Firsts and Lasts by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2023-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Chloe peeked over the rim of the well five minutes later.

Toby was still standing by the rocking chair as if Chloe’s rudeness had turned him into a statue. She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing while the rain pelted her. The urge to laugh was nonsensical. Was she actually losing control of her emotions like Oriana said?

Finally, she shook her head and climbed out of the well.

“Here,” Toby said, and handed her a blanket that had been tucked behind the chair.

“I’d never seen that there,” she said, wrapping it around her like a cape. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. There’s a thermos of hot chocolate, too. It gets replaced every day.”

Her jaw fell. “I never knew!”

She hadn’t seen it, and it had been in plain sight.

“You never talk to anyone.”

It didn’t sound like an accusation.

She sat down on the rocking chair, and he leaned against the wall of the cabin. “There’s a bathroom inside your cabin, too.”

“There’s a what?” She pretty much spat the words out.

“Yep. We’ve had to either hold it or trek back to the manor when things got urgent.” He laughed.

It was impossible not to laugh with him.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me about the bathroom?”

Toby shrugged. “You looked like you needed space.”

It was the nicest thing anyone had done for her in a long time.

They stood side by side through the rest of her shift. Chloe wanted to poke him to make sure he wasn’t a figment of her imagination, but she knew that would be too weird. No one had been this nice to her since homecoming. But if Toby actually wanted to hurt her, he’d had plenty of chances.

“I saw you the day I applied for the job. I thought you were a ghost,” she said, feeling out of breath like she’d run laps around the forest. Accepting his company was the bravest thing she’d done since taking this job. Every time Chloe walked through the halls at school, her anger festered into hatred, and she wanted to scream at everyone who may have known about Victor and Carmen. Had they been laughing at her behind her back the entire time? She shook the thought from her head. “Do you miss the previous Ghost Bride?”

Toby laughed. “Patricia treated us like lackeys! She was in her thirties and thought she was our mom.” He sighed. “Yes, we miss her. I mean, me and the boys. Reese and Lalo. They’re cool. Weird but cool, you know?”

“Like you?” she said.

He looked into her eyes for a few seconds, and then his mouth twitched again. “And you too.”

Chloe wasn’t even offended.

“Why did you decide to work at a place like this?” he asked.

Chloe opened up, and her heartbreak spilled like over-risen dough.

She told him the whole story of Carmen and Victor, and how she’d been noticing things between them for a few months but hadn’t wanted to accept the truth until she had no choice. Now she couldn’t let go of how foolish she’d been to believe her so-called friends.

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