Page 34 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
‘True. How are things with you?’
‘It’s not great. Oliver is back with his ex.’ Lois smiled, knowing what was coming.
‘What?’ said Steph, leaping to her feet. ‘How did that happen, I thought it was all go with him. I know you were taking it slowly but I didn’t realise he might get back with the ex.’
‘Neither did I. He came round last night to tell me. He feels he has to give it another chance.’
‘Bloody hell.’
‘I know. And we’re not talking about it anymore because I’ll start crying.’ She looked up at the ceiling trying to get rid of the tears that were already threatening to spill. ‘And this isn’t waterproof mascara. No!’ she said when Steph made a move to hug her. ‘You’re trying to make me cry!’ She half laughed, half cried and went to stand behind the chair, using it as a barrier.
‘Why would I do that?’ Steph was smiling but her eyes were full of sadness for Lois.
‘Anyway, don’t say anything in front of Rosemary, she doesn’t know.’ Lois pulled a tissue out of her pocket and dabbed at her eyes.
‘What’s it got to do with Rosemary?’ Steph looked puzzled and who could blame her.
‘It’s a long story.’
‘Are you joking?’ Patsy slammed the bag of coffee beans down so hard that Oliver was surprised it hadn’t split.
He sighed. ‘Come on, Pats. You know how hard it’s been for her to get herself back on track. We’re just seeing how it goes, picking up where we left off.’
Patsy harrumphed. ‘I know how hard it was for you. How you kept going all summer, with her demanding you pay her share of the coffee house to her while we were stretched trying to get the cinema finished.’
‘It was bad timing, but we know now that she was in a dark place, Pats. We called it a day based on things which in hindsight were not a true presentation of the facts.’
‘She made your life a misery, Ollie, even before you bought the cinema. You weren’t happy.’
‘I know you’re looking out for me, Pats and I know you helped me out to pay Amy her share of the coffee house. I’m grateful for, you know I am.’ He didn’t need reminding of those days which had been the darkest of his life.
Her expression softened slightly. ‘Look, I just think the past is the past and trying to start up again with her when it wasn’t so great last time is a massive mistake.’
Oliver couldn’t help smiling at how incapable Patsy was at hiding her opinion from him, managing just half a sentence before she lapsed from sympathy into telling him what to do.
‘And honestly, did you have to move her in here? She’ll be giving me the evils all the time.’
He smothered a laugh. ‘She won’t. She likes you.’ What else could he say?
‘She bloody doesn’t. I think we both know exactly how we feel about each other.’ She grinned despite herself.
‘See? It’ll be fine.’ Oliver pulled her into a hug which she tried to get away from.
‘You can’t win me over like that. Get off! I’m not your friend yet!’ But she was laughing and Oliver knew she’d forgiven him.
‘I’m just popping upstairs,’ he said, letting her go.
‘Oh, and so it begins. She’s got you wrapped around her little finger already.’
‘Pats, give it a rest. I get it.’ He made eye contact with her to make sure she knew that he was serious. He owed it to Amy to try again and Patsy had to get on board with that if only because now that Lois was probably never going to speak to him again, he needed someone to be on his side
‘I know,’ she said, rolling her eyes as she ripped open the bag of coffee beans and emptied them into the grinder. ‘And I won’t say another word about it. It’s only because I love you anyway.’
He shoved her gently. ‘Love you too.’
Amy was still asleep when he went up to the flat. She had bought with her what she said were the basics but the lounge was full of her things. She’d unpacked but not put anything away yet. Seeing all these unfamiliar things in his flat made Oliver realise that the place wasn’t his own anymore, something he hadn’t considered until this minute. When they’d been together before they’d lived at Amy’s and he had kept the flat just for convenience so he could stay in Croftwood on the odd occasion that it was more convenient for work. He’d never shared it with anyone before and suddenly it seemed a lot smaller.
He moved a pile of clothes from one end of the sofa and sat down to check his emails. Just as he’d relaxed into reading the latest newsletter from the Croftwood Traders’ Association, she came out of the bedroom wearing his favourite sweatshirt over her pyjamas. It felt too intimate for something that was still new to him.
