Page 136 of Only Lovers in the Building

Lily hadn’t made it around the block when she got a call. She stopped abruptly on the sidewalk, phone in hand, staring in disbelief at the caller ID.

Slowly and with caution, she brought the phone to her ear. “Mom?”

“You know, Liliane,” her mother said in a breezy tone, as if picking up a conversation they’d started over a glass of wine, “I lived in Miami once.”

“I . . . didn’t know that.”

“It was the summer I turned sixteen. We hadn’t been in the US long. We stayed with relatives. Your grandfather couldn’t find a job and decided to move us north.”

“You never mentioned it.”

“It was such a brief time, but I loved it,” Mom said. “So warm. So sunny. I could see myself staying there forever. You know how much I struggle in winter. But there was no work for your grandfather at the time. There wasn’t much work for him up north, either, to be honest. So he started the business. You know the rest of the story.”

Lily had heard this story millions of times, minus their short stay in Florida. Her grandfather, a civil engineer in his native country, had moved the family to New Jersey. Frustrated with menial jobs, he’d started a thriving construction business, firmly landing the struggling family at the tippy-top of the middle class within a decade.

“I appreciate how hard my grandfather worked and how much he sacrificed. If you’re trying to guilt me for taking time off—”

“Either you quit your job or you were fired, but you’re not taking time off. Be serious, Liliane.”

“Fine!” she cried. “I quit my job. I don’t think there is any shame in that.”

“I’m not trying to shame you,” Mom said. “I want the truth. That’s all. Is this why you never called me?”

“I called you twice!”

“Early on Sundays when you knew I’d be at church,” Mom retorted. “That’s an old trick, Liliane. Don’t think I wasn’t on to you.”

“Fine. Can you blame me, really?”

“Yes, I can,” Mom replied. “There’s no excuse. Were you afraid I’d belittle you?”

Lily stepped under a shop awning to get out of the sun and out of the way of foot traffic. “Or shame. Or manipulate. Or any combination of the three.”

“Is that what you think of me?”

“You gave me the silent treatment!”

“You went away for a weekend and never came home! Your father had to track you down.”

“Okay. Maybe you have a point.”

“I’m not here to score points.”

“It won’t happen again. I’ll be home soon.”

“I’m not asking you to come back.”

“Don’t you want me to?” Lily asked, miffed. Was her mother willing to cut her off after two short months of absence?

“I had never seen you looking as beautiful, as rested, as on our call last weekend. You were glowing, and I thought maybe Lily has finally found happiness.”

“Mom, I saw you on that call. No way you were thinking that.”

“Well, it’s true. Patrick would never let anyone talk him out of his choices. You were always holding out for your father’s approval.”

“Yours, too! Don’t worm your way out of this.”

“In that case, you have it,” Mom said. “If you’re happy in Florida, stay there. Enjoy the weather, the beaches. Our people are meant to live in the sun. I’ll visit often, sit with you, and flip through magazines while you read your books.”