Page 57 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
Lois had invited Oliver to the Thursday morning meeting so that he could help with the logistics for the next date-with-a-book club meeting. He’d offered to talk to Jen, the owner of the Courtyard Café so that they would have extra capacity for the next one.
He arrived right on time with a tray of coffees and a bag of muffins.
‘You know how to endear yourself, Oliver,’ said Rosemary as they all sat down around one of the big tables.
‘Least I can do. The book club has done wonders for my business. Probably made a difference to quite a few Croftwood businesses one way or another.’ He grinned and sat down next to Rosemary. Right opposite Lois.
‘Lois, Stephanie has managed to secure the Dial-A-Ride minibus for the evening of the next meeting,’ Rosemary announced. ‘She’s planning to bring about six of her regular mobile library customers, so we need to make sure we account for them in our numbers.’
‘That’s brilliant. So how many proper sign-ups do we have for next week?’ Lois crossed her fingers that there wouldn’t be too many to fit into Oliver’s.
‘We have thirty-four plus Stephanie’s, so forty,’ said Rosemary as she shuffled through the sign-up cards.
‘That’s okay for you, right?’ Lois asked Oliver.
‘Yeah, that’s perfect.’ He leaned back in his chair and crossed his ankle over his knee. ‘Are we doing it the same as before, offering wine as well as tea and coffee?’
‘If that’s alright. How about the Courtyard Café? Will they do the same?’
‘No, they don’t have a licence, so they’ll stick to tea, coffee and soft drinks. It’s okay if it’s different, right? We wanted to make it attractive enough for them to want to register with you guys.’
‘Exactly.’ Lois inexplicably loved that he said ‘we’. ‘Not that we’re trying to tempt people with alcohol.’
‘Of course not,’ said Rosemary. ‘The atmosphere at Oliver’s is what sets it apart.’
‘No offence to the Courtyard Café, hey?’ Oliver grinned at Lois, and she smiled back as his comment went unheard by Rosemary.
‘So, we’ll need to split ourselves between the two places?’ asked Linda.
‘Yes, I will be at the Courtyard Café to make sure they are up to speed with the way we run things,’ said Rosemary.
Oliver raised his eyebrows at Lois.
‘I’ll start off there with you, Rosemary,’ said Lois, picking up what she knew was Oliver’s concern that Rosemary might rub them up the wrong way.
‘No, Lois,’ said Linda. ‘You should be at Oliver’s to be the face of Croftwood Library for the mobile library visitors. Rosemary and I can manage the Courtyard café together.’
Lois was constantly surprised by Linda at the moment. She embraced every new step they made and became more confident all the time. She was strong enough to keep Rosemary in line, having moved far beyond being cowed by her when Rosemary was still her boss. It did make sense for her to be at Oliver’s. It was going to be tricky having to turn people away and at least all that awkwardness would be dealt with by the time anyone was greeted by Rosemary at the Courtyard Café.
‘Are you happy to organise the pairings for the customers who have registered with us, Rosemary?’
‘Yes, of course. Do you want me to mix Stephanie’s in with ours?’
‘That’s a good point. I think she has some ideas about that, so I’ll get her to email you. Right, so if that’s all…’
‘Have you got time for a quick chat, Lois?’ Oliver asked.
‘Um, yes of course.’
Oliver’s hair was looking particularly finely quiffed today which didn’t help Lois in her efforts to put him out of her mind. She’d been imagining running her hands through it for most of the meeting.
They stayed at the table as everyone else went off to do whatever else they had to do. Lois picked the top off a muffin as she waited until Oliver seemed ready to talk.
‘I just wanted to say, in case you see Amy… well she’s had enough of me going on about the book club so I could do with keeping it on the down-low that I’m doing anything aside from just being there on the night.’ He suddenly seemed different from his usual laid-back self and had a slightly manic edge to him.
‘Okay…’
‘I feel weird having to say anything, but things are a bit tricky. You know.’
