Page 77 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
‘No. But Steph, we had the most amazing time. We watched Christmas movies, went to the Cathedral on Christmas morning, he cooked the most amazing Christmas dinner, and it was just the best two days of my life.’
‘So, what’s with this glumness?’ Steph waved her hand in front of Lois’s face. Sometimes it was like getting blood out of a stone.
‘It was like a stolen Christmas, so unbelievably unlikely and I knew what it was, I know he’s with Amy, but I let myself forget about that and now…it’s shit. I feel worse than I thought I would about it and I can’t seem to pull myself out of this slump. And it’s that bloody awards evening in London next week and I’ll be with him again and I just don’t know if I can do it.’
Steph hadn’t seen Lois like this before. She’d breezed through her relationship with Alex taking all the crap he threw at her in her stride, almost not noticing. But this was different. She was in love with Oliver and Steph wasn’t sure there was any advice she could give that would help.
‘You can do it. You have to approach it like you would when you tackle Rosemary. I’ve never seen you be so firm and matter-of-fact as you are in those meetings with her. Look how you sorted it out when you first started at Croftwood and she’d turned up for work as if nothing had changed. You need to be like that, Lois. Stand your ground, don’t let him know you’re feeling like this, put on a persona that shows him you can handle being with him. Be breezy.’
‘It’s all very well saying that but the only way I almost got over him in the first place was by avoiding him. Just being with him, Steph.’ She sighed. ‘He smells so good and he’s going to be wearing a suit.’
Steph laughed. ‘It’s so funny that Oliver in a suit does it for you whereas Tom in a suit does the opposite for me.’
Lois looked slightly more cheerful and even managed a chuckle. ‘Oh, god Steph. You’re right. It’s a work thing, I can just be professional.’
‘See? Steph knows. Come on, we need to get these shelves filled.’
They’d finally called it a day at four o’clock. All the books were in, there were just a few things to sort out in the morning. Lois seemed a lot better, it had probably taken her mind off things. It also made Steph realise how lucky she was to have found Tom. Being together almost solidly for the past two weeks had been great, if a little smothering compared with what she’d been used to in previous relationships but after spending the day away from him she was looking forward to spending the evening together and was relieved that she wasn’t full of angst like Lois.
She rang the bell when she got to his house. They hadn’t got quite as far as exchanging keys; it had only been a few weeks after all.
He opened the door and beamed at Steph before taking her into his arms and kissing her as he pulled her inside and kicked the door shut behind her.
‘You’re pleased to see me,’ she said breathlessly.
‘Longest day of my life.’
Oh god, she fancied him so much.
43
‘What are you going to wear?’ Linda was giving Lois the third degree about the plans for the awards ceremony.
‘I’ve got a dress, it’s midnight blue, long and has tulle sleeves.’
‘And shoes? Not boots, Lois. Even under a long dress.’
Lois grinned. She had thought about it. ‘No, I’ve got some heels. Black patent boots with high heels and pointy toes. Boots are the only kind of heels I can walk in.’
‘Do you know, David emailed me asking if he could use the pitch I used for the competition entry for his speech. Isn’t that brilliant? He said it ‘evoked the spirit of Croftwood’.’
‘That’s great, Linda. I’m sorry again that we can’t all go. We all deserve to go but we’ll have a proper celebration of our own soon.’
‘I’m glad you and Oliver are going.’ Linda looked pointedly at Lois. She had been rooting for them all along however futile that was.
‘Right. Well, I’d better check the emails.’ She took refuge in the office.
She hadn’t seen Oliver since the kiss in her kitchen on Boxing Day. She’d not been to the coffee house, and he’d not been to the library. Thankfully the next book club wasn’t until after the awards ceremony so she wouldn’t have to see him at all until they got the train to London together. She’d considered booking seats in separate carriages on the train but that would just postpone the awkwardness until the actual event so maybe it was just as well to get that out of the way on the train journey.
Aside from the anxiety she had about going with Oliver, she had started to get excited about the awards ceremony. It was being held in the London Library, a private library in the West End and somewhere she’d always wanted to go. That in itself was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and if they did win, it would be the icing on the cake.
Would she be able to get through the whole night being friendly to Oliver without betraying how she felt? She had played the events of that last morning in her kitchen over and over in her mind. He hadn’t been honest with Any when she’d overheard him talking to her. She’d asked him not to tell anyone and he was sticking by that promise, at least then. But she was worried that face to face, he wouldn’t be able to avoid telling her the truth about Christmas. Had he told her? Every time Lois left the library, she worried about bumping into them. She had to get a grip. After the trip to London, she would avoid him and then it would only be a couple of months until the library closed and she went back to her job at the Hive and that would solve the problem for good.
There was a knock at the door and Linda popped her head in. ‘Rosemary’s just arrived. Some sort of problem with the book club.’
‘Thanks, Linda, I won’t be a sec.’
She took a deep breath. Enough about Oliver. She was going to forge her own way, be by herself and enjoy that freedom for a while and the awards dinner was going to be her starting point.
