Page 84 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
The bike ride into Croftwood was lovely. It was a crisp bright January day and any ice that would have been on the road that morning had disappeared by the time she set off which made for a much more relaxing journey than she’d had on most mornings recently.
She had the award in the basket on the front of her bike, wrapped in a jumper, having insisted to Oliver that she needed to have it with her when she got to the library rather than going with his suggestion that he would drop it in later that day.
She locked her bike up outside as there was no chance of rain, took out the award and went inside. Linda was at the desk and gave a huge whoop as she saw Lois holding it aloft.
‘Oh my goodness! I watched the whole thing on the Facebook Live feed! It was amazing! Oh, Lois, your speech.’ She gave Lois a fierce hug.
‘It is amazing, Linda. I can’t believe we won! We won the whole thing!’
‘What do you think will happen now? They can’t close down the Library of the Year, can they?’
‘I’ve got a meeting with David next week, but he seemed to suggest they couldn’t. He was very magnanimous. I don’t think he realised that what we’ve done means so much to people.’
‘Good! It’s about time they all realised. And you had a lovely time? You looked wonderful in that dress, Lois.’
‘Thanks. It was brilliant, the whole thing. The London Library is unbelievable, full of nooks and crannies and just crammed with books from floor to ceiling.’
‘And Oliver enjoyed it?’
Lois knew that her face was incapable of being cool about it. She nodded. ‘He did. We had the most amazing time.’
Linda squeezed her hand. ‘Good, and not a moment too soon. Coffee and cake to celebrate?’
‘I’d better not…’
‘I’ll go,’ said Linda, matter-of-factly.
‘That’d be lovely. Thanks.’
Late that afternoon after Linda had gone and Lois was about to lock up, Oliver came into the library. He didn’t look great. Maybe last night was catching up with him.
‘Hi,’ she smiled and went around the other side of the desk.
He took her in his arms and hugged her, nestling his face into her neck and giving her a tender kiss. But when he pulled away, he had tears in his eyes.
Lois locked the door and led him to the beanbags where he slumped down into one with her next to him.
‘What happened?’
‘I tried to tell her, Lois.’
‘Oh.’ He hadn’t managed to do it. She’d thought he was going to, that he’d made his mind up even before what had happened last night.
‘She’s pregnant.’
Lois knew without him saying anything else, what was going to happen. He was going to stay with Amy because he was that kind of person. Loyal.
He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. ‘I can’t believe it.’
‘Are you happy about the baby?’ Because even if he was being forced down a road he didn’t choose, that at least was something positive to come out of the whole mess.
He looked at her in despair. ‘I don’t know. It’s such a shock. I thought I’d have kids one day but… not like this.’
Lois was torn between giving Oliver the support he needed and telling him that it would all be okay, and self-preservation. Because her world had seemed perfect for almost a whole day and now it was crumbling.
‘Plenty of people have surprise pregnancies when the timing isn’t perfect.’
Oliver looked at her as if he couldn’t believe what she was saying. She totally understood and she wanted nothing more than to plunge into the depths of his wretchedness with him, but she also understood that he was never going to walk away from his child, or Amy. Her platitudes were an attempt at protecting herself, and him, from thinking about the life they’d thought they were about to begin together.
