Page 60 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
‘Okay, let’s empty these shelves and we’ll move them to make a kind of wall around this area,’ said Lois, gesturing with her arms. ‘It needs to feel like a secret corner, I think.’
‘Yes, absolutely,’ said Linda, beginning to pull books off one of the shelves and making piles of them against the wall. ‘I hope it works, Lois. I’d love to see some older children bring a bit of life to the place.’
They’d also managed to find some posters of past YA hits likeThe Hunger GamesandHarry Potterwhich might not seem teenage, but Lois would bet that every single teenager who was likely to come to Croftwood Library and hang out on the beanbags would have read and loved at least one Harry Potter book. With the fundraising money they’d had left after the beanbags had been purchased, Lois had bought several charging sockets which were essential when teenagers were involved. The library already had WiFi, they just didn’t use it, but Lois had asked Linda to make a few posters with the WiFi password on to advertise the service to everyone.
‘When we’ve finished, we’ll take some pictures and put them on Instagram. I wonder if we can rope some teenagers into following us and sharing it to get the word spread.’
‘I could ask my niece, she’s fifteen,’ said Linda. ‘She might be able to help. And could we ask Oliver if he could put something up in the cinema? I know a lot of the kids go there at the weekends. And the swimming pool might be a good place to advertise too.’
‘Brilliant, those are great ideas. We could get Rosemary on the case with taking posters around, she seems to enjoy doing that kind of thing.’
‘She does like to get out,’ said Linda. ‘She’s like a completely different person these days. It’s hard to remember how things were before you came, Lois. She was so cross all the time, rude and brusque to customers and yet now, she’s happy as Larry about all the changes, relishing them even.’
‘Maybe she was just stuck in a bit of a rut and then having to retire forced her out of it.’
‘Hmm. I think she regrets that she didn’t move with the times. She can see how it’s bringing the place to life.’
‘It’s easy to see in hindsight,’ said Lois, thinking of how easy it was now for her to see how things had been between her and Alex compared to when she’d been living it every day and had no idea. ‘It’s taken this place to make me realise that I was stuck in a rut as well. I loved working at the Hive, but this is a whole different level of job fulfilment that I never even knew existed.’
Linda nodded. ‘I know, there’s something about this place. The past few years it has been so quiet, but it holds a special place in my heart and even when my Dave was telling me to jack it in, I just couldn’t. And now I know I made the right decision to stick it out because you’ve brought a spark of something with you, Lois and whatever happens I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.’
‘Thanks, Linda.’ Lois was touched.
‘And I know things have been difficult for you with Oliver but don’t let it put you off your stride. You’re doing great things.’
‘We’re doing great things, Linda. We’re a team, I definitely couldn’t have done any of this by myself.’
‘It’s lovely of you to say.’
‘Right, let’s move this shelf then.’
The reading nook looked amazing by the time they’d finished. The shelves which were facing into it were filled with the YA books that Steph had delivered, and they had written a couple of recommendations to put on the shelves. Where it had seemed a little bit dark, Lois had hooked some strings of fairy lights that she’d found in the office along the tops of the shelves. The beanbags covered most of the floor but standing them on their side and then dropping yourself on the top made them into a comfy chair, they discovered, so they spent some time at the end arranging them into seats like that to clear a bit of floor space.
‘Thanks, Linda, it looks great, doesn’t it?’
‘It does. I’d have loved it when I was a teenager.’ Linda lowered herself onto a beanbag and Lois thought she might as well join her.
‘Wow, I could spend an afternoon reading on one of these.’
‘Or we could have a little nap when we have a lull,’ Linda laughed.
‘Chance would be a fine thing at the moment, not that I’m complaining.’
‘I know, there’s nothing worse than being bored at work. Although, I did have time to sit and read when we were quiet, back in the old days. It was a brainwave you coming up with this.’ Linda had her eyes closed and her hands clasped together on her chest.
Lois smothered a giggle and followed suit, relaxing right into the warmth of the beanbag, putting thoughts of the cycle ride home she still had to do, out of her mind.
‘How are you… and Oliver?’ Linda asked tentatively. ‘I was rooting for you two until Amy came back on the scene. That’s why you want to swap places on the book club night, isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ said Lois, finding it easier to talk now that they were both lying there with their eyes closed. ‘Amy’s not that keen on him being involved in the book club and last month’s meeting was awkward enough and that was before I knew what she thought about it. You don’t mind, do you?’
‘No, of course I don’t mind. I’m happy to go along with whatever you want. And I can see what you’re up against there. The thing is, he might not realise it, Lois but you’re the one he wants, not Amy. He doesn’t keep coming in for the books, believe me. He’d barely set foot in the place before you arrived.’
‘Thanks, Linda.’ She turned to find Linda smiling at her.
‘Don’t you worry. It’ll all turn out in the end.’
They locked up the library and went their separate ways. Lois climbed onto her bike, wishing that she didn’t still have the twenty-minute journey home in the dark because she was exhausted.
