‘Oh, we were very busy on Saturday, but I haven’t had a chance to put it on the computer yet.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Lois with a frown. ‘Don’t you just scan the books out as and when?’
‘Well, no. They did want us to start doing that but Rosemary thought we would lose track of things, so we carried on doing it the normal way. Then every so often, when I have time, I update the computer.’
Lois was astounded. Aside from the insane duplication of effort that caused, it meant that the whole county library system was being compromised by this one branch. Someone could go onto the online catalogue and think there was a copy of something available when it could well have been lent out from Croftwood.
‘And the returns?’ she asked reluctantly.
‘Yes, the same,’ Linda nodded as if it were perfectly alright.
‘Right. Well, we’re going to use the computer, Linda. Starting from now.’
Lois asked Linda to get the computer records up to date as a priority and began doing some re-shelving herself. It was therapeutic and gave her chance to get acquainted with the whereabouts of various sections as well as calm down her inner rage at Rosemary’s blatant indifference to the workings of the county library system.
When Linda came to find her and announced that she was up to date and would it be alright to have her lunch break, Lois couldn’t believe that the morning was already over. She also couldn’t believe that they had only had two people across the threshold that morning. It was Monday in a smallish town but still, she had hoped for more.
She settled herself back behind the desk and started sifting through some of the paperwork in a vain effort to see what else had been left to more traditional methods. Judging by the number of emails in the inbox and the sent items, almost everything relied on good old-fashioned snail mail. There was even a pile of cards ready to post notifying customers that their reservation was ready to collect. Lois couldn’t remember the last time she had even seen one of those cards.
Once Linda was back from her lunch break, Lois grabbed her book and purse out of her bike basket and headed out for a break herself. She headed up the high street, looking more carefully at the shops she’d not had chance to notice when she’d been past on her bike. There was an amazing fabric and wool shop, The Croftwood Haberdashery, which was begging her to go inside but she had a few sewing projects on the go, so she decided to save that treat for another day. After Alex left, she’d thrown herself into dressmaking to fill the quiet evenings.
Her stomach rumbled, making her wish she had thought to bring a packed lunch but as she strolled further up the high street, she came across a trendy coffee shop that looked inviting. Oliver’s was all metal table frames with scrubbed wooden tops, mismatched metal and wooden chairs, filament lights, plants trailing from the shelves and a very cool bar across the length of the front window with stools, begging the customers to while away some time by people-watching. A huge blackboard behind the counter announced the menu and Lois noticed there were lots of smaller blackboards around the place with funny quotes chalked on them; ‘A yawn is a silent scream for coffee’, was one that caught her eye.
The woman behind the counter had a mane of thick chestnut hair which she had wound into a huge bun on the top of her head. She was wearing a canvas apron with ‘Oliver’s’ emblazoned across the chest and she had a warm smile.
‘Hi there, what can I get you?’
‘A skinny latte and an avocado and tomato toasted sandwich, please.’
‘Are you eating in?’
‘Yes, please.’
‘That’ll be six twenty-five.’
Lois put her book down on the counter while she ferreted in her purse for her card and tapped it on the machine.
‘Great, thanks. Take a seat and I’ll bring it over.’
Lois thanked the woman and headed over to a table in the back corner of the shop, underneath a shelf which was full of ferny leaved plants, lit dimly by an old industrial bulkhead wall light. Just as she realised that she’d left her book on the counter, her phone rang. It was Robert calling for an update on the Rosemary situation. As she explained what had happened to a relieved sounding Robert, the barista delivered her latte and toasted sandwich. Lois finished the call, ate her lunch and with no need of her book to fill the time, forgot all about it.
It was when she came to pack her bicycle basket as she was leaving the library that she realised she must have left her book at the coffee shop. Never mind, it was on her way home, so she’d pop in and collect it. The woman was so lovely, Lois felt sure she’d have put it somewhere safe.
Lois parked her bike opposite Oliver’s and locked it to the railings which enclosed the church grounds. It was much quieter in the coffee shop there than it had been at lunchtime and this time there was a man behind the counter, who could possibly be Oliver, thought Lois. He had a relaxed, happy kind of aura around him. He wore faded jeans, a floral shirt and brown boots and an ‘Oliver’s’ apron. His brown wavy hair was expertly swept up off his forehead in a manner that looked effortless but somehow made Lois imagine him peering at it in the bathroom mirror of a morning. Basically, he was as trendy as the place itself. He looked up from the book he was reading.
‘Coffee?’ he asked, giving her a lopsided smile and not seeming to be in any hurry.
‘Sorry, no. I came in at lunchtime and left my book behind.’
He blushed slightly and said, ‘Oh, I think this is probably yours then.’ He closed the book and handed it to Lois. ‘Shame, I was just starting to enjoy it.’ It was calledThe Perfect Couplebut it was a crime novel so possibly the couple would turn out to not be perfect at all.
‘Oh, well, you’re welcome to borrow it if you like,’ she found herself saying. ‘I’ve barely started it.’
’That’s really nice of you but despite you catching me just now, I don’t get much time to read. Maybe I could borrow it after you’ve read it though?’
This time Lois blushed, feeling foolish for doing so when there was absolutely no reason but at the same time realising that this man was having a strange effect on her. ‘Sure. I’ll drop it in.’ The thought of him borrowing her book made her feel like a teenager with a crush.
‘And I can tell you, by the time you get to chapter three there’s no way you’d be leaving that book anywhere.’
