Page 18 of One Forbidden Moment

He looked away."You can't."

She let out a half-sob, half-wail of fury and shoved past him.She stormed out the front door, her footsteps pounding down the porch steps.

For the first time, Moe let her go.She couldn't escape.Maybe she needed to find out how she was safer with him than without him.

He stood in the doorway, watching her run down the empty street, her small figure swallowed by the fading light.The weather was calm.The air still.The sun almost gone.

There was nowhere she could go.

And she would learn that soon enough.

Chapter 8

Jillian

––––––––

Jillian walked untilher legs shook.She had no idea where she was going.It no longer mattered.The moment her hand hit that invisible wall, every bit of strength left her.It was impossible to hold it together.

She'd lived through the last several weeks concentrating on each minute, continually holding on to the thought that if she could get through the day, maybe she could go home tomorrow.

Now escaping Everstill was lost to her.

The sky darkened above her.The last streaks of sunlight faded behind the trees.Everstill grew quieter with every step she took.The empty streets seemed miles away from the houses that glowed yellow with light coming from the windows.Everyone had gone home.

Her ragged breath was the only noise in the night.

She wrapped her arms around herself, her fingers digging into the fabric of the oversized sweatshirt.Her throat burned.Her chest ached.She tried to swallow it down, tried to keep herself together, but the truth pressed in from all sides.

She was stuck here.

She couldn't leave.

She couldn't go home.

Her despair hit so hard she stumbled.Her knees buckled, and she caught herself on a lamppost, her breath shattering into pieces.She pressed her forehead against the cold metal, her fingers trembling.