Page 13 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
Linda looked as pleased as anything as she got on with arranging the small number of reservations that had come through on the system while Lois went back to sifting through the mountains of paperwork to make sure everything had been dealt with properly before they got rid of it and went completely digital. Her thoughts drifted to Oliver. She was still feeling thrown by having seen him with the woman at the weekend. Rationally she knew that Steph was right, of course someone like him would have a girlfriend but until then, she had honestly felt like something was beginning between them. She should force herself to go into the coffee house sooner rather than later if only to prove to herself that seeing him was no big deal. There was no reason for her to avoid going in there whatsoever.
At lunchtime she strolled along the high street, telling herself that if there was a queue it wasn’t worth waiting. If there was no-one queuing at all then she would go in and have a coffee. Secretly, she was hoping that the queue would be out of the door because she didn’t know what was the matter with her.
There was no queue. It was Tuesday after all. She took a deep breath and went in. It was so quiet that Oliver was sat at one of the tables nearest the counter with his laptop open.
‘Lois,’ he said, looking pleased to see her. ‘Have a coffee with me to save me from having to get on with my accounts.’
She hadn’t expected that. ‘Okay, thanks.’
‘How’s your week going?’ he asked as he made coffees for them.
‘Rosemary’s back in the fold,’ she said with a smile.
‘Really? Is she driving you mad yet?’
‘Surprisingly not. She seems keen to go along with the changes I’m making and has even had her own ideas to help it along.’
‘Wow. Well, that’s good, isn’t it? She’s nice enough, maybe just a bit stuck in her ways. I guess it’s easier for her to work to your changes than to have to change the way she’d always done things herself.’
‘Hmm, maybe.’ Lois had never thought of it like that.
‘Good night out on Friday?’ They sat down at his table and he closed the lid on his laptop.
‘Yes, brilliant. You?’
He looked up at the ceiling as if he was trying to find the right words. ‘Yep, good,’ he said finally, sounding as if even saying it was good was an effort.
‘Really. That good?’
‘No, not really,’ he smiled. ‘She’s an old friend, it’s complicated.’
An old friend who was completely besotted with him. Clearly, there was more to it, but she was quite pleased by his lack of enthusiasm.
‘Right.’ This subject was stalling the conversation, it was so awkward.
‘Anyway,’ he shook his head and smiled. ‘Did you go somewhere after the bar?’
‘Steph and I went to that Mexican place on New Street. I had one too many tequila shots, but we had a good time. How about you?’
‘I had an early night. Boring, I know, but I had to open up on Saturday morning.’ He looked down at his coffee and a lock of hair fell over his eyes.
Her fingers twitched as she imagined weaving it back where it had come from, into the rest of the dark waves. ‘What time do you open?’
‘Seven-thirty. It kills the Friday night vibes but,’ he shrugged, ‘not a problem for a singleton like me.’
He was single. She was ridiculously pleased to hear him say that. ‘I think it’ll be a shock to the system when I have to start working Saturdays again. I can’t expect Linda to do them forever.’
‘It’s people like us who keep the wheels of the weekend turning for everyone else, Lois. We’re special, invaluable even.’ He grinned, then stood up and took his empty cup over to the counter.
‘I’ll remember that in the middle of winter when I have to drag myself out of bed in the dark on a weekend.’
‘That’s exactly why I live upstairs,’ he said, flicking his eyes to the ceiling. ‘I just roll out of bed and down the stairs and I’m good to go.’
He never looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. He pushed his hand into his hair, the stray lock now back where it belonged, the gesture making Lois a little weak at the knees.
‘Well, I’d better get back.’ She pulled her purse out of her pocket.
‘It’s on the house. It was good to see you, Lois.’ He leaned his hands on the back of his chair and looked at her with an intensity that said it actually was good to see her and not just something he was saying as a goodbye.
