Page 36 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
‘Hey, I just wanted to make sure you’re alright. I feel like an idiot for not realising how much you liked Oliver. Sorry, I wasn’t being very helpful earlier. If you want to get together later, ring me back. We can drown your sorrows over some gin and tonics or something.’
She had a text from Max asking her if she wanted to go out for a drink on Saturday night. Maybe she would see if Lois wanted to go too. It was about time she introduced them and it might cheer her up to see that things were going well in someone’s love life at least.
21
‘The Christmas lights switch-on is next Saturday,’ Oliver said to Lois while he steamed the milk for her morning latte. It was the first time she’d seen him since the night at her house when he’d decided to give things another go with Amy.
Now that they were collaborating with the book club and he was helping out with fundraising for the beanbags, avoiding him altogether wasn’t an option she could afford to take. Not without jeopardising the momentum they were creating and that was more important than a bit of personal humiliation at the moment, however hard it might be to walk into the coffee house as if nothing had happened.
‘Oh, yes. Someone came in and asked what we were doing. I’ve got no idea what the library normally does.’
‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘It closes at five like any other Saturday.’
‘Not this year, we’re going to join in. I love Christmas and the build-up is more fun than the actual thing when you’re a grown-up.’
‘A grown-up,’ Oliver teased, smiling at her in a way that made her heart ache.
‘You know what I mean. Don’t you feel like that?’
He shrugged. ‘I suppose so. It’s good for business at least.’
‘That’s not very Christmassy.’
He laughed, ‘I haven’t got time to be Christmassy.’ He handed her the coffee along with a muffin. ‘On the house,’ he said softly.
Lois sighed in relief as she left the coffee house. As sorry as she was that things hadn’t worked out with Oliver, she was glad things weren’t weird between them. Now she just needed to turn her feelings off as quickly as Oliver seemed to have done.
‘Hey, Lois!’
She turned to see Patsy heading towards the coffee house. She was wearing a red duffel coat which clashed spectacularly with her hair in the most fabulous way.
‘Hi, Patsy. You on your way in?’
‘Yep, Ollie’s off to the wholesaler this morning. How are you doing?’
Lois was surprised by the question. Had Oliver told Patsy what had happened?
’Sorry, I don’t mean to be nosey. I was as shocked as anyone to see him back with Amy. Honestly, I don’t know what he’s thinking.’ She put a hand on Lois’s arm. ‘He’s an idiot.’
Lois sighed. ‘He’s just trying to do the right thing.’ Even now she felt she had to defend him.
‘He’s an idiot,’ Patsy said again, softly. ‘Take care, Lois.’
So Patsy, who seemed like the most amiable person in the world, didn’t approve. Lois would go so far as to guess that Patsy didn’t like Amy and for some reason that ignited the tiniest spark of joy amidst the peaty lump of darkness which had settled inside Lois when it had all ended.
That evening she headed into town. She’d been persuaded to meet Steph and her new chap, Max. The picture of him on Tinder, which Steph had insisted proudly was a true representation, was not all that flattering or attractive so she was quite curious to see what he was actually like. Lois wished they’d invited Andrew so that she didn’t have to be a gooseberry but Steph had wanted to introduce him to her friends in stages. Admittedly Andrew had very little diplomacy and might not have been able to keep his thoughts to himself so for Steph’s sake it was probably better that Lois was the advance party.
Steph and Max were already in the bar when Lois arrived. She went over to the table and Steph made the introductions then insisted on going to the bar to get a drink for her.
‘So, what do you do, Max?’ asked Lois, wishing that she had insisted more firmly on getting her own drink so that she wouldn’t have to make small talk with this man who looked like a cross between a Hell’s Angel and the Hulk.
‘I’m a motorbike mechanic.’
Of course he was. Steph handed Lois a glass of wine, then sat down next to him, grinning like a loon, gazing at her thick-necked tattooed monster of a boyfriend with love-hearts for eyes. Lois knew she had a habit of being very judgy when she met new people and more often than not changed her mind about them completely once she got to know them. And after all, he was going out with Steph, a librarian, so he couldn’t be that bad but poor Steph was a terrible judge of character when it came to her boyfriends. Still, she shouldn’t stereotype him. Even if all of Steph’s other boyfriends had turned out to be dicks, it didn’t mean he was.
‘Have you lived in Worcester long?’
‘Nah. Moved here with me ex. I’m from London way.’
