Page 97 of Only Lovers in the Building

“Oh, don’t worry,” Roxanna said. “That boy can sleep through a hurricane. I scheduled the ceremony around his nap time so we could have some peace. He gets so fussy now that he’s teething. If he does wake up, we hired a babysitter to feed him.”

“Good thinking.”

“I asked you here because I need a favor.”

“Anything you need.”

Roxanna had her hands full: a baby, a wedding, a mother who dreamed of lace. It was a lot.

“My friend Bella is a no-show. First she said she was coming late. Now she says she’s not coming at all.”

Lily stiffened at the mention of Bella, the image of her crying in the elevator fresh in her mind. Of course she would attend the wedding! Was that the real reason Ben had seemed nervous?

“She designed the wedding program. Her job was to distribute them to the guests. Now they’re just sitting in a pile by the entrance. Could you grab them and hand them out? It won’t take long. We have fifty-some guests in total. Is that okay?”

Lily blinked and tried to find her words.

Roxanna tore her gaze away from her own reflection in the mirror. “Shit,” she said. “You know.”

Lily nodded. “She’s Ben’s ex-girlfriend.”

“She’s his ex-something,” Roxanna said. “Not very classy of me to ask Ben’s new girlfriend to do the job of his ex. It’s been a crazy day. I can’t pin down any of my cousins. They’re running wild. Besides, I know you’d do a fantastic job. You’re a natural.”

Lily had no issues playing hostess. She had other concerns. “Why isn’t Bella coming?” she asked.

“Obviously she doesn’t want to run into Ben. Somehow word got back to her that he’s seeing someone new. I don’t know who’s smuggling information out of the building. Better not be Noah!”

“Don’t blame Noah,” Lily said. “Bella . . . ran into us once.”

“So you are together?”

“No,” Lily said firmly. “I’m not trying to blow up my life right now, and Ben isn’t interested in starting something new. He’s trying to change.”

“Change? That’s hysterical,” Roxanna said dryly. “We don’t change. We’re stubborn. He’s feeling guilty. That’s all. It’ll pass.”

Guilty? Lily swayed uneasily. Despite everything, she’d believed in Ben’s innocence. What exactly had gone down between him and Bella? She was done tap dancing around the question. She had to know.

“Listen up.” Roxanna reached for her pair of sparkly earrings and clipped them on. “I’m in a rush, so I’ll make this brief. Something is going on between you two. I clocked it right away. Because of the Bella situation, I tried to intervene. I was wrong. I can admit I was wrong. Ben and Bella, as cute as that sounds, were a car crash waiting to happen. It was painful to watch. The friend group will never be the same and—”

“Honestly, you don’t owe me an explanation,” Lily interrupted. She wanted to hear it from Ben. “It’s your day and—”

“You’re right! It’s my day, and I’m going to speak my mind.”

Chastised, Lily sank into the nearest chair. “All right.”

“Bella was in love with Ben for years. Instead of just telling him how she felt, she sold him a friends-with-benefits package. When does that ever work? I love the books and all, but life isn’t a rom-com. Anyway, Ben was smart enough to know better. Even if he wasn’t, I told him everything he needed to know. It could only end badly. Did he listen? No. Now here we are.” Roxanna let out a long, weary sigh. “Nobody listens.”

“I’m listening,” Lily said softly.

“Good,” she said. “Because you two might be the real deal. You speak the same language. Arguing over books is like catnip to Ben. Why do you think I picked up reading? It was so as kids we could be closer. Honestly, I love to see it. It’s high time everyone moved on, and he deserves to be happy. So please, forget what I said that first night. New York is just a plane ride away or a twenty-four-hour drive. You can make it work. I’m marrying Ricky despite everything. I may regret it, but I’ve got to take a chance. So do you.”

“It’s not the same. You’ve got Oscar to think about,” Lily said, desperate to erase any parallels between her situation and Roxanna’s. “You have his best interests in mind.”

Roxanna turned to stare at the sleeping child. “Right,” she said, voice shaky. “I only want the best for him.”

“All I want is to make it out of Miami in one piece,” Lily said. Her voice was shaky, too. “Anyway. I should get out there. Those programs won’t distribute themselves!”

Lily never made it back to home base. She seamlessly stepped into Ben’s ex-something’s role, handing out a booklet of Bella’s design. It featured photos of Rick and Roxy over the years, a love poem, and an outline of the evening’s main events—the ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing. She offered the booklet to uninterested guests, all while mulling over the concept of the leap of faith. Previously, her love life was the only arena in which she’d attempted it. After each leap, she’d landed on her face. But what was the decision to quit her job or to stay in Miami, if not leaps into the unknown? They’d paid off, too. She’d made friends, started a book club, and was now cohosting a podcast.