The Escape Plan (Only Magic in the Building)

by Katie Bailey

Like any good Irishwoman worth her salt, she had many sayings, but “What’s for you won’t pass you” was Gran’s favorite. She loved the idea that we don’t get to control our own fates, that life has its own funny way of working things out. That if something is meant to be, it will be.

What I wanted was a temporary escape from my life. A holiday that would keep my family off my back. This house sitting gig seemed, well, serendipitous.

“She wants whimsy. Stars aligning. Something that winks at bending the rules of science we so often use in today’s swipe-happy dating world, with all the algorithms matching people up. She wants a fresh story with a fresh angle. Around three thousand words. Make it fun. Playful. Sexy.”

Kind of crazy, when you think about it, that one breakup can rewrite generations of people.”

“Noeleen?” Keeley asks gently. And then, something incredible happens. Douglas’s lined face breaks into a beaming smile and his eyes clear. “Yes, Noeleen Quinn. She was a wonderful woman.”

His eyes get a little misty. “I had two great loves in my life. Your grandmother was my second. Noeleen was my first.”

“It’s almost a routine at this point,” Becks replies. “Insomniacs Anonymous’s nightly meeting.”

“From the second you crashed into my life in the elevator, Keeley Roberts, I started feeling things that I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Maybe ever. And for that, I will always be thankful to you.”

“Why do I feel like I’ve known you all my life, Keeley Roberts?” His words make my heart swell. Because right here, right now? This was clearly meant to be. A moment destined to happen. One that’s undeniably ours.

It makes me realize that, sometimes, we don’t get to make decisions about who we meet, or when or if or how we fall for someone. Or how long we might have with that person. Sometimes, we’ve just got to be thankful for what we’ve got, in the moment we’ve got it. And trust that, no matter how the chips fall, the eventual outcome will be okay.

It’s a startling realization that should have been simple. What’s for you won’t pass you. Maybe the flipside is: what’s not for you will just… pass. Fate will have its way with you either way.

Instead, I’m diving in headfirst. Fearless.

maybe the legends surrounding the building are true, but that fate works in a multitude of ways—its intervention might not be just for everlasting love, but for something that meets us where we need it, in that moment.”

And it’s clear that the building where we live was drawing us together so we could experience this feeling together. It’s magical. Special. Beautiful. Burning bright. If only for a time.

Because love can enter your life in different ways, at different times. And maybe the answer isn’t how love begins or ends, but the journey on which it takes you. How it shapes you and molds you and makes you grow. Changes you, for the better.

I’m fine dissolves into I love him.

“I never cry,” I tell Beckett, furiously swiping away the tears. “Not even when I have terrible PMS.” “It’s okay to cry,” he replies, gently placing his thumbs under my eyes to swipe away my mascara stains. He smiles. “Even when you’re PMSing.” “I’m kind of a more wanting to burn the world down PMSer,” I confess.

“Of course that’s not enough! Love isn’t just a feeling, it’s a commitment. A decision. Something you need to fight for.

“Remember, don’t let your circumstances dictate your heart, my sweet girl.” The words hit me like an arrow to the heart. Bullseye.

The two-mile drive back to The Serendipity takes approximately seven hundred and fifty-nine years.

You’d think a shaven-headed, tatted-up dude who’s just been directed to “drive as fast as your Toyota can manage!” would have a little Fast and Furious in him. But no. Ezra drives like a half-blind octogenarian who forgot to wear his glasses.

What I’ve realized during my time in Serendipity Springs is that when Gran died, the magic didn’t die with her. No, that magic has always been here, because I see now that magic is what we make it.

Now, several months later, we’re gathered in Serendipity Springs—where it all started—for the launch party of bestselling international artist Beckett McCarthy’s debut album.

What I’ve realized is that, when you’re with the right person, you make things work. You let your heart shape your circumstances.

The Serendipity meddled to bring him and Willa together, too. And that wasn’t all. Archer informed me that Willa’s friend Sophie, who used to tend to the garden on this rooftop, fell in love up here and moved with her former best friend Peter—now the love of her life—to North Carolina. In fact, the more Beckett and I have gotten to chatting with the residents of The Serendipity, the more these types of stories emerged: Olivia and Logan on the other side of the hall fell in love when they became next-door neighbors; Matteo, who owns Aria (which I need to try again as a date location) and Iris from upstairs met when the building started delivering her his newspapers; Scarlett, the nice girl who lives in the basement, fell in love with her brother’s best friend shortly after moving in; and my new friend Phoebe got together with her boyfriend, Jay, in a similar fashion. In fact, everywhere I look at The Serendipity, the magic of love is all around me.