Page 39 of One Forbidden Moment

Jillian lay her head down in her mom's lap and closed her eyes."Mom, I am so glad to see you."

Her mother smiled, placing her hand on Jillian's head and stroking her hair."Don't be silly.You should be out with your friends having fun, not sitting with me."

"This is where I want to be."She raised her head and gazed up at her mom with tears in her eyes.

Moe leaned against the doorframe and hooked his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans.He'd watched Jillian cry many times but not like this.No one had to tell him how much her mom meant to her.All her emotions shined on her face.It was a love he had never witnessed or experienced before.

"Did you forget something?"

Jillian let out a sound that wasn't quite a laugh and wasn't quite a sob."Yeah.I guess I did."

Moe stayed in the doorway, but the conversation carried easily.He watched Jillian kneel beside her mother, watched her take her hand, watched her try to hold herself together while she pretended everything was okay.

He shouldn't be here.He didn't belong in this room, in this world, in this moment.

But he couldn't make himself leave.

Not when Jillian's shoulders shook.Not when her mother brushed her hair back with the same tenderness Jillian had shown him earlier.Not when he realized how much Jillian had lost and how much she stood to lose again.

He barely breathed, listening to the soft murmur of their voices.

Jillian stayed kneeling beside her mother for several minutes, her voice soft and trembling as she tried to hold onto the brief spark of recognition she'd walked in with.But it didn't last.Moe could see the shift happen.Her mother's eyes drifted, her focus slipping like sand through fingers.Her responses slowed and then stopped.She stared past Jillian, her gaze unfocused, her mouth slackening into a quiet, distant expression.

Jillian leaned in and pressed a kiss to her mother's cheek, whispering something Moe couldn't hear.She smoothed her mother's hair back, tucking a stray curl behind her ear the same way her mother had minutes earlier.She adjusted the blanket over her mother's legs, making sure it covered her feet, then her knees, then her lap.Each of Jillian's movements was small and careful.They spoke more about their relationship than words.

Moe's chest tightened.He didn't belong here.He didn't belong in this room, in this life she'd built around grief and love and responsibility.But he couldn't look away either.Watching her care for her mother with such tenderness made an ache grow inside him.

After a long moment, Jillian straightened, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.She scanned the room, searching, and Moe stepped back instinctively, giving her space.Her gaze landed on a small backpack beside the dresser.She crossed the room quickly and crouched beside it, unzipping it with trembling fingers.

Moe stayed in the doorway, but he watched her carefully.She pulled out her wallet, her keys, a few pens, and a half-eaten granola bar.Then a flat black rectangular thing.She held it in both hands like she was afraid it might vanish.

The thing lit up.Moe stepped closer, drawn to the device.

She held up the phone."Look at the date.It's the same day I left work."

"What is that?"

"A cell phone."

He grunted, scratching his head."Why does it light up like a television?"

"I'll explain later."She shook her head slowly, staring at the glowing numbers as if they might rearrange themselves into something that made sense.

Despite not understanding the technology Jillian used, a weight landed on him hard.The veil had stolen months from Jillian's life and returned her to the exact moment she'd left, giving her life back.Time with her mom.

Jillian looked up at him, her eyes wide and hollow."It's like none of it happened."

He didn't know how to make sense of it himself.All he knew was that the veil wasn't done with them.And whatever came next, he had to keep her safe.

Even if this world—her world—was the one that scared him most.