“Is Ryan not here?”
“No. He has some sort of problem at one of the farms,” Sian reported.
Norman nodded. “Are you quite well? Have you recovered? I must say you are looking better than you did when you arrived.”
“I am sorry for the inconvenience,” Sian replied.
“How did you happen to fall? Can you remember how you came to miss the bluff?”
“I can’t remember. I was standing at the top, looking out over the landscape. I was trying to calm down and gather the will to return home but when I turned around my foot slipped. I must have lost my balance. I cannot even remember falling or landing on the ledge.”
“It is not necessarily a bad thing,” Norman smiled. “It is best you don’t remember. I take it the issues with your father haven’t been resolved yet.”
Sian paused and lifted her brows at him. “Has Ryan told you?”
“Ryan and I have been very good friends for many years now. We have been through thick and thin together. There is nothing I won’t tell him, and vice versa.”
Sian nodded but sensed there was something else he was trying to tell her. “To answer your question, no, matters with my father haven’t improved. My mother has contacted my aunt to ask if we could stay with her for a while.”
“Will you all go?”
Sian frowned a little. “Yes, we will all go,” she replied firmly, wondering if he was telling her that she had outstayed her welcome. “I really don’t mean to bring trouble to Ryan’s door. It was very good of him to allow me to stay while I recover.”
Norman nodded. “Ryan is a kind and generous man.” He paused and looked steadily at her. “He has a big heart. I should hate for him to be hurt because of it.”
“I don’t want to hurt him,” Sian whispered.
“Good,” Norman began. He knew that if he wanted to keep his friendship with Ryan, which he did, he had to tread carefully. If he said the wrong thing, he would incur Ryan’s wrath and would never be trusted again. “I should hate to see him being taken advantage of.”
“Is that what you think I am doing? Taking advantage of him?” She didn’t need Norman to nod because the proof was written on his face.
“Of course not. He asked you to stay and you took him up on his offer.”
“But now that I am well, I should go home,” Sian finished for him. She was hurting inside but refused to allow Ryan’s friend to see just how much his words cut her to her soul. “Has he said anything to you about wanting us to go? I mean, he has said we are welcome to stay while we wait to hear from our aunt. We should receive a response any day now. I promise that we won’t take advantage of his kindness for any longer than absolutely necessary.”
Norman mentally winced because he knew he had upset her. “Look, this isn’t about you staying here. It is just that people will gossip.”
“And link us together, and frown because we are not cut from the same cloth. I know that I am not titled, or have a fortune, but I really don’t expect anything from him. As far as I am concerned, the gossips can say what they like. My mother has been in residence here while I recover. You know that. There really shouldn’t be any concern.”
“It isn’t that,” Norman sighed.
“Yes, I think it is,” Sian whispered, her voice trembling now with the growing force of her withheld emotion. She blinked tears out of her eyes as she stared hard at him.
“There is more going on than you realise,” Norman snapped when he saw Sian was leaving. He stood and began to follow her.
“Like what?”
“Ryan has done a lot for you while you have been here,” Norman began.
“I know, and he has my undying gratitude,” Sian replied crisply.
“It isn’t your gratitude he wants. Like I have said, Ryan tends to be rather too generous. I should hate
to see him hurt because of it.”
“I know he is in love with someone, and so is effectively taken. I shouldn’t ever presume to trouble him in that regard. Whatever is going on there, I can assure you that I should never once consider that Ryan would have any interest in me. I wouldn’t wish to take advantage of his big heart, generosity, or anything else. I just wish he had had the good grace to tell me he didn’t want us to stay any longer himself rather than leaving it to someone else.”
“Look, I wasn’t inferring that you couldn’t stay. This is Ryan’s house. It is up to him to decide who is a guest. I was just saying that there is more to Ryan than you think. He is generous and loving but has a duty to preserve the family name. People know you are here, and your mother for that matter. The gossips running rife isn’t the problem.”