Page 83 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
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Lois felt so embarrassed having to travel home on the train in the outfit she’d worn the day before, with no make-up and her hair a tangled mess on the top of her head. It was a far cry from the glamour of the night before and she also had a terrific headache.
She was at least sat with Oliver who didn’t mind that she leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes as soon as they got on the train that morning. She’d texted Linda the night before and asked if she would hold the fort and she knew that Oliver had Patsy opening up for him, so they’d had a lie-in and a lazy breakfast in the room.
The dancing had gone on at the London Library until 2 am by which time Lois and Oliver were the only actual guests left, everyone else was either catering staff or people who worked at the library.
They’d got to the hotel minutes after leaving the library, it was that close, and because Lois was clutching her award, had been upgraded to an amazing room on the 15th floor with a balcony.
They’d raided the minibar for a nightcap and sat on the balcony talking until neither of them could keep their eyes open any more.
When they’d finally fallen into bed, she and Oliver had lain, watching each other until they’d fallen asleep.
The morning had been fairly awkward. Taking turns to use the bathroom, both avoiding looking at each other until they were both showered and dressed. At least Oliver looked amazing still with his shirt unbuttoned and his hair pushed back, slick from the shower. Lois thought she’d never looked worse. Having nothing with her, she couldn’t even put a dash of mascara on or sort her hair out properly.
As she dozed on Oliver’s shoulder, she wondered how things would play out once they got back to Worcester. He was going to call it off with Amy, and then what? She supposed they might start dating properly, picking up where they’d started. That’s what she hoped.
They hadn’t talked about Amy last night. They’d both talked about everything but that and what would be in their future together. It hadn’t seemed right to start making plans when Amy still didn’t know what Oliver was planning to do and Lois was keen that it didn’t look as if he was doing it for her.
But now, as she snuggled into his side, feeling her award in his coat pocket next to her, she couldn’t believe how lucky she was that he was going to be hers. Finally.
The taxi dropped Lois at her house in Worcester and then continued to Croftwood. Oliver went into the coffee house through the front door and was greeted by an enthusiastic Patsy.
‘So, the library won?’
He nodded. He’d sent her a text letting her know he wouldn’t be working that day until later than he’d planned.
‘God, that’s amazing! No wonder you decided to stay the night, I bet you were celebrating hard.’
‘Yes, it was brilliant. They had an impromptu after-party, so we stayed there until late. Mind you, we’d already missed the train by the time we found out about that.’
‘The trains don’t run very late though, do they? It can ruin the end of a good party.’
‘Exactly. Any sign of Amy this morning?’
Patsy shook her head. ‘All quiet on the western front,’ she said and went back to loading the dishwasher.
Oliver climbed the stairs with a feeling of dread in his stomach. He had decided to talk to Amy straight away. There was no point in dragging it out. He let himself into the flat and found her lying on the sofa watching the end of Homes Under the Hammer.
‘Morning,’ he said as brightly as he could muster.
She sat up and glared at him. ‘I can’t believe you didn’t come home last night.’
‘I’m sorry, I did leave you a message, but it was late when we decided. I didn’t plan to.’
‘When you and Lois decided? Who else was with you?’
‘It was just us.’
‘Just you. Exactly. And you think that’s okay, Oliver? When I didn’t want you to go anyway? You think it’s fine to stay out for the whole night with Lois!’ She almost spat at him.
‘Amy, look. We need to talk.’ If ever there was a time to end things, it was now. She was making herself crazy with thoughts of what she imagined was going on. Now that he was closer than ever to that being the truth, it wasn’t fair on her to let things carry on. He sat down next to her on the sofa. ‘I think we both know this isn’t working. It’s not working for me, I do know that much and I wanted to try so badly because it was what you wanted but I’m not sure even that’s true anymore.’
He could see the fight go out of her. Maybe this was going to be okay. Maybe she could see it too.
‘I’m pregnant.’
Lois had another shower when she got in so that she could sort out her hair properly and she changed into her dungarees which were her favourite item of clothing and the complete antithesis of the dress she had been wearing for too long.
