Page 66 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
‘It feels like love at eighty might be the best I can hope for at the moment,’ said Lois but at least she was smiling now. ‘Ring me tomorrow.’
Steph managed to extract Tom from his new group of friends who were animatedly talking about the best way to kill a person in a crime novel, and they walked back to Oliver’s.
Dottie had paired up with Zoe from Steph’s Old Hollow stop and they both looked like they were enjoying themselves. Zoe hadn’t come on the bus because she was worried she might get stuck at work, but Steph was glad she’d come and even more pleased that she and Dottie had hit it off. Dottie could do with someone like Zoe to encourage her to let her hair down. They both waved at Steph once they spotted her.
‘Coffee or wine?’ asked Oliver when they walked up to the counter.
‘Cup of tea for me, please. I’m the designated driver,’ said Steph.
‘Same for me,’ said Tom.
‘We’ve just been over to the Courtyard Café, they’ve got almost as many people outside as they have in,’ said Steph.
‘This is better than last month. We ran out of seats, and it was complete chaos. This is much more manageable.’
Steph thought the place looked rammed and there were no free seats that she could see. Lois certainly did have a hit on her hands.
‘So…Lois is over at the Courtyard?’ Oliver asked Steph, trying to sound casual.
‘Yes, trying to keep Rosemary calm under pressure, I think.’
‘Not an easy thing to do.’ He paused, then attempted to say equally casually, ‘I haven’t seen Lois for a week or so. She alright?’
‘She’s fine.’ He was an idiot if he didn’t realise Lois was steering clear. ‘She’s really looking forward to Christmas.’ Why did she say that? It was true but she should have come up with something that made it sound as if Lois was super busy, too busy to think about Oliver. ‘And obviously, she’s completely slammed with the whole awards thing.’ Could being nominated for an award make a person slammed with things to do? Steph hoped Oliver would think so.
‘Yeah, right, of course.’ He passed their teas. ‘Cheers guys, enjoy.’
‘He seems like a nice bloke,’ said Tom once they’d found a premium patch of floor next to a radiator to sit down. ‘Friend of Lois’s?’
‘Kind of. I mean, he is but his wacky girlfriend thinks there’s more to it, so Lois is having to avoid them both.’
‘And is there more to it?’
Steph grinned. If Tom wanted to talk about stuff like this, it was going to be the best relationship ever.
36
The envelope was waiting on her desk. Lois couldn’t imagine how Linda had contained herself for a whole twenty-four hours and not opened it. It was a letter from the Library of the Year Awards.
She took off her cycle jacket and hung it on the back of the door to dry. It was a dreary day and was barely daylight when Lois left home. Her hair was damp, but she twirled it up into a bun and that would have to do.
‘Hey Linda,’ she called as she walked to the front desk with the letter.
Linda appeared from the children’s library with wide eyes. ‘Have you opened it yet? What does it say?’
‘Come on, you do it.’ Lois handed her the letter and was glad she’d passed on the job to Linda who looked like she might burst with excitement. Hopefully, it would be good news otherwise they might both drown in a flood of Linda’s tears.
‘Oh gosh, I’m shaking!’ She pulled out the letter and scanned it while Lois waited, patiently for a reaction. ‘Yes! Yes! We’ve been shortlisted for the Community Spirit award which means we get to go to the awards ceremony at the London Library!’
‘That’s brilliant!’ Lois hugged Linda and they both danced around laughing, Linda waving the letter in the air and singing ‘We’re simply the best!’ over and over again.
‘Can anyone join in?’
Lois turned around to find Oliver leaning on the front desk with an amused look on his face.
‘Oh, sorry.’ She pushed some stray hair behind her ears. ‘Morning. What can we do for you?’
‘I just came to see how you are. Bought you guys a coffee and some muffins.’
