Breaking Jacob (2nd in Breaking Series)

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

"Yes, we have room for you and Liza here," Elizabeth told Ellie the next morning as they sat at Elizabeth and Brody's kitchen table.

"We do?" Brody asked.

Elizabeth glared at him, "Yes, we do."

Brody shrugged and took a drink of his coffee, "I still say my brother will wake up and realize what an idiot he is soon."

"This has nothing to do with Jacob," Ellie lied.

Brody raised a brow, "Of course it doesn't. But it's none of my business so I'm heading to town to give LeRoy some time off at the jail. You know the crime rate in town has really dropped since he started working there. I guess the fear of getting preached at all day and night is stronger than the urge to do wrong." He stood up and sat his coffee cup on the counter before kissing Elizabeth's head. She squeezed his hand and he walked out of the house.

"Liza, will you go upstairs, third door on the left and check on the babies?" Elizabeth asked. Liza nodded and rose from the table. Once she had gone up the stairs Elizabeth turned back to Ellie, "What did Jacob do?"

Ellie frowned, "Nothing...."

"Don't lie to me. I happen to know Jacob fairly well since I lived with him for a long time when I thought Brody was dead. What did he do?"

Ellie sighed and picked at the bright yellow cloth on the table as she told Elizabeth what Jacob had said the night before. Elizabeth frowned, "Go to him, throw him down, kiss him senseless and prove to him that you do have a future together."

"No, I can't," Ellie argued quickly. "My heart can't take him breaking it again. One minute he loves me and then he hates me. He claims to love me again and then he can't be with me... I just can't take anymore."

Elizabeth rested her chin in her palm as she studied the other woman, "I think letting him walk away from you is a mistake. Jacob has scars that run pretty deep..."

Liza walked into the kitchen and sat back down, "They're sleeping." Elizabeth nodded, "Thank you."

"What are you talking about with Jacob's scars?" Ellie questioned. Maybe knowing would make her understand him more.

Elizabeth took a sip of coffee, "You know what happened to his and Brody's family?"

Ellie shivered, "Yes, he told me."

"Jacob feels, or at least he always felt, incapable of protecting those he loves because of that. Even though Brody was the younger brother, when the men came, he was the one that carried the girls under the floor. He was the one that held their mouths closed. He was the one who hid their eyes so they wouldn't see their parents and sisters lying there and he was the one that went after the men responsible. It left Jacob feeling unneeded. That's why he threw himself into taking care of Sally and Susie after that. But still to this day he feels as if he can't protect his family."

"That's what he said last night. That he can't protect me," Ellie frowned. "I don't understand though, because he is the one that killed Otis. He saved my life."

"Maybe he's just daft," Liza offered. She took a sip of lemonade that had her sucking in her cheeks and coughing up a storm, "Who made this?!" she gasped.

Elizabeth's cheeks flushed and she bit the inside of her cheek, "Me." Liza offered her an apologetic smile, "It's good," she lied, through the tears in her eyes.

Elizabeth laughed, "I've never been very good at cooking and things but I'm getting better," she admitted. "Now back to what we were talking about, Jacob probably feels guilty that Otis managed to get his hands on you at all that night."