Skies Over Caledonia: A Small Town Marriage of Convenience Romance (The Highlands Series Book 4)

Chapter 37

Iknew I would never forget the sound of terror in my wife’s voice. The threat of powerlessness nearly took me out at the knees. Was I really back here again? With the life of someone I loved hanging in the balance and me powerless to stop it?

But you’re not powerless, I snarled at myself as I gazed down at the Wrangler.

I’d just hung up on the emergency services after giving them the location.

My heart raced. I couldn’t wait.

Even in the dim moonlight, I could see how precarious Allegra’s position was. I fumbled with my phone.

Ironside picked up on the third ring. “Walker,” he clipped.

As quickly and concisely as I could, I explained the situation. “I’ve got rope and I’m going to tie it to the Defender and climb down there myself. I need you to get here as soon as possible … just in case something happens to me.”

“You should wait for help.”

“Would you? If it were Sloane?” I was already unraveling the rope that was attached to a hook with a locking mechanism I could snap onto a tow loop beneath the tailgate.

“Point taken. Send me your location.” He hung up.

I quickly shot him a text. Once the rope was locked to the SUV, I tied it around my waist. I grabbed the headlamp from my glove compartment. It lit up my path as I made my first steps down the steep hillside. Even my sturdy work boots skidded on rocks as I tried to ground myself. If Allegra knew I was there because of the light, I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t hear anything but the sea below and the pounding of my fucking heart.

I couldn’t think about her fear or how close I was to losing her.

I forced myself to focus on getting to my wife because it was the only thing stopping me from losing my fucking mind.

Halfway down the hillside, sweat lashed my back and my palms burned from the rope, but I could see her. The light from my headlamp washed over the Wrangler with my movements, and I caught glimpses of Allegra’s terrified expression.

It only made me more focused.

After what felt like forever, I slowed upon approach of the SUV. I didn’t want my movements to cause it to slide and I could see that it was wavering with every slight push of the wind.

I ducked, looking under, and surmised it was caught on a large boulder. The good thing was it wasn’t quite at a ninety-degree angle, and the wheels were only lifting slightly off the ground with the movement.

“Jared!”

Straightening, I closed in on the passenger side, not touching the car, but peering in so she could see me.

“Jared.” Her face crumpled, but she sucked in a breath. “Tell me what to do. What should I do?”

I was afraid if we waited too much longer for help, the car would go over. But if I opened the passenger door to pull her out, that might cause it to go over. “We can wait,” I called to her, “or we can risk it and try to pull you out now.”

“E-either w-way, it’s a r-risk, right?” she stuttered.

Fear that she was going into shock made me realize I hadn’t even asked if she was injured. I did so now.

“M-my head hurts and it’s bleeding. But I think I’m okay. Maybe some bumps and bruises.”

What if she was injured but just couldn’t feel it because of the adrenaline? I couldn’t think about that too hard. “Do you want to wait?”

“N-No. I can’t … I can’t stay like this another m-minute.”

Untying the rope from my waist, I took a deep breath and grasped the handle of the passenger side. It was awkward to pull it at this angle, especially when I was trying to do it slowly. Gritting my teeth, I hauled it gradually open against gravity, my breath catching as the Wrangler shuddered precariously. Once the door was open, a gust of wind caught it and the hood of the SUV started to tip south.

Allegra’s scream filled my ears as I grabbed for purchase on the roof until the gust passed. My muscles strained as I gritted my teeth and held on for dear life.

Metal creaked as the Jeep lowered again and my heart stopped throbbing sickeningly in my throat.

“Here.” I threw the rope to Allegra. “Unclip yourself and tie that around you. I’m holding on to the car. You’ve got this.”

Her face was pale beneath my torchlight and I saw the blood streaked down her temple as she very slowly and shakily undid her seat belt. Her breath caught as the car creaked with her movements.

“You’ve got this, baby,” I prompted her. “You’re so brave. You’ve got this.”

My words seemed to steady her and she gave me a tight nod before she quickly wrapped the rope around her waist.

“Tie that knot as tight as you can.”

“Okay. Done.”

“Now …” I braced my legs, one hand holding open the door, the other gripping the underside of the roof. “You’re going to climb over the center console toward me.”

Her eyes held mine, the fear in them breaking my fucking heart. But Allegra nodded determinedly and pushed herself slowly up. She reached for the passenger seat to pull herself along and the SUV started to tilt.

What happened next was so fast. Her eyes widened and she just threw her whole body toward the passenger side. I let go of the car and gripped onto the rope tied around her waist as the nose of the vehicle started to slide south again.

Allegra scrambled over the passenger side, her shins clipping the doorway as I hauled her out just in time. My back hit the hillside, pain shooting down my legs as I made contact with rock.

Nothing mattered but Allegra, who lay sobbing against my chest, holding on to me for dear life. My headlamp lit up the Jeep as it crashed into the sea below us.

I tightened my arms around my wife as she shuddered against me.

“I love you,” Allegra sobbed, her whole body shaking violently.

I squeezed her closer, trying to soothe her shock.

“Jared, Allegra!” a deep voice cut through the dark and cold.

“Who’s that?”

I tilted my head back, looking north toward the road. “We’re here!”

“Can we pull you up?”

“Is that Walker?” Allegra sniffled.

“Aye.” I rubbed a hand down her back. “Do you think you can stand? I have the rope tied to my Defender. Walker can pull you up.”

“Not without you.” Her hands fumbled between us and I realized what she was doing.

“Stop. Keep that tied on.”

“Not without you,” she insisted stubbornly.

With a sigh, I nodded, even though she probably couldn’t see it. Then I quickly untied the rope and retied it around us both. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

Slowly, very slowly, I helped her to her feet. “We’re coming up!”

“We’ve got you!” Walker yelled back.

Standing over the Wrangler while Allegra was inside it was the longest moment of my life, but trying to get her trembling body safely up that hillside was a close second. I was drenched in sweat by the time Walker and North pulled us to safety. Headlights from several cars lit the country road, which was now blocked off by an ambulance, a fire engine, and a police car.

Walker and North weren’t alone. Sloane and Aria were there. Wesley and Chiara.

I gave Walker and North a nod of thanks but immediately turned my attention to Allegra.

“You’re safe.”

She looked up at me, eyes round, pupils dilated. “Thank you. I …” She bent over suddenly, pain flashing across her pale face.

“Allegra?”

My wife’s expression slackened as her eyes rolled and her knees gave out.

“Allegra!” I lunged, catching her before she hit the ground.

The next few moments were a panicked, confused blur as paramedics shoved me out of the way. I just kept asking them what was happening, renewed terror flooding me as they lifted my wife’s prone body onto a stretcher.

“What’s wrong with her?” Aria cried, tears streaming down her face.

“Where are you taking her?” Wesley demanded.

I didn’t hear the answers. I just followed.

“Family only.” One of the paramedics tried to bar me from the ambulance.

“She’s my wife,” I answered as Aria snapped, “He’s her husband! I’m her sister!”

“Just one,” the paramedic said.

“Go, Jared.” Aria pushed me toward the vehicle. “We’ll follow.”

I stumbled up into the ambulance, sitting across from Allegra as the paramedics worked over her.

“What’s happening?” I repeated, feeling as if I was watching that Jeep fall again with my wife barely out of it.

“It might just be a concussion, but we’ll need to check for internal injuries.”

Internal injuries.

“Can I take her hand?”

The other paramedic gave me a sympathetic look. “Of course.”

I reached for Allegra. Her left hand was missing her wedding ring. I rubbed my thumb over the empty spot on her slender, small finger. She’d told me she loved me and I hadn’t said it back because I didn’t want to say it like that. I didn’t want to believe that it would be the last thing we ever said to each other.

But I should have told her.

If she didn’t wake up …

I took her hand in both of mine and bent over to press a kiss to her knuckles. Wet splashed her skin and I realized it was my tears.

I didn’t care.

Looking at her, I squeezed her hand and whispered, “You promised to come home. Please …” I bowed my head. Please come home.