Chapter Eleven

"Jacob's gone out to the fields already," Susie told Ellie when she asked the girl about her brothers whereabouts the next morning, "There was a section of fence left down and some of the cattle got out, so they're rounding them up."

"Where's the babies?" Ellie asked, looking at the empty cradle in the kitchen.

Susie shrugged, "With Liz I guess. She has this papoose that she wears and both babies can sit inside of it," the girl smiled, "The ranch hands laugh because she rides around with both babies strapped to her chest and back."

Ellie shook her head, "Why am I here if she's going to take care of the babies herself?" Susie blushed and began to wipe down the table.

"Liz brought you here for Jacob.... She claimed she wanted a nanny and a tutor, and in a way she did need those things. But then she figured the nanny and tutor might as well be a pretty, single, young woman."

"Did Jacob know that?!" Ellie demanded. Though she had no right to get angry over the small lie when she was hiding so many of her own.

"No," Susie said, shaking her head. "Jacob had no idea. He really loves you, Alice. I've never seen him smile the way he does now that you're here."

"I love him too, Susie," Ellie admitted and Susie smiled. "Now I have to run to town. Can you take care of Sally alone for a few hours?"

Susie nodded, "Of course. She's not nearly as moody today as she has been."

Ellie laughed, "Thank goodness for that!"

She walked out of the kitchen and through the sitting room. Ellie stepped out on the porch and realized she was going to have to go to town alone since everyone was busy. She was sure Jacob would be angry about it but he wouldn't be angry over that for long... Not once he found out all the other reasons he had to be angry with her.

She walked out to the barn and was getting a horse ready to hook to the buckboard when Cookie walked in, "Where you going? You can't go to town alone," he warned in his grizzled voice.

"There are some things I need to take care of in town. Since everyone is busy I'm going alone," Ellie replied, doing her best to sound authoritative.

Cookie shook his head, "You can't go alone," he insisted.

"She won't be alone." Ellie turned to see Brody standing behind her in the barn doorway. His eyes were cold as they looked at her and his jaw was tense. Ellie felt a shiver of fear run down her spine. "I'll go with her," he added.

"No, that won't be necessary," she assured him as she tried to go back to rigging her horse.

Brody walked forward and shoved her out of the way with his body. His expert hands had the horse ready and was leading it outside to the buckboard in seconds.

"Well come on then, Miss Bradshaw," he called as he mounted his horse.

Ellie swallowed hard, and with shaking hands she climbed up on the buckboard and grabbed the reins. Brody was silent for a long time as they traveled down the road. She couldn't take her eyes off of him riding next to her. He was clearly angry and she wondered just what he knew.

She saw him pull a match and a cigarette from his pocket. He ran the match along his cheek, lighting it, and then stuck it to his cigarette and took a long draw, "I think it's about time I heard your real name, ma'am," he said without looking at her.

"What do you mean?" Ellie squeaked, praying she had heard him wrong.

"Joshua told me something interesting," Brody said, looking at her for the first time. "Seems you've been sending all your wires to Otis Black. Can I ask why you're sending your wires to a known thief, saloon owner and self-titled entrepreneur instead of that dear old sick daddy and little sister you talk about?"

"Who's Joshua?" Ellie asked, wanting to avoid the rest of what he'd said.

"The man you bat them pretty lashes at every time you go in to send a wire," Brody snapped, "Now answer my damn question."

"Otis happens to be a family friend and he deals with my father's business," Ellie lied. She certainly wasn't going to tell Brody the truth before she told Jacob. Brody would lock her up for sure.

"Personal letters from his daughter are business?" Brody asked raising a brow. Ellie knew he wasn't believing a word she said.

"That's really none of your business," she stated, trying to act unafraid but failing miserably as her hands trembled uncontrollably.

"But you're wrong. See, I brought you here. I placed you in my family's home. You have held my children. You have made my brother fall in love with you," His sharp green eyes narrowed, "I think you should be warned, whatever your name is, that if you do a single thing to harm my family, I will kill you. There will be no trial. There will be no jury. No one harms what is mine without paying a very dear price for it."

Ellie stuttered and gasped for air as he looked at her with a cold stare that never wavered, "I.. I won't harm your family, Brody," she promised.

"What's your real name?"

"Ellie Thompson."

"You work for Otis in that den of thieves he's got?"

Ellie nodded, "How do you know about Otis?" she asked as she wiped her sweaty hands on her skirt.

"I used to get around," Brody replied with a shrug. "Why did you really come here?"

"To steal from your family," Ellie replied, deciding that honesty was probably her best bet right now. Brody seemed to be able to see through lies fairly easily.

"You changed your mind?"

"Yes."

"You're going to explain all of this to Jacob today," Brody warned in a voice that made it very clear it was a command and not a suggestion.

"Yes sir," Ellie replied. Again she was shocked by the difference in the brothers. Brody was scary. That was the only word for him.

"Okay. As long as we have that cleared up, Miss Thompson," he tipped his hat and then he went back to puffing his cigarette and riding relaxed as could be in the saddle.

Ellie thought for sure she'd have to change her underclothes when she got back to the ranch because he had scared her that badly. She was still scared but it seemed that she was safe, at least for now, from being punished by the dangerous sheriff.

***

Susie carried the stack of freshly dried dresses and underclothes to Alice's room and hung them up in the wardrobe. She realized that Alice hadn't made her bed up that morning so she decided to do it for her.

She was just finishing up fluffing the pillows and spreading out the bedspread when she saw the leather diary sitting on the bedside table. She knew she should just ignore the diary and walk out of the room but something inside of her wanted to take a peek.

Jacob had always looked out for her so she wanted to look out for him. Maybe she could look in Alice's diary and find if the woman really did love her brother... Or if maybe she had something to hide.

Susie grabbed the diary and began to flip through the pages and with every page she flipped she felt her heart falling further and further down until it was resting at her feet. Alice wasn't really Alice. Alice was Ellie and she was a bad woman. Susie closed the diary and ran to Sally's room to see what her sister thought she should do.

"Of course you should show this to Jacob!" Sally exclaimed as she slammed the diary closed and threw it at Susie. "I knew there was something off about her! She's nothing but a whore! Jacob needs to be warned before she hurts him."

Susie frowned, "It's going to be too late for that. He's already going to be hurt," she whispered sadly, "And what have I told you about that word?"

Sally waved her hand, "Psshh, you're too innocent." She pointed at the diary, "You have to show that to Jacob."

Just then they heard the door to the house open and close and Jacob's boots stomped across the floor and up the stairs toward his bedroom, "I guess now would be a good time," Susie said with dread as she stood up.

"If I could walk I'd come with you." Sally promised sadly.

Susie nodded and left the room. Her feet felt as if weights were tied to them as she climbed the stairs and then she stood for several long moments in front of Jacob's bedroom door.

She took a deep breath and knocked.

"Who is it?" he called from inside.

Susie's voice shook as she said her name. She heard his footsteps coming toward the door and then he jerked it open and stood there in his dirty trousers looking at her, "What is it, Sue? I have to head back out in the fields in a minute, I just came in to change my shirt. Wendell got his arms cut pretty bad and bled all over me."

Susie made a face and then held up the diary, "I think you should read this."

Her brother's eyes narrowed, "What is that and where did you get it?" he asked as he snatched it from her hand.

"It's a diary and I found it in Alice's room."

There was no denying the anger in Jacob's eyes as he glared down at her, "You know better then to go snooping around!" he scolded. "And I'm guessing you read it too?"

Her gaze dropped to the floor and swallowed hard, "Yes."

"Susanne Atkinson! You should be ashamed!" he exclaimed.

The disappointment in Jacob's voice brought a tear to Susie's eye. She always worked hard to make her brother proud of her, "I really think you should read it, Jacob. Alice isn't who she says she is."

"Go down and finish your chores," he ordered sternly. Without another word, Susie turned and quickly walked away. Jacob closed his bedroom door and looked down at the diary in his hands. On one hand he was curious as to what was inside. Susie had seemed so sure that he should read it. But he knew that reading someone's diary was wrong. He loved Alice. He trusted her.

'What about the glasses and the clothes... what about the fact that sometimes she doesn't answer to her name?' a voice in his head asked.

Jacob sighed, called himself a monster and then opened the diary.

Dear Diary,

This was the easiest con yet. Making him fall in love with me was so simple. I already have the ring and tomorrow I'll be on a train for San Antonio. Sometimes I get tired of all of these pathetic men. They're so eager for love they don't even question why a woman who looks like me is suddenly interested in a man like them. Anyway, Otis will be so proud and Liza will have her schooling for at least another month.

He flipped a few pages forward.

...I'm tired of Otis. He never lets me do anything. I told him I need a break from thieving and cons and he laughed at me and told me I'm his best girl. Well just because I'm the best liar he's got doesn't mean he should depend on me for everything!

He flipped through more. Page after page of stories about cons. Making men fall in love with her, stealing their money and breaking their hearts. Stories about this man named Otis and how he loved her talent. Things about a girl named Liza who was in school in New York. Jacob's heart was breaking as his head spun. This had to be some kind of joke. Alice couldn't be this woman. This woman was a whore. A liar. A thief. He flipped to the final diary entry which was from last night....

.... I have fallen in love. I wasn't supposed to fall in love. Jacob is different than any man I've ever met. He is warm and kind and he makes me melt when he looks at me. But he doesn't even know who I am. Why does life have to be so unfair? He'd never forgive me if he knew I was really Ellie Thompson, con artist extraordinaire. My heart is breaking because I have to hurt him but I have no choice. I have to leave here. I have to think of him and this family as just another con... Just another mark.......

The diary fell to the floor and Jacob collapsed in his chair, burying his face in his hands. He'd been a fool. He had been so eager for love, so ready to find that one woman who could be his best friend and his lover that he hadn't looked at this woman closely enough. She was probably laughing at him. Especially after last night... He had thought that the love they had made had meant something and it had, to him. But to her it had meant nothing. He was just another mark. He would bet she was disappointed that she didn't get her ring this time.

Jacob laughed bitterly as he remembered telling her that he loved her and then he felt a pain deep in his chest when he realized that he did love her. He loved everything about her. Her gentle laugh, her bright smile, her dark blue eyes, the way her hair shown in the sunlight. He loved the way his body reacted to just seeing her walk into a room and how she could make even a rainy day seem just a little brighter by being around.

He swiped angrily at a tear that rolled down his cheek. She was a liar and worse she was a whore. She might not be a whore who shared her body, he had learned for himself just last night that she had been a virgin, but she was a whore who played with men's hearts and then stole everything from them.

Well if she thought she could play Jacob Atkinson for a fool she had another thing coming. He had a few choice words to say to her when she got back from town and then he was sticking her on the next train back to San Antonio and her 'friend' Otis.