. It was difficult to find a reason why he hadn’t stopped to think about checking to see if she had fallen before. It just didn’t seem like something Sian would do; go up onto the highest point in the county in the middle of a thunderstorm. She seemed far too sensible for that. But he knew she had been deeply upset, so it was possible that she might have, and something might have happened to her because of it.

“If we take the longer route round, sir, we can come up from underneath it. That gives us a clear view of the cliff face. We will also walk the paths she is likely to take if she has been this way, sir,” the groomsman suggested.

When Ryan nodded, he waved a hand at a couple of the men behind him. They swiftly dismounted and hurried past on foot and, within seconds, began to hurriedly climb the narrow path that led to the top of the bluff.

“Here.”

Ryan had barely dismounted before the cry echoed dully around the barren outcropping. He closed his eyes while his heart soared. Without hesitation, he broke into a run only to slam to a stop when he followed the direction of one of the men’s hand and saw where Sian now lay.

“Jesus,” Ryan hissed, staring in horror at the legs dangling several feet off the ground over the end of the narrow ledge about half-way down the bluff.

“That’s a good twenty feet or so,” Norman whispered.

“The best thing we can do is come at her from up top, sir. We have some rope that should be long enough to lower someone over the edge but need manpower to get her back up.”

“Send someone for the doctor,” Norman urged, his voice low for fear of worrying Ryan even more.

Ryan raced along the narrow path which wound around in a wide arc and then climbed steadily. He was panting by the time he reached the top. He then ran along the edge of the outcropping until he could see Sian, lying all bent and twisted on a narrow ledge.

“I am going,” he growled at the men who gathered around him.

“Sir.”

Ryan huffed an impatient sigh. “If you go and she wakes up she is going to be terrified. She knows me.”

With the help of the men, Ryan tied the rope around his waist and was slowly lowered over the side of the bluff. He used his feet to make sure he didn’t slam into the granite outcrop as he slowly dropped until his boots touched the edge of the narrow ledge.

“Sian?” He fell to his knees and touched her hand and cursed bitterly when he found her to be icy cold. All sorts of things ran around in his mind, and with such ferocity that his hand trembled when he reached out to touch her cheek. He swiftly yanked off his jacket and draped it over her.

“Boss?” the groomsman called.

“Wait!” Ryan ordered. “Sian? Can you hear me?”

Sian blinked sleepily and stared at Ryan. Her heart leapt wildly in her chest when she saw him leaning over her. The intent, loving look in his eye was wildly thrilling, but was swiftly dampened by the cruel pounding in her temple.

“Ryan?” she whispered.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Hurt?”

“When you fell,” Ryan explained. He placed a calming hand on her when she tried to sit up only to wince and fall back down again. “We have to get you off here.”

“Here?” She blinked worriedly at him. “Where are we? Where am I? What happened?”

Ryan eyed the small thin cut on her temple and suspected he wasn’t going to get much sense out of her. Hurriedly untying the rope, he tied it around Sian.

“I am not going up there on that,” she protested.