Page 58 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
She didn’t know. It was one thing having to deal with tricky things like Alex arranging to meet her for a date and then turning up with all of his mates but it was a whole new level of tricky for Oliver to have to prep her as to what the ‘party line’ was that she needed to stick to with his girlfriend.
‘It’s fine. I won’t say anything.’ She waited to see what he was going to say next but when he didn’t, she decided to say what she was thinking for a change. ‘What’s the problem? Is it taking up too much of your time?’
‘Not exactly.’ He pushed his hands into his hair and let out a deep sigh. ‘She’s a bit paranoid. She’s started going on about needing to know where I am all the time. It’s a bit suffocating to think that someone is kind of watching my every move.’
‘I suppose that’s natural,’ said Lois, reasonably. ‘If you live with someone you do want to know that kind of thing.’
‘It’s more than that, she doesn’t believe me when I tell her. Admittedly I did lie about being at the wholesalers when actually I was buying a Christmas tree with you but if I’d told her where I was, she would have gone mad. Do you think that’s normal?’
‘It’s normal to be suspicious if your boyfriend is lying and you know it.’
‘I don’t think it’s that, I think she’s jealous of you.’
What could she say to that? Oliver was talking to the wrong person. If Amy was jealous perhaps it was because she could see that there was something between them, something that Oliver seemed able to ignore with much more success than she was having.
‘You should probably just be honest with her. She’s not being paranoid, Oliver. She has a feeling you’re lying to her and she’s right. That’s not her fault.’
Amy’s jealousy was playing into Lois’s hands. If she wanted to ruthlessly pursue Oliver, now was her chance to manipulate this to her advantage. But that wasn’t her style and whatever her feelings for Oliver, she found herself feeling sorry for Amy.
‘You make it sound like we’re up to something.’
‘Well, she might think that and that’s not good for either of us.’ She took the remainder of the muffin and stood up. ‘Thanks for coming to the meeting and for bringing coffee. I’d better get on.’
‘Okay. And Lois, thanks for the talk. I’ll sort something out so it’s not a problem.’
The problem was that Oliver wasn’t thinking straight and it was probably better if Lois took the matter in hand rather than leaving it to become a festering mess of a problem. She went behind the desk where Linda was scheduling some tweets.
‘Linda, I know we just decided that you’d help out at the Courtyard Café, but I think it’d be better if we switched.’
‘Oh, okay, if that’s what you want.’
‘To be honest I need to put a bit of space between me and Oliver for a while.’ It was definitely better if she wasn’t at Oliver’s for the book club.
Linda squeezed Lois’s arm. ‘Don’t worry. Whatever you want to do is fine with me.’
Now all she had to do was wait for him to wonder why she wasn’t at the coffee house on book club night. And she was sure he would.
32
Steph was running late, and it was raining. She fought against the urge to put her foot down. The mobile library van didn’t respond well to being forced into doing anything out of the ordinary and she didn’t fancy the idea of ending up in a ditch buried under a pile of books if she lost control of it.
The lay-by on Hawthorn Lane came into view and she could see Eunice standing there under a clear plastic umbrella, the same kind the late Queen used.
She pulled up, leaned over, and flung open the passenger door.
‘Eunice, get in here before you catch your death!’ she called.
Eunice managed to climb gracefully into the passenger seat while simultaneously putting the umbrella down.
‘Oh, Steph, thank you. What a dreary day.’
‘It certainly is. Stay put while I get the van sorted and then I’ll pour us a lovely cuppa. Oh, and I’ve got a surprise for you.’
Steph opened the main door and put down the steps then pulled out the extra chairs and her flasks just as Dottie arrived. Eunice moved from the front seat to sit in her usual spot around the little table.
‘Good morning, Dottie, good morning young man.’
‘Morning Eunice, hi Steph,’ said Dottie as Bert waved at them before going to sit on the rug next to the children’s books. ‘Do you mind if I bring the buggy in?’
