Breaking Jacob (2nd in Breaking Series)

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Brody heard hoof beats pounding toward the house and he was out of the bed in seconds. He grabbed his rifle and ran out onto the porch in his white long johns, ready to shoot whoever was coming to harm his family in the middle of the night.

His eyes widened and he leaned the rifle against the banister when he recognized Jacob. Jacob jumped from the saddle and stumbled toward him. Brody could tell his big brother was hurting just from the look on his face in the moonlight.

Elizabeth came out of the house with a lamp in one hand and a revolver in the other, with her hair hanging loose around her face and wearing nothing but her white nightdress.

"Hello you two." Jacob slurred as he walked over, weaving in his drunkenness.

"You're drunk!" Brody growled with irritation. Brody had never been a big drinker. He found that it often caused more problems than it fixed.

"I'm not drunk," Jacob argued.

Elizabeth and Brody shared a look and then she nodded, "I'll go reheat the coffee." she said before disappearing back into the house.

Jacob and Brody stood outside in silence for a while, both of them looking up at the stars. Finally Brody sighed, "You've got five minutes to tell me what you woke me up for."

"I finally see that you were right all those years. Women are only good for three things. Sex, complaining and cooking.. Of course I found one more thing to add to that list... Lying. They're nothing but a bunch of liars."

"Since you're drunk, I'll let that slide." Elizabeth stated, walking back out of the house.

"Liz, you're an exception to all those rules," Jacob assured her with sadness, "Too bad you said no when I asked you to marry me."

Brody's eyes flew to his wife as her eyes widened and she stuttered several times, "Come again?" Brody asked, raising a brow.

"Yeah, I asked her to marry me and she shot me down." Jacob said as he raised his hand like a gun and pretended to pull an imaginary trigger. "Do you know who didn't turn me down? Alice, or should I say Ellie? No, she agreed to marry me. I should have known something was wrong with her. Pa always warned us about things that seem too good to be true."

"Is there a reason I didn't know about my brother asking you to marry him?" Brody asked Elizabeth.

Elizabeth squared her shoulders and met his gaze, "Because it happened when you were dead, I said no and it's not important."

"We'll talk about it later," Brody promised.

Elizabeth shrugged, "There's nothing to talk about."

"Can we focus on me and my miserable life for a minute?" Jacob grumbled. His drunken haze was clearing just a little and he was growing angry.

"Come on in," Brody said. He led Jacob into the sitting room while Elizabeth went into the kitchen to get him some coffee.

"I take it you talked to Ellie and she told you about Otis?" Brody asked.

Jacob's eyes narrowed, "You knew! How long have you known?!" he demanded.

"Keep your voice down, my kids are asleep," Brody warned. "I've known since this morning."

"She opened up to you about it before she did me?" Jacob asked, feeling extremely hurt.

"No, you idiot." Brody replied calmly, "Joshua Morrow told me that she'd been sending and receiving wires through an Otis Black. Since I knew about Otis, I figured she wasn't on the straight and narrow."