Free Rescuing Lilly by Hallie Miller Page B

allowed her to stand, keeping a hold on her wrists. "You hear me?"
    "Fine," she grumbled. She would figure out another way to go without him knowing.
    "Good. Now then, it's time for bed," he said giving her a couple of pats on the butt. "I've got to finish this paperwork. I'll come say goodnight in a little while." Lilly wrenched out of his grip and stomped toward the door. "If you don't tone down that attitude, you'll be getting more than just a goodnight when I come up there," Jake warned as she closed the door on him. He shook his head after she left, wondering why she was so eager to go into town by herself. He knew she was hiding something from him and he was going to figure out what it was. If he knew her well enough, he figured she would find a way to get into town by herself without him knowing it. Too bad he was one step ahead of her - he would not be letting her out of his sight tomorrow.
    Jake trudged upstairs three hours later once he was finally done with the ranch's accounting books. He really needed to hire someone to help him with all the paperwork. It was almost too much taking care of the ranch and all of the bills now that they were expanding their land. He slowly opened the door to Lilly's room, peering in on her sleeping peacefully. He walked in quietly and kissed her head, pulling the covers up tighter around her. He couldn't bear the thought of her leaving. The past few weeks had been amazing, getting to know her and she was finally opening up to him. At least, he thought she was. There was still something bothering her that she wouldn't tell him. He hoped she wasn't thinking of leaving. The ranch was feeling more complete with her. He was starting to believe that she might be what he needed. The more time he spent with her, the more he thought he could spend the rest of his life taking care of her. He went to bed thinking of way to make this upcoming weekend very special.
    The next morning, Lilly woke to her phone ringing loudly on the bedside table. She slammed her hand down onto it, silencing the ring. She groggily sat up, thinking of how she was going to get to town today to check out some possible jobs. Who knows, in this little town, there probably wasn't anything available. She walked down to the kitchen to find Sylvia cooking pancakes and bacon.
    "Morning, Lilly. Jake said you might want to go to town today," Sylvia began, placing some finished pancakes on a plate for her.
    Lilly sighed. Of course he already told her . "Actually, I thought about it, and I think I might just hang around the house."
    Sylvia nodded her head. "Okay, well if you change your mind, I'm going to head to the grocery store around noon. You are always welcome to come with me."
    "Thanks," Lilly said, digging into the pancakes. "I'll let you know."
    She knew Jake had already left to work in the stables and decided to hop on his computer to check online to see if she could find any available jobs in the area. She surfed through various websites, but apparently this town wasn't nearly big enough to post jobs online, much less using computers at all. Deciding the best mode of action was to just find a way to town, she headed upstairs to change clothes and call a cab. Luckily the ride was only going to cost her thirty dollars. She would meet him a mile down the road so no one would see her leaving the ranch.
    Jake watched from his horse as Sylvia's van headed down the dirt road out of the ranch. He didn't see anyone in the back seat or passenger seat. Thinking Lilly really did decide to stay home, he rode toward the house to see what she was doing. As he pulled up to the back porch, he heard the front screen door close. He hopped off the horses and tied the reins to the stairs. As he made his way around the side of the house, he caught sight of Lilly walking down the driveway with a large purse.
    "Headed somewhere?" he asked as he made his way to her.
    Lilly jumped at the sound of his voice. She could already sense a tone of