Read Online A Moment of Weakness by Karen Kingsbury - Free Book Online

classes and asked her to every one of the school dances. Jade always told him no, but eventually she allowed herself to make small talk with him. It was harmless. Jim wasn’t a threat to her isolation.
    After all, he could never love anyone the way he loved himself.
    Still he persisted. Long after he moved to Corvallis and took a dormitory room on campus at Oregon State University, he continued his pursuit of her. He would stop by her house when he was home on break, chat with her father and wait for her to come home from school.
    Jade made sure she never encouraged his attention, but he continued pursuing her all the same.
    “I could have any girl I want, do you know that, Jade.”
    “I’m so impressed, Jim.” She remembered busying herself in a magazine, staunchly ignoring his advances.
    “Come on, Jade. You like me. Admit it.”
    She had been bored with the conversation. “No, Jim. I don’t like you. I tolerate you.”
    Jim had laughed like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “Do you know how many girls would die to be in your shoes right now?”
    Jade had glanced down at her bare feet and sighed impatiently. “I’m not wearing shoes, Jim.”
    “You know what I mean.”
    “Not really.”
    He had studied her. “You play a better game of hard-to-get than any girl I know. You know what else?”
    Jade was certain she hadn’t looked up. She rarely gave Jimthe privilege of eye contact. “What?”
    “You’re not so bad looking for a girl who plays it cool.”
    “Change the subject, Jim.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I’m not interested. If you must come around and talk to me, then please stop pretending I’m your girlfriend. I’m not.”
    He’d seemed indifferent. “You seeing someone else?”
    “No. I’m not seeing anyone. I don’t
want
to see anyone. How much clearer can I be?”
    “Fine. One day you’ll wise up and come to your senses.” Jim puffed out his chest. “But you better hurry. I won’t be free forever.”
    Jade had a hundred memories of conversations like that one. Then, last summer, when Jim graduated from college, he did the craziest thing of all. She was working at a sporting goods store in town when he came in wearing a wide grin. He motioned for her and she followed him outside.
    “Jade, I know this is a strange place to ask you …” He pulled a tiny velvety box from his pants pocket.
    She remembered feeling deeply alarmed and then trapped, like she might suffocate. She knew what was coming, and she was helpless to stop it.
    He opened the box and therein lay a smallish diamond ring. “I already asked your father.… What I’m trying to say is, I can’t wait around forever, Jade. I want to offer you the chance of a lifetime. Your daddy said so himself.” Jim had grinned and Jade thought she might hyperventilate. “What do you say? Marry me and let’s stop playing games with each other.”
    She cringed now remembering her reaction. She had pushed the ring away and cried loudly. “Jim are you out of your
mind?
I don’t want to marry you. I don’t want to date you. I never have.”
    He had stared at her blankly, then methodically closed the tiny box and hid it back in his pocket again. “You don’t get it, do you?”
    “No,
you
don’t get it! You’ve hung around long enough that I consider you a friend. Not a great friend. Not even a good friend. But I have never given you the impression that what we have is more than a casual friendship.”
    Jim’s face reflected the pain her words had caused him. But almost instantly his expression had changed and a wicked grin broke across his face. His eyes boldly roamed the length of her. “Don’t you see, Jade? You’re nothing. Nobody. Your father’s an alcoholic; you have no friends. What’re you going to do? Live alone for the rest of your life?” He shrugged as if she’d done little more than turn down an offer of dinner and a movie. “Have it your way. But one day you’ll come to your senses. I’m the