Page 61 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
She wanted to take what Linda said and believe it was true more than anything. She had believed the same thing until she saw the lengths that Oliver was willing to go to make things work with Amy. He was willing to sacrifice quite a lot, including, it seemed to Lois, his happiness. That was one thing she did find sad. They had been on the journey of the date-with-a-book club together and he’d been so interested and supportive of the fundraising for the teenage library and now it was difficult for him to be involved with any of it in the way he wanted to be because of Amy. Lois would have loved to involve him in her and Linda’s after-hours adventure that evening but nothing like that was going to be possible anymore.
34
In a supreme act of selflessness, Lois had agreed to go out on a date with Tom Reeves, the teacher she had met briefly when she’d been out with Steph on the mobile library. Steph was apparently having doubts about Max, what a surprise, and wanted Lois to be there as reinforcement for their next date.
‘I’m not coming by myself,’ Lois had said when Steph suggested it during a brief pit stop at Croftwood Library to collect a reservation for one of her regulars. ‘It was a nightmare last time.’
‘Well bring someone then.’
If only it was that easy. Until her last conversation with Oliver, she might have considered asking him to go with her as a friend but that was out of the question now. A night out together was probably right at the top of the list of things Amy would disapprove of, and Lois didn’t blame her. If she was with Oliver, she’d feel the same way.
‘I don’t have anyone to ask,’ she admitted.
‘No problem,’ said Steph, ‘I can find someone.’
‘No way. That would be worse than coming by myself.’
‘How do you know? It might be the man of your dreams.’
‘Steph, I’m not sure I trust you to know who the man of my dreams might be, you have enough trouble identifying your own.’
Lois ducked to avoid a chunk of muffin that Steph aimed at her head.
‘What about Tom?’ asked Steph.
‘Tom?’
‘You know, Mr Reeves from St. Hilda’s.’
Lois mulled it over for a second.
‘Okay. I’m not saying that he’s the man of my dreams, but I can get through a night out with him.’
‘Great. I’ll set it up. A match made in heaven.’
On Friday night, Lois made sure to arrive at the restaurant five minutes later than she’d arranged with Steph so that she wouldn’t be there first. She was walking towards it when she spotted Tom coming towards her, looking anxious. He’d obviously been as reluctant as she had about agreeing to what was almost a blind date.
‘Hey, Tom.’ He looked at her blankly for a couple of seconds before he registered who it was.
‘Lois.’ He leaned in to kiss her cheek and looked a lot more relieved.
She wasn’t sure whether to make a joke about having been roped into it by Steph or whether that might come out sounding offensive, so she decided against it. He was wearing jeans and a worn black leather biker jacket. Somehow, she’d imagined he would turn up dressed as a teacher. He looked cooler and younger than she remembered.
‘Nice to see you again,’ she said, deciding to gloss over the being set-up aspect.
‘You too. Shall we?’ He held his arm out, gesturing for her to go in first.
Steph and Max were sat on opposite sides of a table for four meaning that Lois had to sit next to Max. Lois had no idea why they wouldn’t have sat next to each other. It wasn’t like Steph to go by rules of etiquette, and it certainly hadn’t stopped her last time they’d been out together when they could barely keep their hands off each other.
‘Alright, Lois? Got a bloke in tow this time. Nice one.’ Ah. She’d forgotten quite what a charmer Max was.
‘Hi Max, this is Tom. Tom, Max and obviously you know Steph.’
Tom leant over and kissed Steph on the cheek.
‘Mate, steady there,’ said Max without a hint of humour. ‘Got your own missus for that.’
‘Oh, shut up, Max,’ said Steph sharply. ‘Take no notice.’ She rolled her eyes at Lois.
