Count Your Lucky Stars: A Novel

About Two Years Later

“Margot. You can say it. Margot.”

“Buh!” Caroline Lowell smacked her lips together. A bubble of spit dribbled from the corner of her mouth as she burbled incoherently, staring up at Margot with wide brown eyes.

Margot jostled the baby on her lap and snorted. “My name isn’t buh, but I have the utmost faith in you, Care Bear. It’s simple. Mar–go. Margot.”

Caroline Lowell clapped her chubby little hands together and giggled. “Buh!”

“I’m going to cut you some slack because you’re not even a year old. Or”—she rolled her eyes—“sorry, twelve months. Why does everyone do that? I don’t go around telling everyone I’m . . .” She did the math. “Three hundred seventy-two months, do I? No, because that would be ridiculous.”

Caroline laughed and kicked her legs, bouncing atop Margot’s thighs. Beneath her dress—a sparkling silver number with a full crinoline skirt dotted with multicolored glitter—she sported dark blue leggings. Atop her head, her crown of evergreen sprigs and eucalyptus sat askew. One tiny tuft of hair had been scraped into the world’s saddest ponytail atop the center of her mostly bald head. The silver bow meant to hold it in place kept sliding, her strawberry blond hair too fine, too sparse.

“You are great for my self-esteem, kid. I hope you still laugh at all my jokes once you can understand them.”

“Buh!” Caroline pointed at Margot’s half-empty bottle of beer. Not just any beer, but the recently released Aries brew from Bell and Blanchard Brewing Company in partnership with Oh My Stars. It was a hazy IPA with a slightly peppery bite that paired perfectly with the fruitiness of the Galaxy and Simcoe hops. Profitable and delicious. As far as Margot was concerned, it was the best business partnership she and Elle had made yet.

She glanced at the dance floor. Second-best business partnership.

“Yes, that’s beer,” Margot said, turning back to Caroline. “But you can’t have that for another . . .” She wrinkled her nose. “We’ll talk about it when you’re a little older, yeah?”

Caroline gurgled and lurched forward, smacking Margot’s cheek with damp fingers. Why Caroline had such sticky fingers was a touch unsettling. “Buh buh BUH!”

Margot nodded. “If you say so.”

Caroline dimpled and pressed her other hand to Margot’s cheek and—that hand wasn’t merely a little moist, it was covered in something. Something she smeared all over Margot’s cheek with undisguised glee, babbling excitedly, her fingers creeping closer to the edge of Margot’s mouth.

“What the fu—fudge is on my face?” she muttered, equally as horrified to find out what it was as she was to simply leave it there, ignorant. “This had better not be from your diaper.”

Reluctantly, she reached for her napkin and dabbed at her cheek. Caroline blew spit bubbles and watched with wide brown eyes. Margot sniffed and sighed in relief.

Frosting. It was the lemon buttercream from the wedding cake. Margot didn’t exactly want it on her face, but it could’ve been worse. It could’ve been far worse.

“How’d you get your hands on cake, Care Bear?”

Caroline gummed at her fist. More frosting seeped out from between her tiny dimpled knuckles.

“Okay.” Margot tossed her napkin on the table and stood, cradling Caroline to her chest, careful to keep her fingers from coming anywhere near her face. “Time to take you back to your parents, I think.”

The best part of being an honorary aunt? At the end of the day, Margot got to give Caroline back.

“Here.” Brendon was staring off into space, lids heavy like he was about to conk out at any moment, so she nudged him. He blinked blearily up at her, then smiled at Caroline. “I don’t know how, but she got into some frosting.”

He hummed softly and snagged the baby under the arms. “Curious Care Bear.”

“Sticky Care Bear,” Margot corrected.

Caroline cooed and Brendon cringed, one hand on her bottom.

“Wet Care Bear.”

Caroline pressed her face against his chest, wiping her spit on his shirt. “Buh.”

At first, Brendon looked disgusted, then resigned, before his face settled on a look of pure adoration as he pressed his lips to the top of Caroline’s mostly bald head. She had him wrapped around her pinky finger. To steal Brendon’s favorite word, he looked utterly smitten. “Buh’s right, baby. Let’s get you changed.”

“Have fun.” Margot snickered.

She left Brendon to it, making a pit stop at her table to polish off her beer and retrieve her clutch.

“There you are.”

Margot turned, heart fluttering as Olivia approached, one hand outstretched, reaching for her. She looked stunning in a pale green dress that brought out the flecks of gold in her eyes.

“Here I am.” Margot met her halfway, tangling their fingers together. “I was just about to find you. You left me all alone.”

It was an exaggeration. Olivia had only stepped away for a few minutes to make sure the airport car service was on the way.

“I’m all yours for the rest of the night.” Olivia’s lips twitched like she was trying not to laugh. “You have frosting on your nose.”

“Caroline,” she said, thumbing it away, not really caring. The party was winding down, the DJ playing slower songs. Half the guests—not that there were many—had retreated to their tables, chatting idly.

Olivia nodded and propped her hip against the table, eyes scanning the room. Margot could practically see her running down her mental checklist, making sure—even at the end of the evening—that everything was going according to plan.

After Brendon and Annie’s wedding, Olivia’s career had taken off, her boss at Emerald City Events promoting Olivia as promised. Word of mouth had spread, thanks to the article in the Vows section of the Seattle Times and because Brendon had listed Olivia, specifically, on the preferred vendors page of OTP’s website, referring her to all the happy couples who matched via the app.

Each wedding she planned got the time and attention it deserved, but Olivia had really poured her heart and soul into making this one special.

In the center of the dance floor, looking for all the world like they were the only people in the room, Elle and Darcy swayed slightly offbeat, like they were dancing to a song only they could hear. They were beautiful—Elle wore a strapless silver A-line dress that matched Caroline’s down to the glitter, and Darcy rocked the hell out of a winter-white fit-and-flare dress—and they looked over the moon, happier than Margot had ever seen them.

Olivia smiled and cocked her head, resting it against Margot’s. “Last dance.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the song ended to scattered applause, and Elle and Darcy parted reluctantly, hands still entwined as they made their way off the dance floor. Annie trailed after them, holding both their bouquets. Elle’s had tiny sprigs of cilantro tucked in amongst the eucalyptus and baby’s breath, a subtle nod to an inside joke between her and Darcy.

The DJ said something about seeing the brides off, and most of the guests stood, following Elle and Darcy out of the ballroom and down the hall, shuffling out onto the sidewalk where the black town car taking them to the airport waited, the back door already open. Darcy whispered something in Elle’s ear, and she froze, sputtering out a sharp laugh before looking up at the sky. Several snow flurries fell around them. Darcy’s hatred for snow was no secret, but she didn’t seem to mind it at the moment.

Elle chuckled and wrapped her fingers around Darcy’s wrist, tugging her inside the car. She met Margot’s eyes, flashing her a smile and an excited wave before the driver shut the door.

Margot’s vision blurred softly at the edges as she gripped Olivia’s hand, leaning up against her as the car took off down the road, taillights disappearing around the corner.

If this was what change looked like, maybe it wasn’t so terrible after all.

“Hey. Are you crying?”

“I’m just really happy for them.” Margot sniffed hard.

Olivia reached out, tucking Margot’s hair behind her ears. Her fingers were warm against Margot’s skin. “Sap.”

Maybe she was. “You love me anyway.”

“I do.” Olivia smiled. “I really do.”

I do. Margot’s heart skipped a beat as she leaned into Olivia. “You really outdid yourself this time.”

Elle and Darcy had gotten the happy ending they deserved. That’s what Brendon kept calling it. A happy ending. Margot was pretty sure it was only the beginning for all of them.

Olivia beamed. “It was a beautiful wedding, wasn’t it?”

Margot swept her thumb along the back of Olivia’s knuckles, lingering over the understated pavé engagement ring on her fourth finger. She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “Ours will be even better.”

Olivia leaned forward and brushed her lips against Margot’s, smiling into the kiss. “I think so, too.”