Chapter Five

Ellie woke up with the dawn the next morning. Not that she had slept much at all. She had only slept long enough to have a single dream and that dream had convinced her that this job was something she must do. She had to do this to make sure Liza had a better life than she had. To make sure that Liza stayed out of Otis's dirty hands. She couldn't just back out because all of a sudden she was trying to grow a conscience or because Jacob made her feel like a school girl.

She would do the job until Otis told her she'd gotten enough and then she would go back home to San Antonio. Otis had promised her a month off but maybe if she did good enough he would give her a little longer and even allow her to go up to New York City and see Liza.

Ellie rose from the bed and poured some water from the pitcher into the wash basin. She washed her face and then walked over to her wardrobe. If her new employers would let her, she needed to run into town and see if Otis had sent a response to her. Maybe he would want her to leave now that he knew he had sent her to steal from a sheriff.

She frowned when she opened the wardrobe. To corset or not to corset, that was the question. But of course, Miss Alice Bradshaw would never be seen in public without her corset, so with a grumble Ellie pulled it out of the wardrobe. Once she was dressed she took a final look in the mirror as she finished pulling her hair in the same bun she'd worn yesterday. This dress was styled the same as the one she'd worn the day before only the wool was light blue and the lace was white. She nearly walked out of the room before remembering to grab her glasses. The lenses of course were nothing but plain glass since there was nothing wrong with her vision, but she felt they added a nice touch to the proper nanny image.

Ellie walked out into the sitting room and found Jacob sitting on the large sofa, reading a newspaper. His hair was styled neatly, his clothes clean and wrinkle free and his boots were shining. He looked up from the paper and she saw his face light up when he noticed her. She had to remind her legs, which had suddenly become weak, that she was a grown woman determined to pull off the job she'd been sent to do. She didn't have the time or the choice to pursue whatever it was that she could have with Jacob Atkinson... Hell, she was crazy to think she could have anything! The man thought her name was Alice Bradshaw for heaven's sake.

"Good morning, Miss Bradshaw. Did you sleep well?" he asked as he sat his paper aside and stood up.

"Yes," she lied, as she forced herself to look up to see his face. She didn't want to look at his chest because she could still remember, all too well, what that chest looked liked dripping wet and covered in muscle. "Did you sleep well, Mr. Atkinson?"

"Well enough," Jacob lied. In truth he hadn't slept worth a darn. He had laid in bed and thought about the woman sleeping below him. Her blue eyes had haunted his dreams and he'd come to the only logical conclusion. He had to have her. He just hoped Liz would forgive him if Alice ran away screaming. After all, what kind of woman would settle on a man like him, responsible for two teenage girls?

"Your job is easy today, Miss Bradshaw. Liz and Brody have both decided to stay home with Bryant and Lexi."

Ellie nodded and then realized with horror that she didn't know what to do with her arms. They were itching to wrap around his neck and her lips were yearning to see what his full firm lips would feel like pressed against them. What would his kiss taste like.....?

She cleared her throat and clasped her hands as she held her arms against her body. She forced herself to smile with bright innocence, because she felt like that's what Miss Alice Bradshaw would have done and she tilted her head back toward the couch, "Please, Mr. Atkinson, go back to your paper. I am going to go to the kitchen and see about breakfast."

Jacob tilted his head and studied her face. There was something about that smile... It seemed almost fake. And the bright chipperness in her voice seemed forced. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, maybe the woman was just nervous about being alone in a room with him.

"Don't worry about cooking any of us breakfast, ma'am. Susie already came to the kitchen long enough to grab some fruit and then lock herself back in her room with her sewing and Sally is already out working. I was actually getting ready to go into town."

Ellie cursed under her breath. She wanted to go to town but she didn't want to go with Jacob. She couldn't seem to focus around him. Then again what choice did she have?

"Mr. Atkinson, would you mind terribly if I accompanied you to town?"

Jacob's smile was bright and it made her heart skip a beat as it lit up his eyes and caused lines to crinkle in his lean cheeks, "I would like that very much, Miss Bradshaw," he replied. "Why don't you go get yourself something to eat and I will go hook up the wagon."

Ellie nodded and Jacob turned and walked out of the house. She stared at the way his gray trousers hugged his lean hips and backside as he walked away. She squared her shoulders and looked around the sitting room.

There were a lot of gold and silver knick knacks and she made plans to come out tonight after everyone was asleep and take a couple. If she rearranged them slightly then she was sure no one would notice. She had to get this job done quickly. She had no time for taking it slow. Not with the way Jacob got to her. Damn her mother for dying. Damn her father for turning her and her sister out. Damn Otis for finding her and damn herself for letting him use Liza to control her life.

***

"Where are you going this morning?" Cookie asked Jacob as he ran his hand through his wild white hair and limped his way out of the bunkhouse with an old hound on his heels.

"Town," Jacob replied. "We need some supplies for the house." Cookie frowned, "You do realize that you're the boss right? You could send someone else to do it."

Jacob smiled, "I've never had anyone to do things for me," he countered as he led two horses from the barn and began to hook their rigging up to the wagon. "Only a lazy man sends others to do the work he can do himself."

"Or a smart man," Cookie grumbled and then he limped away to go start some gravy and eggs for the hands.

Jacob saw Frank walking toward the corral and the angry stallion currently pacing back and forth along the fence line, "Where's Sally?" he asked.

"She went out with Kent and Wendell to check the southeast fence," Frank replied as he rubbed his hand over his work hardened and sun wrinkled face.

Frank's attention moved to something over Jacob's shoulder and Jacob turned to see Alice walked toward him. He didn't see Frank's smirk as the older man walked away. Frank knew all about Elizabeth's plan and it looked to him, judging by the way Jacob's face had lit up at the sight of the new woman, that Elizabeth had done well.

"Are you ready Miss Bradshaw?" Jacob asked as he adjusted his sweat stained hat on his head.

She smiled and nodded, "I am, Mr. Atkinson," she replied.

Jacob quickly finished hooking up the wagon and then he walked over to the left side and held out his hand. Ellie swallowed hard, plastered her bright, innocent smile on her face and placed her gloved hand in his. Even through the silk, she could feel the heat from his touch, the roughness of his work calloused hands.

She looked up at him and saw that though he was smiling and his throat was working nervously, "Allow me to help you, Miss Bradshaw," he insisted. He put one hand on her waist and assisted her into the wagon.

Ellie wasn't sure if it was his big hand wrapped around her tiny waist or the corset but between the two of them she was having a very hard time breathing. She heard him clear his throat and within seconds he was jumping up on the other side of the wagon. He moved quickly and with an ease that had her wondering just what he'd be like in a bed...

She shook her head to clear those dangerous thoughts and Jacob flicked the reins to start them on their way. Ellie adjusted her skirt and folded her hands in her lap as she looked around them.

"We didn't get much time to talk at supper last night, I'm afraid," Jacob said, wanting to break the silence between them.

Ellie smiled, "Sally seemed quite eager to let me know all about her other brother."

She saw a frown appear on his face and something that looked like bitterness or jealousy come in his eyes, "Brody has had his fair share of adventures," he said tightly, his voice void of emotion.

Ellie felt a sudden urge to comfort him and take away the angst on his face. What the hell was wrong with her!? Since when did she worry about other people? So much for being a hardened criminal. Less then twenty-four hours with Jacob and his family and she was ready to throw in her con artist towel and be a part of a real family... She hadn't been a part of a real family in a very long time.

"If you do not mind me saying so, Mr. Atkinson, I find your company to be much more agreeable than your brothers. He is a bit too.... Untamed, for my tastes."

Jacob laughed, "Untamed? No, I can promise you that Liz tamed him pretty good."

"Just the same. There is something to be said about a man that gave up his life to raise his sisters."

"I would do it again in a heartbeat," Jacob said without hesitation and then he shrugged, "Maybe I'd hesitate for just a minute.. But I'd do it just the same," he amended and Ellie laughed lightly.

Jacob felt his heart do a slow roll in his chest at the sound of her laughter and when her leg bumped up against his he nearly fell out of his seat. Maybe living a celibate lifestyle the last ten years had not been a good thing. Every nerve in his body was on edge, "So Miss Bradshaw, did you leave family behind in San Antonio?"

"Yes, of course. My father and a younger sister," she said, pushing her glasses up her nose. It was only partially a lie. Otis had been a father figure, albeit a dirty, semi abusive one. And she did have a little sister, only Liza wasn't in San Antonio.

"What made you want to leave home for this job?" Jacob asked.

"I wanted to help the family out, money wise. My father is not as healthy as he used to be and my sister is still too young to have a job." She felt bad lying to him but she had to stick to the cover story she had made. She wasn't Ellie Thompson right now, she was Alice Bradshaw.

Jacob nodded and looked out over the surrounding scenery. He wished that she would quit being quite so proper. She was sitting ramrod straight and her posture was rigid. Would it kill the woman to relax a little? God, but she was pretty though and every now and then he saw a sparkle in her dark blue eyes that tugged at something deep inside of him.

"Sally and Susie seem much different from one another," Ellie said in an attempt to make conversation and take her mind off of the fact that his leg was still bumping into hers as they rode.

Jacob nodded, "They are." He rubbed his face with his hand, looking suddenly tired. "Susie is so shy and withdrawn that I worry about her. Sally is so headstrong and stubborn that I worry about her too."

"You worry a lot," Ellie replied with a half smile.

"Well I've raised the girls since they were three so I guess I see them more as daughters than I do sisters."

Ellie felt a certain bond form instantly with Jacob. They had at least one thing in common. Both had given up their own lives to take care of their much younger siblings and both would clearly do anything for said siblings.

"So, Miss Bradshaw, do you have anybody special waiting back in San Antonio?" Jacob asked. He figured he might as well find out now before he tried to go any further with this woman, who seemed to have awakened the girl crazy young man within him that he had never gotten the chance to be. His palms were even sweaty as they gripped the reins loosely.

"No," Ellie's voice held a touch of wistfulness, "I've always dreamed that maybe someday I would have someone though," she added truthfully while looking out over the field beside them.

Jacob swallowed hard and said a prayer of thanks. If she would have said yes, he might have had to pull a Brody and get rid of the man, "I'm sure you will, Miss Bradshaw. Maybe you've met him already."

Their eyes locked and Ellie knew it was hopeless. There was nothing forced or fake about the way her heart responded to the sight of his warm green eyes. There was nothing fake about the increase in her pulse as his hand pushed a stray strand of her hair from her face and there was nothing fake about the warmth that traveled through her body and settled low in her abdomen...

"Perhaps I have, Mr. Atkinson," she replied, noticing that her voice sounded breathless. She quickly cleared her throat and focused on the horse's manes in front of them.

No. No. No. This wasn't going to work. She couldn't lie to Jacob. She couldn't lie to the girls. She didn't want to do this. She just prayed Otis would understand, but deep down inside she knew he wouldn't.

"This sun is going to burn you, Miss Bradshaw, didn't you bring a hat with you?" Jacob asked as he raised a brow.

Ellie watched that brow raise and she realized that when he did that, it was obvious that he and Brody were brothers, "No, I'm afraid that is the one thing I forgot."

Jacob frowned. The sun had already begun to turn her light porcelain skin pink. He pulled off his black hat and placed it on her head, "Not all that stylish I'm afraid but it'll keep you from getting burned."

"Thank you," Ellie replied, finding that she was more touched by this simple act than she had ever been in her life. That was it. She'd lost her mind. Alert the presses. Ellie Thompson was quickly losing her heart to one Jacob Atkinson and it could very well end with broken hearts all around. She raised her hand to smooth some of his hair that was sticking up and she saw his eyes darken with passion at the contact. She licked her lips nervously and his green eyes followed the movement.

She had to get the hell out of Bakerstown. Jacob was a temptation she could never have. Even if Otis somehow told her she didn't have to do the job, she knew that he would want her to return home and if she didn't he would go after her sister... Besides Jacob would never trust her once he learned what she really was, what she had done in the past and why she had really come here.

She cleared her throat and took her hand off his hair, clasping it tightly in her lap once again and looked back at the horse's mane. She cursed the unfairness of life as she heard him readjust himself and lean back against the seat.

Ellie took the conversation to safer topics such as the weather and ranch life and they fell into easy conversation. Ellie realized about halfway to town that she was no longer putting on any persona. She was being Ellie Thompson...Well all except for the painful bun, the annoying glasses that kept sliding down her nose, and this damned corset and heavy wool dress. It had been a long time since she'd been able to be Ellie Thompson around anyone other than Otis, Liza and the other girls at the house.

***

Sally rode back into the ranch and straight to the corral. None of the other hands were around other than Cookie, and he was currently sitting in a wooden chair by the barn, sound asleep with a dog at his feet.

There wouldn't be anyone around to stop her from breaking that stallion. She was sure she could do it, Jacob just worried too much. And Thomas was just a blockhead... A blockhead that Sally was head over heels in love with.

She jumped from the saddle and hitched the horse to the corral before hopping over the fence with a lasso in hand. The stallion lowered his ears when he caught sight of her and stomped his front hoof in warning.

"Come on boy. We can do this," she cooed as she spun the lasso. Suddenly the beast charged and she barely had time to scream before his hooves were on her. A sharp kick to the head knocked her unconscious, even as the sound of a gunshot filled the air.