Page 91 of Twilight at Croftwood Library
‘Who are you, Oliver? And what have you done to piss Steph off?’ Zoe was intrigued even if Steph looked like she was going to forcibly eject him.
‘He broke my friend’s heart, Zoe. So I don’t know what he’s doing here.’ She said this while giving him the evils, not taking her eyes off him.
‘I need to see Lois I need to explain. I know she doesn’t want to see me but honestly, I think she’d want to if she knew.’
‘Knew what?’
‘That it’s over with Amy.’
Steph raised an eyebrow. ‘Really?’
‘Look, I don’t know if Lois told you everything—’
‘She did.’ Steph cut him off.
‘Right… well, Amy’s not pregnant. It was a mistake.’
‘And?’
‘And I need to tell Lois.’ He could see that Steph was still unconvinced, but he didn’t want to explain everything in front of Zoe.
‘You’ve let her down one too many times. Christmas was bad enough—’
‘What happened at Christmas?’ asked Zoe. Steph raised a finger and carried on.
‘But then the night in London when she thought that was it for you two followed by literally the worst time of her life. Now she’s lost the job she loved and …you.’
‘You’re right and I know it’s no excuse, but I thought I had no choice. I think Lois will understand if—’
‘That’s the problem, Oliver. She probably will understand but that just leaves her wide open to be hurt. Again.’
This wasn’t the way to find her. He wasn’t going to manage to get Steph on his side.
‘Okay, fair enough. You’re a good friend to her.’
‘Damn right, she is!’ piped up Zoe.
‘Thanks. Bye.’
He went back to sit in his car not knowing what he was going to do next but knowing he wasn’t going to stop trying.
Steph watched Oliver slump over the steering wheel. Seeing him, she could tell how broken he was. It wasn’t just Lois who was hurting.
‘Hold the fort for a minute, Zoe?’
‘Where are you going?’
‘To make sure he’s okay. Look at him.’
They stood in the doorway watching Oliver. He had at least sat back up but wasn’t making any move to leave.
Steph knocked on the passenger side window, making him jump. He opened the door from the inside and she got in.
‘I can see that you mean it, okay? But she’s my best friend. She’s always been treated like shit by men who just take her for granted and she deserves better than that.’
‘I know. But believe me, the only reason I let her down was because I was trying to do the right thing by someone who I loved once. I know now that I love Lois more than I ever even imagined I could love anyone but before I knew that, I was trying to give the person I used to love the closure she needed.’
He looked at Steph, his eyes pleading with her to understand, and she did. And for Lois, that undeterred loyalty was a great thing now that he loved her. She could see that he did. He was trying to fight for her, and he’d won Steph over.
