“Jes-” His name died on her lips as Beth burst through the door and flicked on the lights.
Jesse must not have been home long. On the end table beside the bed, smoke rolled and swirled from the tip of a cigar that was sitting on a dirty saucer. Jesse was still fully clothed and lying sideways across the bed, his booted feet on the hardwood floor, a brown whiskey bottle lying in his slack hand. The bottom of the bottle sat on the bed, but the top was tiled precariously over his stomach. When Beth flipped on the lights, Jesse jumped and jerked, sloshing whiskey all over him and the bed.
“Elizabeth! Don’t you know how to knock? And turn those light back off!” he grouched, then capped one hand on his head and groaned.
“I’ve got to learn to lock that damn door,” Jesse muttered.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Beth rushed the apology “I just came to tell you goodbye.
I don’t know when I’ll see you again. It may be two years, so, um, goodbye.” With that, Beth turned and ran back through the breezeway into the main house and down the hallway.
How Jesse made to his feet and caught up with her before she made it to the front door she’d never know. However, he caught up with her, grabbed her arm, and turned her around.
“Wait, Beth! What do you mean you might not see me for two years?” Beth told him quickly that she decided to go ahead and start the summer semester of the school that specialized in music and she had to leave now to be able to get the room that had just become available. If she waited, it would be too late and she would have to wait until August to begin.
“As much as I’m going to miss everybody, I feel I need to get away for a little while. I want to make new friends and get hold of my life again. I realize now I’ve been a little out of control.
I know my friends here have a lot of influence over me no matter how much I want to believe otherwise. And, as much as I hate to admit it, it would only be a matter of time before they talked me in to doing something else that I shouldn’t do.” Beth spoke without stopping so she could get everything out. “So I feel I must get away for a while to gain back control of my life and to hopefully grow up some. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not blaming my friends for the chaos I caused in my life. Many of the things we did at first I wanted to do, but it seemed that we kept getting a little more daring each time. And, somewhere along the way this year, I lost control and I want to get it back. I haven’t always been a follower and I don’t plan on being one any longer.” After she spent herself, she met Jesse’s gaze.
Jesse looked stunned. He pulled Beth to him and enfolded her in his arms. He tightened the hug again, and then dropped his arms because Jordon was honking the horn. “I’ll miss you, pumpkin,” Jesse said affectionately.
“Me, too,” Beth said in return, and opened the door; but, before she went outside, she stopped where she stood and looked back up at him from across her shoulder. “Jess, you won’t forget your promise while I’m gone, will you?”
“No,” Jesse answered simply and softly as he shook his head.
With a single nod, Beth went out the door. She got into the truck and did not look back.
While they pulled out of the driveway, Beth wondered what in the heck made her say she would be gone for two years. It sounded good at the time, but now she could kick herself. She knew she wanted him to miss her, but, two years? In the end, she knew she might have to eat those words. She was going to try to stay away as long as she could, but it was going to be hard. It wasn’t only Jesse she would miss but everyone and everything—her room, her bed, and her home. She felt her eyes tearing up so she tried to change her thoughts.
It wouldn’t do to have Jordon and Susan see her crying because she really did want to go for many reasons and they may call the whole thing off if they thought she was upset.
She had read a lot about this school. She knew it was one of the best and it would help her in any music career she wanted to pursue. She could do this; she just had to be strong.
When they got to Austin, Jordon and Susan helped her get situated and stayed in town for a few days to make sure she was going to be all right.
Beth started school that first summer and then went straight into her junior year. Her junior summer she spent in Europe with a new friend and her family, whom Jordon and Susan both met and were reassured that she would be well-chaperoned and taken care of on this vacation-of-a-lifetime. They had returned to Austin only a few days before her senior year began.
Beth wanted to go home many times, but she tried to hold out as long as she could. She wanted to prove to herself she could stay away from Jesse. She only came home on the holidays when he was visiting his mom and dad in Colorado or was off hunting with his friend, Beaux.
Nevertheless, Beth knew deep down the main reason she stayed away was that she wanted and hoped the next time Jesse saw her; he would see her as a much more mature person than the wildchild who’d left.
Jordon had bought both Jesse and Cody new 4x4’s when they turned 18 and for Beth he had splurged and shown-up in Austin on her birthday with new shiny black sports car. Although she had her car for several months, Beth was afraid to drive it all the way home by herself, so she agreed to ride home with a small group who was heading to a town 30 minutes past hers.
Beth went to school with a friend’s brother who was driving the group home. Troy told Beth he would drop her off and come back to pick her up on their way back to school.
Beth was so excited to see everyone. Jordon and Susan had been to see her every other weekend, and sometimes Cody would come with them; but she had not seen Jesse since she left home. She had missed all of them and her home terribly.
Although Jesse greeted her with a warm embrace, Beth thought he acted a little standoffish, but she didn’t let it bother her. She just kept right on talking and telling them everything that had been happening at school.
Unbeknown to her, Jesse thought she was the most beautiful creature on God’s green earth.
He had been stunned when he first saw her. It had been almost two years since she left and he had ached to see her, talk to her and hear her laugh. She was 18 now and a raving beauty.
Jordon, Susan, and Cody had gone to see her frequently but he hadn’t seen her since she left. He had been so busy at the Veterinarian Medical College trying to finish so he could obtain his D.V.M. that he never seemed to have any time to do anything else. But Jesse knew that was an excuse; he could have made time if he really needed to.
He had wanted to go see her several times but stopped himself. Jesse knew the main reason Beth moved away wasn’t just because of some super school but because she wanted to put some space between the two of them. Beth left because he kept hurting her. He didn’t mean to hurt her, but he didn’t know what to do about it. She wanted—as she had wanted since she was eight-years old—to marry him. She also wanted him to stay celibate until she grew into a woman.
However, that just was not going to happen. He was a healthy young man with a young man’s needs. In his mind, he knew her leaving was a wise decision, but he couldn’t help but miss her and worry about her.
The weekend went by too quickly. Her ride came to get her two hours earlier than what Troy had said. The two girls were sweet, but Troy was very arrogant.
He was a big football player. Troy had tried to come on to Beth a few times on the way home. First, she thought it was by accident, but then he kept brushing up against her every chance he got. Finally, Beth told him to quit touching her. She knew she made him mad because he acted like a jerk the rest of the way home. He probably showed up early just to be hateful.
Jordon had gone to go pick up their pizza when Troy and the girls drove up slinging gravel and dust. Troy honked the horn then stepped out and looked at Beth over the roof of the car.
“Let’s go, Beth!” he shouted as if he was already ticked off about something. However, Beth didn’t want to miss telling Jordon goodbye, so she walked closer to Troy and asked him if he would
wait a few more minutes.
“I’m leaving in three minutes. Whoever isn’t in this little red convertible when that time is up is going to be left.”
Jesse eyes grew steely as he looked at Troy while he spoke to Beth. “Beth, just stay and I will take you back later today.”
“Thank you, Jess, but there is no use in your having to drive a 10-hour round trip. Just tell Daddy bye for me and I love him.”
Beth held back tears as she got in the car. She didn’t want Susan to see her cry. She knew Susan was already upset at the way she was having to leave.
As Troy was driving up one side of the driveway, Jordon pulled in the other side of the circle drive.
“Troy, there’s Daddy now, please just let me tell him goodbye.”
“Not no, but hell no,” Troy said bitterly.
Troy was already mad at her because she put a stop to every move he tried to make on her.
Hell, all three girls who were riding didn’t want to put out. He was sick of all of them and couldn’t wait to get rid of them.
Troy thought to himself, “I’ll see how bad she wants me to wait.” He ran his hand up her leg. “If you be nice to me, I’ll let you stay and visit all day.” At his touch, Beth swung and punched him in the arm. That was the wrong thing to do because, unlike Cody, he hit back. Troy reared back and backhanded her hard across the face.
That was also the wrong thing for him to do. Because of traffic, he was stuck at the end of the driveway, and Jesse happened to see the assault. Jesse ran the distance in a few seconds.
Troy glanced at the rearview mirror, saw him coming, and shoved the car in park.
Troy stepped out, “You want some of me, cowboy?” Troy said cockily.
It happened so fast Troy didn’t know what hit him. Jesse was punching, kicking, and jabbing so quick and hard that the jock didn’t have a chance. Jesse jumped, spun, and connected with the side of Troy’s head. Troy fell like a rock without even getting a punch in.
A sheriff pulled up soon after. Someone passing by had called him. The sheriff was an old friend of Jordon’s. When the sheriff got out, Jesse told him he had better call an ambulance, too.
Elizabeth would not go to the hospital. She told them she would be fine. Her eyes would most likely be black, but her nose wasn’t broken.
Jesse had to go to the police station to file a report. The sheriff assured Jordon there would not be any charges filed against his brother. He grinned at his old high school buddy and said he would make sure of it.
Jordon and Susan ended up taking all the girls to Austin. Beth sat in the front seat between Jordon and Susan and slept on her daddy’s shoulder all the way back.
Later they found out Troy had three badly broken ribs and a concussion, but the worst injury was to his knee. He would not be able to play football for a whole year, if ever.
Troy came from money and his family tried their best to get charges pressed against Jesse; but, true to his word, the old sheriff kept him out of trouble.
After the incident with Troy, Beth decided she could start driving home herself. She wished she would have tried before the “Troy” episode, but she had been scared she would get lost or something. She felt that, if she left early enough in the day to make it to her destination before dark, she could do it.
After her first attempt was a success, Beth drove home at least every other weekend if Jordon and Susan weren’t coming to see her.
Beth finished her senior year with excellence. She loved the school and decided she would return in August and take a few of the basic courses that the school’s college branch offered.
She had studied hard and made good grades but she hardly had a social life. She had friends; but, while they went out and partied, she stayed home and studied or worked on projects.
However, now she wanted a break to go home for the entire summer and relax.
One of the classes she had taken was home economics. The students had the choice of what they wanted to make for a class project. Beth jumped at the chance to make her own wedding dress and she worked on it diligently. It was simple yet elegant. She had picked out a white silk material she thought would be perfect and she detailed the entire dress with crystals and small pearls.
When Beth tried it on after it was finished she was proud of her creation. She had shown a few of her friends and they all bragged on the dress and told her the slinky material flattered her figure. She couldn’t wait to show Susan and Jesse what she had created.
Beth felt she had matured since she had left to go to the private school. She was dressing less trendy and wearing her hair in a more adult style that she thought made her look older. At least those were her hopes—that she would portray a more mature image to Jesse.
CHAPTER NINE
Jesse wasn’t home when Beth got there and he wouldn’t be home for a few weeks. He had gone to visit his parents in Colorado.
Beth didn’t find out until much later that he hadn’t gone alone but had taken Trish with him, the lady, or more appropriately ‘witch,’ who Beth had offered coffee to so long ago. Beth had cried many nights because of that humiliating morning.
Beth was looking out the window when she saw Jesse pull up. Before the dust settled, she saw his friend, Trish, drive up and park beside him. Beth assumed he dropped her off somewhere to get her car. She knew they had only driven one car to Colorado.
Beth did not run out to meet him as usual and throw herself into his arms. No, she wanted him to notice she was almost grown. She took special care in getting dressed.
Susan had fixed a nice dinner; but, instead of just the family, Trish would be there, too. Beth was not the humiliated little girl this time, and she was ready to face her most hated enemy.
Everyone was already in the dinning room waiting for Susan to finish setting out the food.
Beth could smell and hear the still sizzling onions and bell peppers Susan had grilled with the fajita meat. It was one of Beth’s favorite meals, but she doubted she would be able to eat much tonight. She wore a short fitted pale pink suit with matching pumps. She had pulled her hair up in a full French twist and a small amount of make-up on. When she walked into the room, she walked with an air of confidence.
Beth saw Jesse’s eyes widened when he looked up and saw her. She was determined to hold his gaze as she seductively sauntered up to him while never taking her eyes off of his. It was almost as if there was a spell cast between them. Beth knew his friend was beside him, but she didn’t even glance her way. When Beth reached him, she held out her hand.
“Hello, Jesse, how have you been?”
Jesse, still spellbound, took Beth’s hand. “Hello, Elizabeth.”
“My, Jesse, what a lovely little girl! This must be the niece I’ve heard you speak of,” Trish slyly broke in with a sweet fake voice.
That broke the spell…Beth turned to Trish and, with her hand held out said “Why, what a lovely older woman you are. Did you happen to graduate with Daddy? [Of course, Beth knew the woman was Jesse’s age.] Beth continued talking not giving Trish a chance to jab back.
“You know, something about you sure looks familiar. I could swear we’ve met before.
No?..humm?…“Beth said with an exaggerated perplexed look on her face and her finger tapping her chin. “No, I don’t believe we’ve ever met, but something about you sure seems familiar.
Maybe it’s your hair. Yes, that’s it; your hair. It’s a very unusual color. In fact, I’ve only seen your particular shade once in my lifetime.” Beth threw up her hands and shook her head in a pretended bewilderment, “Go figure.”
Finally, Susan said dinner was ready and asked everyone to please be seated. Susan had cooked an entire Mexican style dinner. She had taco salad, refried beans, rice, beef fajitas with onions and bell pepper, flour tortillas made from scratch, even Beth’s favorite cheese dip, and chips were on the table.
Trish garbled under her breath as she bobbed her head from side to side, “So, the little twit wants
to play with the big girls, does she?”
Jesse closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead, and then brought his hand slowly down his face until it covered his mouth and chin, muffling his words. “O-oh hell, I believe I’ve just made a very big mistake. This is going to be a night to remember and I don’t believe it is going to be a very pleasant memory. ”
Beth’s mind raced to find subtle insults. Well, heck, she didn’t care if they were subtle or not. This was payback time. As the old saying goes…
Susan had prepared a delicious meal, but Cody was the only one who seemed to be enjoying it and eating with any gusto. The tension was so thick for everyone else that they just idly ate, sipped their tea, and watched. The only noise in the room was the slight clanking as Cody picked up and set down the serving dishes.
Beth broke the silence, “Jesse, aren’t you going to ask what I’ve been doing at school?” She asked with a playful smirk.
Jesse raised an eyebrow and looked at Elizabeth as if he knew she was setting him up. He rubbed a hand over his chin and asked cautiously. “Yeah, Beth, tell me what you’ve been doing these last few months.”
Beth grinned and had that mischievous twinkle in her royal blues. “Well, since you asked…for a class project, I have created from scratch, cut out, and sewn my own wedding dress.
Oh, Jesse, you have to see it. It’s so beautiful!”
Before Jesse could comment, Trish popped up. “What color is your wedding dress, Beth?” Beth knew Trish could care less about anything that had to do with her. She was purposely interrupting to keep her and Jesse from talking to each other.
Beth just looked at her like she was stupid, “The color of the dress’s material is actually called ‘virginal white,’ which I thought would be fitting since that is what I will be when I walk down the aisle to meet my husband,” Beth said while looking at Jesse.
Unbroken Promises Page 9
