Page 21 of One Forbidden Moment

She stared across the room.All she wanted to do was give up.This wasn't how she wanted to live.

The tension in the room snapped.Moe crossed the room, grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her off the couch.She stumbled, her legs stiff from sitting too long.

"Come on," he said, his voice low but firm."You're going outside."

She blinked at him, dazed."Why?"

"When I'm in a rut, I ride."He held on to her."I'm tired of you moping around."

"I'm not moping."

"It's all the fuck you do."

"You don't understand."

He ended the argument by taking her out the door, down the steps, and toward the motorcycle parked at the curb.The air was cool, the sky washed in pale evening light.She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering.

"I don't want to go anywhere."She tugged against his hold, but he refused to let go.

Moe swung a leg over the bike, then looked back at her."Get on behind me."

She hesitated.He'd never put her behind him before.She always sat in front, where he could keep his arms on each side of her so she didn't fall off the motorcycle.

A spark of hope ignited.Maybe he no longer cared about her running away because it was impossible to leave Everstill.

She climbed onto the seat behind him, her hands hovering awkwardly before she finally rested them on the sides of his jacket.He never looked back or checked to make sure she was secure on the seat.It wasn't like she could jump off and run.The invisible barrier keeping her prisoner made sure of that.

He started the engine.The rumble vibrated through her bones.As the bike pulled away from the house, she leaned back slightly, letting the wind hit her face.It didn't clear her head.It didn't make her feel alive.But it was movement, and movement was better than sinking deeper into the couch and disappearing.

They rode through Everstill's empty streets, past the courthouse with its manicured lawn, the gas station with the flickering neon sign, and the boarded-up feed store.The town looked the same at night as it did during the day, only slower.

Moe's silence settled around her, and she realized he wasn't punishing her.He was trying to shake her loose from whatever had taken hold of her lately.

But she wasn't sure anything could.

When the sun dipped low and the sky turned dusky blue, Moe slowed the bike and pulled over near the edge of town.For the longest time, he simply stared straight ahead.

She sat behind him, her hands resting lightly on his jacket, and gazed into the fading light.How was she supposed to keep going?She couldn't breathe with all the weight pressing down on her.

Her depression was worse than when her mom was first diagnosed.Even worse than when she was forced to move her mom into the memory care unit at the nursing home.

She had no idea how to shake off the darkness.

And every night, no matter how long she stared at the ceiling in the darkness, Moe still slept beside her, his hand wrapped around her hand.

She hated to admit it, but his hold on her every night was the only thing keeping her from crumbling.

He cut the engine.The silence that followed consumed her.

"What's wrong with you?"he asked, his voice low, rough."You've been like this for days."

Was he blaming her for her mood?Something inside her snapped.

"You know what's wrong," she said, her voice sharp and shaking."You kidnapped me.I don't want to be here.I want to leave."

He stared straight ahead like her words were nothing more than wind, making their point and then blowing away.There was no inclination that he heard her.

The lack of response made her throat tighten.She swallowed hard, her fingers curling into the fabric of his jacket."I had a life, you know," she whispered."I had...I had someone."