Free Unbroken Promises by Dianne Stevens Page A

friends were there at the canal. I’ve been hearin’ a lot of rumors goin’ around school about you and your friends,” Cody said dryly.
    Beth’s heart dropped to her toes. “Uh oh,” Beth thought. She had a sick feeling she just messed up big-time.
    At that point, Jesse leaned forward. “What rumors, Cody?” Jesse asked quietly but deadly.
    “It’s goin’ around that Beth’s been out drinkin’ and partyin’ just about every weekend since school started with the wildest group of girls in school. It’s been said that she and her friends got fake I.D.’s and snuck off to Louisiana and partied all night at a dance hall. She and her friends supposedly stayed at a hotel, got up the next mornin’ and went to the beach there. Then they got arrested for having glass on the beach,” Cody said.
    From the expression on Cody’s face Beth had the inkling he was just warming up. She sat back in her chair and idly played with her napkin. She didn’t look at either Cody or Jesse. She was trying to act as if what Cody was saying didn’t matter to her. So, while Cody talked, she gave the impression she could care less while inside she wanted to wring Cody’s neck.
    She knew she had pushed him into this by being mean to him. He wasn’t even the one she was mad at. She just used him to vent her anger at Jesse. Beth also had the impression Cody was about to tell everything he knew. She was surprised he knew so much and had not told on her until now. If she hadn’t made him mad, he might not have told on her at all. When he got to the part about her staying all night and partying in Louisiana, Beth could not help but dart her eyes toward Jesse. She didn’t believe he could look any harder or more furious; but, to her amazement, he managed to do just that. He looked as if he wanted to jump across that table and beat the daylights out of her.
    She pulled her eyes away from his penetrating gaze and stared back into space again. “Good heavens,” she knew Cody wasn’t finished because he was already drawing breath. Beth was never so glad to know Susan and Jordon were in a deep conversation and weren’t paying attention to what was being said at their end of the table.
    “It’s also goin’ around that Beth was at that big fight they had in the parking lot a few months ago when everyone was hauled off to jail. I was told the bruise Beth had on her cheek had been from a misplaced punch,” Cody said then looked at Beth with anger in his eyes and continued.
    “There’s also a rumor that Beth was at a party at Becky’s house on New Year’s Eve. The girls’ parents were gone for the weekend and left the house to them. The guys at school were braggin’ bout how they had taken some of the girls inside to the bedrooms. It’s even been said that Beth let some guy named Randy feel all over her.” Beth knew Cody had to be running out of things to say because she couldn’t think of anything else significant she had done wrong. Nope, Cody pretty much covered everything. He covered everything from the beginning of school until almost the end, which was only about two and a half months away. And everything he said was true except the part about her letting Randy feel all over her. She could only guess Randy started that rumor.
    Jesse’s stare was like steel. “I know one part of what Cody said is fact. Is everything else also true, Beth? Did you do all these things?” His eyes never wavered and his voice was as hard as metal.
    Beth looked directly back at Jesse, “I don’t have to answer to you, Mr. Casanova,” Beth bit out still sounding sarcastic. “I may or I may not have. Or, maybe, Jesse…I have been doing what you were doing in the front of your truck,” Beth said in a cool crisp voice.
    “JORDON!” Jesse bellowed out the instant those words left Beth’s mouth. Jordon immediately stopped talking, stood and walked over to where Jesse was and asked him what was wrong. Susan, seeing the look on Jesse’s face,