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

tilted his head. “Every time I bring up relationships you shut down.” His voice wassoft, and Jade could hear how much he cared for her, how much he wanted her to open up to him. But how could he understand what her life had been like? How it felt to have your mother leave and be raised by an alcoholic father?
    She sighed. “I’m sorry.”
    Tanner pushed his plate aside and rested his forearms on the table. He leaned toward her when he spoke. “No,
I’m
sorry. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just want to know you, Jade … what you’re thinking behind those beautiful eyes.”
    Her heart skipped a beat, and she wanted to bolt from the table, escape back to the private solitude of her cluttered home and stuffy bedroom. She forced herself to remain seated, studying her plate.
    “It’s about your mama, isn’t it?” Tanner inched his chair near hers, then reached out with gentle fingers to take her hand in his. “I’m here. If you want to talk about it.”
    Jade had hidden her feelings about her mother for so long, she’d become expert at it. But being around Tanner that week had weakened more walls than she cared to admit. Right now, with Tanner stroking her hand and questions about her mother dangling in the air like so many skeletons, Jade felt the dam breaking.
    She still hadn’t looked up, and as the tears gathered they spilled freely onto her plate.
    Tanner must have seen them. He moved closer still, put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. “It’s okay, Jade. I’m here.”
    She had never cried about her mother’s leaving, preferring denial at first and anger after that. But here, with Tanner’s breath against her face and her father miles away, she no longer had the desire to fight the pain that welled within her. Instead she slumped against Tanner’s shoulder and gave in to a torrentof grief. He stroked her hair and turned so that his other arm embraced her also. In hushed tones he uttered caring words, calming words until her sobbing eased.
    “I’m so sorry.” Tanner was still stroking her hair and her back, comforting a place in Jade where the child still lived. A child who had spent too many years alone.
    Tanner pulled away, found a tissue, and handed it to her. “It must have been awful.”
    Jade blew her nose and leaned back, settling her gaze on his. She stayed that way a while, and Tanner waited, letting her decide when she was ready to talk. Like the tears, there had never been any place for words regarding her mother. Now finally she was ready. Tanner cared how she felt, what had happened to her after she moved from Williamsburg.
    Jade drew a shaky, deep breath. “She never even said goodbye.”
    Tanner kept his eyes trained on her.
    “I still don’t know exactly what happened. Something, someone must have caught her attention. Whatever it was, she left and never looked back.”
    “Did you ever ask your dad?”
    Jade closed her eyes. “A hundred times. The answer was always the same. ‘Your mother’s a whore. Don’t bring her up again in this house.’ ” Jade’s voice echoed with anger as she recalled her father’s words. When it came to the disappearance of her mother, anger was the only emotion Jade’s father had ever displayed.
    “So you still don’t know what happened?”
    She shook her head, then hesitated. Tanner eased closer again, his arm around her shoulders once more. She struggled to find the right words. “There must have been some other man. Otherwise Daddy wouldn’t have called her a whore.”
    Tanner stroked her arm, and Jade pulled slightly away so she could see his eyes. “You asked me if I want a daughter someday.” She blinked back fresh tears. “Probably not. Because that would mean getting married, and I’ve seen what marriage does to people.” A picture of her father passed out in his vomit came to mind, and she dismissed it. “I would only want a child if I could provide her the home I never had. A mom and a dad and