Page 46 of One Forbidden Moment

She leaned against the table her mom used for gardening, watching him run a hand through his hair."That's not unusual."

"It is for this bike."He frowned at the engine like it had betrayed him."It's never needed a new one before.Not once."

She stepped closer, resting a hand lightly on his shoulder."Things aren't the same here as they were in Everstill."

He exhaled slowly, the tension in his shoulders easing just a little under her touch.

"Bike shops are probably closed today," she added."It's Sunday.But I can help you get a new battery tomorrow before I go to work."

He nodded, though his eyes stayed fixed on the motorcycle."Yeah.Tomorrow."

She rubbed his back gently."In the meantime...I could cut your hair.If you want."

That finally made him look at her.His expression softened, the frustration in his eyes giving way to something quieter."Not too much."

"Of course not."She smiled."Come on."

He let her lead him back into the house, his hand warm in hers.He seemed quieter today.Not withdrawn, just thoughtful.

She gathered scissors, a comb, and a towel.When she returned to the living room, he was sitting in the kitchen on one of the wooden chairs from the table, elbows on his knees, staring at the floor like he was trying to solve a puzzle only he could see.

"I ordered you some clothes online," she said as she draped the towel around his shoulders."A few pairs of jeans.Some shirts.They should be here tomorrow."

He grunted in acknowledgment, but she could tell his mind was somewhere else.

"It'll be easier than having to wash your clothes every day.Unlike in Everstill, I don't have any sweats in the house for you to borrow."

"Where's your dad?"he asked.

She stilled.That came out of the blue.

"I take it he's not in your life?"

She inhaled deeply."No, he's passed away."

He raised his gaze."Recently?"

She combed the snarls out of his hair."It happened when I was four.He was involved in a car accident.He ran a red light coming home from working graveyard shift.Mom believes he fell asleep at the wheel rather than missed the light, but who knows?I don't really remember him, and the things I do remember are more like pictures in my head that my mom built by talking about him all the time."

She stood behind him and ran her fingers gently through his hair, separating the strands before lifting the scissors.His shoulders loosened under her touch, the tension slowly melting away.She worked carefully, combing and trimming, letting the quiet settle around them like a blanket.

The only experience she had cutting hair was when she trimmed her mom's hair.She got agitated when the nursing home tried to cut her bangs out of her eyes, so it was a job she did when she noticed her hair growing longer.

Every so often, Moe closed his eyes, breathing a little deeper, as if the simple act of being cared for was something he didn't quite know how to accept.

She didn't rush.She didn't push.She just stayed close and let him enjoy the pampering.

"What about your family?"

"Probably dead."He grunted."My parents wrote me off the second I turned sixteen.They were dead to me back then."

She raised her brows but kept her opinion to herself.In her experience, families stuck together.Though it made sense that his parents were probably dead, considering Moe's age.

Whatever Everstill had done to him, stopping him from aging, had its perks.She didn't understand how it happened, but she believed him.She'd seen and lived through time stopping.

When she moved to trim his beard, he lifted his chin slightly."Do you have a razor?"

"I have a pack in the bathroom."She shrugged."Though, they're pink...lady razors."