Page 20 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
‘You live in Worcester? Of course you do, you have to be within walking distance with the amount of shopping you have.’
‘Very funny.’ She loved that he felt comfortable enough to gently mock her. Although it could just be the wine.
‘So, Lois. Would it be too much to suggest we turn this drink into dinner?’
She wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day with Oliver. ‘I’d love that. Here or somewhere else?’
‘It’s pretty comfortable here, good menu and we already have space for the shopping. We might not be so lucky elsewhere.’
‘Here is fine with me.’ She smiled at him and noticed the crinkles in the corner of his eyes as he smiled back at her.
‘Great.’ He poured them some more wine as Lois excused herself to go to the loo.
When she came out, there was someone sat at the table with Oliver. It was the Old Friend. Lois didn’t even know what her name was and she felt really awkward about going back to the table.
Lois lurked at the side of the bar, but the woman didn’t show any signs of leaving. She had her own drink on the table and she looked so relaxed that she could have been sat there with Oliver for hours. It seemed odd to Lois that she happened to appear during the two minutes or so that she had been in the loo, but maybe she was just being paranoid. Or maybe this woman had been spying on them.
Oliver looked over his shoulder, perhaps wondering where she’d got to and once he spotted her he stood up and came over to her under the watchful eye of the woman. Lois could feel her cheeks redden.
‘I wondered where you’d got to,’ he said, smiling.
‘Is she joining us?’ Lois asked as a joke, but her insides withered when Oliver began looking shifty and seemed to be at a loss for words.
‘Um, would that be okay?’
Was he joking? Did he really think she was going to sit back down and just join in with…whatever was going on between them?
‘Look, I’d better be going.’
‘No, don’t go, Lois. What about dinner?’
Yes, what about dinner? She wanted to be cross with him, but she didn’t know him well enough to tell him how she felt.
‘It’s okay, another time maybe.’ He still looked unsure, and she found herself reassuring him even though she was seething inside that this woman had hijacked her perfect afternoon. ‘Really. I need to go and arrange my cushions anyway.’
‘How will you carry all that stuff home?’
So, he wasn’t going to try and talk her out of it. Or get rid of the Old Friend. Lois felt a wave of embarrassment creep down her body. She had to leave before she started crying. ‘I’ve got my second wind now.’ She forced a smile which she hoped told him that she was fine.
He looked slightly crestfallen. ‘I’m glad we ran into each other today.’ Why didn’t he do something about it then?
‘Me too. Listen, do you mind just grabbing my bags and coat?’ She hoped he would just do as she asked without making a fuss, and he did. Lois shoved the cushions further down into the bags, managed to pick everything up and stood by the door while Oliver opened it for her. She deliberately didn’t look over to where they’d been sitting. The whole thing was mortifying.
‘See you next week maybe?’ he asked.
‘Sure.’ She smiled at him and headed across the bridge towards home with tears running down her face.
13
Steph pulled up in the lay-by on Hawthorn Lane and yanked the handbrake on as hard as she could. Although the road was flat and had probably been a bus stop once upon a time when there were still buses that went everywhere, there was a steep hill immediately afterwards and Steph always had visions of the mobile library rolling down the road while she was busy making a cup of tea. It was another bright autumn day which she was pleased about, especially here, because her stalwart regular, Eunice, was not that steady on her feet.
Once she’d opened the door and put the handrails up, she retrieved her tea making supplies from the bag she kept in the passenger footwell and laid it out on the table. It was never more important than for the Hawthorn Lane stop. She also took a brand-new tin of Victoria biscuits out of the cupboard behind the driver’s seat.
‘Good morning, Steph,’ a voice called from the door. Steph smiled. It was Eunice, she was always the first customer to arrive at the Hawthorn Lane stop.
‘Morning Eunice!’ Steph headed for the door and retrieved Eunice’s heavy bag of books and her walking stick so that she had both hands free to hold on to the rail as she climbed the three steps into the van. ‘Cup of tea?’ Eunice was the only one of Steph’s customers who had more than one cup, sometimes more than two.
‘Lovely.’ Eunice unbuttoned her coat as she made her way over to the table where Steph had arranged the tea and biscuits.
