Page 22 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
‘I think so,’ said Dottie, ‘and I know I’ve just complained about not meeting other mums but the idea of that scares me to death.’
‘But you came here,’ said Eunice, reasonably. ‘Steph and I must be more daunting than a roomful of toddlers and their mothers.’
‘That would scare me off, to be honest,’ said Steph.
Dottie smiled. ‘I love coming to the mobile library. I mean, I can drive to an actual library, but this is special and an adventure for Bert. It never crossed my mind to worry about coming the first time.’
‘That’s as it should be and as a young mother it’s important not to lose yourself. If this is for you more than that little man,’ Eunice said, nodding towards Bert, ‘then so much the better.’
Dottie looked as if she might cry which would have been awkward, so Steph was relieved when she picked up one of the book club books from the table.
‘This is a good selection.’
‘These are the choices for the new book club.’ Eunice looked at Steph who explained it to Dottie. She was just as keen as Eunice but had similar issues.
‘It’s so difficult to get out in the evenings and when Nick is away it’s impossible, but I’d love to join in just by reading the book. If I choose the same one as you, Eunice, at least we can have a chat about it next month.’
‘That’s what I was hoping,’ said Eunice.
They both settled on the contemporary romance. Dottie blushed slightly when Eunice recommended Jilly Cooper to her and admitted she’d read all of them already, suggesting her favourite for Eunice’s next foray into Rutshire.
As Steph drove to her next stop, she thought about the two women who’d waved her off from the pavement on Hawthorn Lane. The book club already meant something to them, Steph realised. Perhaps Lois’s idea was going to work after all.
14
It was the end of the first date-with-a-book club recruitment round. Rosemary had twelve cards; twelve people who had joined in and were going to be paired up and invited to the coffee house on Wednesday evening the following week.
At the Thursday meeting, they all read through the cards and discussed how people might be paired.
‘Oh my goodness,’ said Rosemary, holding her hand to her chest in shock. ‘The woman on this card has requested, and I quote, “Man in thirties. Tall, dark and handsome if possible.” She thinks we’re running some kind of dating club.’
‘There are worse ways to meet a man,’ said Linda. ‘Finding someone who likes the same books as you is a good start. Although my Dave only reads horror so it wouldn’t have worked for us,’ she laughed.
‘Serves us right for calling it date-with-a-book. She’s taken it literally. We should try and find someone for her,’ said Lois. Did any men read the same book as her?’ She shuffled through the cards.
‘If they did, Lois, we haven’t asked them to provide their date of birth and redeeming features,’ Rosemary said stiffly.
‘There’s one man who read the same book as her. Let’s match them up. At least we’ll have one satisfied customer.’ Lois picked up both cards and put them together. ‘Go on, Rosemary, you pick the next pair.’
They took it in turns to make pairs while Rosemary paper-clipped each pair together in preparation for arranging the meeting. They had decided to invite everyone to the coffee house and then there would be a list on the door of everyone’s names with a table number.
‘Has anyone had any thoughts on books for the next round?’ asked Lois.
‘I enjoyed readingA Wedding in Decemberby Sarah Morgan,’ said Linda. ‘I know the next meeting isn’t the last one before Christmas but it’s never too soon to start reading Christmas books.’
‘Do you think men would read it?’
‘That’s of no consequence, Lois. Despite the request on this month’s cards, we are not a dating agency.’
Lois suppressed a grin. ‘Quite right, Rosemary. Sorry, I got carried away for a second.’
Linda winked at her.
‘Right. Linda, do you want to sort out another couple of books to add in and tweet it out?’
‘Will do, Lois.’
‘Great, thanks both of you. Same time next week? And we can find out how our first book dates went.’
