‘Morning, Mr Reeves.’ Calling him that made Steph smile. She knew his name was Tom, but she had to refer to him by his teacher name when he was at school.
‘Hi, Steph. How’s it going?’ He was a nice bloke, too nice for her but perfect for Lois. Steph’s tastes ran to grungier, edgier men and Tom definitely wasn’t either of those things, well-groomed in his smart suit.
‘Great, thanks. I’ve got my friend Lois with me today.’
‘Ah, nice to meet you, Lois.’
Lois blushed and said hello before turning back to the children who were waiting with their chosen books. Clearly, she thought Tom was pretty nice too.
‘Right, I’ll take these four back and send Miss Briggs in to fetch the others in a few minutes. Thanks so much, Steph. Nice to see you both. ‘Betsy, William, Rosie and Charlie, quick choosing please!’ he added in an authoritative teacher voice.
‘Wow, he doesn’t look like a teacher,’ said Lois, lowering her voice so that the children wouldn’t hear her.
‘I know, he’s quite fit, isn’t he?’
‘Steph! You can’t say that about him.’
‘Don’t be so prissy, Lois. He is. And he’s a nice person.’
‘He does seem nice,’ said Lois, gazing at the door.
Steph smiled. At least Lois wasn’t completely blind to the wider world.
After another hour or so of entertaining groups of children, Miss Briggs collected the final four and Steph and Lois packed up and set off for their next destination.
‘Do you think he’s single?’ asked Lois. Steph looked vague on purpose, forcing her to add, ‘Mr Reeves?’
‘Hmm, I think he is. Interested?’
‘No, of course not. I was thinking of you.’
‘Do you know me at all? He’s too clean-cut, we’d look ridiculous together.’
‘Aren’t you fed up of falling for bad boys, Steph? Maybe it’s time to go for it with someone who you know is a nice person. It’s got to be worth a try.’
‘I think it’d be boring.’ Steph had been out with enough guys to know what she didn’t like even if she hadn’t quite worked out what would make the perfect man. And respectable, professional, well-turned-out men usually had very little to offer her in the way of excitement. She needed a risk-taker, a bit of rough and someone who was going to constantly surprise her. All of that and something else as well but she wasn’t sure what the secret ingredient was, that was the problem.
‘I think it’d be less stressful.’
That was probably true, but Steph was nothing like Lois. Maybe that’s why they were such good friends.
3
Just two weeks later Lois was on her way to Croftwood, on her bike, for her first day. The old librarian, Rosemary, who Lois had discovered was the battle-axe behind the desk when she’d visited, had retired on Friday.
She was glad it was a fine day as she really didn’t want to arrive wet and dishevelled. It had been hard enough deciding what to wear and, in the end, she had gone for a floral blouse, jeans and a cardigan with her well-worn but highly polished pair of black Doc Marten boots because they were practical for bike riding and went with everything.
Once she arrived in Croftwood she dismounted and pulled out her phone to ring Steph who she knew would be busy stocking the mobile library with help from Andrew.
‘Are you missing me?’
‘You have no idea. He seems incapable of placing any book on a shelf.’
Lois laughed. ‘He’s famous for it.’
‘Lucky me. Are you there yet?’
‘No, I’m delaying the inevitable by strolling through town first. And I need to know how your date went on Saturday night.’
