Chapter 3
Lucy
Horoscope Pisces
Pisces, this is your year for all kinds of love! Embrace your sexy side, follow your intuition, and take the big leaps you’ve held yourself back from. If not now, when?
Olive rolled up in front of my store—Summer, Ivy, and Felix in tow—in a golf cart exploding with flower garlands.
“Hop on in, birthday girl!” she shouted. Summer and Ivy cheered and blew noisemakers—the ones with the ribbons that unfurled when you blew into them. They were all wearing party hats, Felix included. I laughed at his grumpy expression.
Summer hopped out and placed a sash that said Birthday Girl across my body with a flourish before pulling me in a tight hug. “Come on! We have birthday shenanigans planned.”
“I feel like the shenanigans have already started.” I climbed into the passenger seat and Felix hopped onto my lap. “Isn’t this Stanley’s golf cart?”
“What the mayor doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Olive said.
Felix let out a loud meow and Olive’s lips parted. “I mean the imposter mayor! The fake one! The true mayor is here with us and he told me it was okay to borrow it!”
“You might want to sleep with one eye open,” Summer said in a stage whisper.
“Felix knows we all follow his rule of law.” I gave him a forehead kiss.
“Birthday coffee for you,” Ivy said, presenting me with a Beans ’n Bliss travel cup.
“Oohhh, yes. Thank you.” I took a sip and gasped. “A pumpkin spice latte? But it’s out of season!”
“Ella hooked us up,” Ivy said with a grin, referring to the coffee shop’s barista.
“She kept back a bottle of flavoring just for you.” Summer pulled it out of a gift bag.
“Just don’t mention it to Lars or he’ll break into your home to steal it.
Anything that reminds him of his pumpkin spice omega.
” She batted her eyes exaggeratedly and Olive blushed, but I was laser-focused on the bottle of syrup.
Every year when pumpkin spice lattes went out of season, I begged Ella to sneak me some.
“This is amazing. Thank you.” I took another sip. The sun was shining and the gentle breeze carried the scent of flowers. It was the first day of spring, the start of the last year of my twenties, and I was determined to make it a good one.
Olive pulled away from the curb, causing all of us to grimace as we lurched down the street.
“Sorry, sorry!” she said. “I’m better at driving boats, but I’ll get the hang of it.”
“Now you don’t have to worry about aging, Luce, since Olive will kill us all,” Summer said dryly.
I glanced back in time to see Ivy elbow her, but as Olive hit the curb, I thought Summer had a point.
Felix batted at one of the flower garlands with his paw. I nudged him away to keep him from destroying them. “Did you all make these? They’re stunning.”
“Leo actually decorated the cart for us,” Ivy said. “We ran into him last night mid-heist and he immediately offered.”
“Not what I would call the behavior of someone who doesn’t like you,” Olive said in a singsong voice.
I pursed my lips, but I couldn’t stop my stomach from exploding with excited butterflies. He did this for me? I hadn’t seen him since he practically fled from me the other morning, but this rekindled all my sappy hopes that he returned my crush.
Well, maybe that was too far, but at least he didn’t hate me. You didn’t make beautiful flower garlands to decorate a stolen golf cart for someone you hated, right?
Olive turned down the road to the marina and I cocked my head. “What are we doing?”
“You’ll see,” she said coyly.
We all shrieked as the golf cart hit a speed bump.
“I swear, if that just messed up my pastries,” Summer said through clenched teeth, clutching at a box that had been by her feet.
“Sorry!” Olive shouted.
“You’re doing great,” I reassured her, even as I tensed all my muscles as she took another sharp turn into a parking spot.
Summer peeked inside her box. “Phew, the pastries survived.”
“Good.” Ivy clapped her hands. “Let’s get this party started.”
I hoisted Felix into my arms, making sure not to bump his party hat as I got out of the golf cart.
I wiggled happily when I saw my friends carrying gift bags.
I loved presents and wasn’t going to let my fear of being seen as shallow mess with me today.
It was my birthday, damn it, and I was going to accept all the presents happily.
The boat, My Sweet Olive, came into view and my jaw dropped. Slung along the side was a huge banner reading Happy Birthday Lucy and a huge garland of pastel pink balloons.
“You did this for me?”
“Of course we did,” Summer said, rolling her eyes. “We love you.”
My friends ushered me over to a gorgeous table set up on the deck, complete with a floral tablecloth, colorful plates, and candles. I sat on the cushy seat and a mimosa materialized in my hand.
“You’re spoiling me.”
“As we should.” Summer raised her class. “To Lucy, the sweetest, prettiest, and most crafty omega I know.”
“To Lucy,” Olive and Ivy echoed.
My cheeks turned pink with their praise, and I took a long sip of my drink. Summer opened the box of pastries, and I smiled when I saw it was filled with my favorite Swedish cardamom buns—the ones I couldn’t eat anymore without thinking of Leo.
“I got the recipe from Frida, so hopefully they’re good,” she said, setting two of them on the plate in front of me.
I’d already eaten half of one by the time my friends took theirs. “They’re amazing,” I said around another huge bite. I held out a small piece for Felix, which he delicately took from my hand.
“Don’t let James see you,” Ivy said, cocking an eyebrow.
Her beta was the town vet, who was growing increasingly stressed about Felix’s diet.
He’d done a presentation at the last town meeting that consisted of a series of slides labeled Cat Food, with pictures of kibble and cans of wet foot, and Not Cat Food, with pictures of cakes, hamburgers, and fries.
“I only gave him a small piece.” I widened my eyes innocently, pointedly ignoring the fact that Felix was sneaking large bites of the pastry in my hand from under the table.
Ivy shook her head. “I saw nothing.”
Summer dished up fruit salad into small bowls. “So, Lucy. Last year in your twenties. How are you feeling?”
“Well, I had three mental breakdowns yesterday, but I haven’t had one yet today, so that’s promising.”
“No! Why mental breakdowns? My thirties have been my favorite decade so far,” Ivy said.
The horrible urge to snap at my friend came over me. It was easy for her to say. She’d found her pack.
I took a deep breath. Ivy wasn’t the one I was frustrated with. “That’s good. Something to look forward to.” My smile felt weird and plastic. “And in the meantime, I’ve been reading up on my Saturn return era.”
“What’s that?” Olive asked.
“It takes Saturn twenty-nine years to complete a rotation around the sun, so every twenty-nine years you’re in your Saturn return, which signals a lot of big life changes.
” My friends looked just as confused as before, but I pressed on.
“This is the year I’m going to find myself.
I started making a list of what I want to do, like read my horoscope every day, see a fortune teller, get my aura photographed, and a bunch of other stuff. ”
“Oohhh, I love that! What did your horoscope say today?” Olive asked.
“I’m not sure because my newspaper hadn’t arrived yet. Ever since Kevin took over the paper route from his sister, I’m lucky if I get the newspaper by lunch.” And the Starlight Tribune did not have an online version.
“Wait, you’re getting yours on the correct day? My last Starlight Tribune arrived three days late,” Ivy said. “We ended up at a showing of Love Under the Bleachers at the movie theater instead of Notting Hill.”
Olive snorted. “Love Under the Bleachers is a classic.”
“Classily bad,” Ivy groaned. “Although I did like the alien flash dance.”
While Summer got up to demonstrate said dance, Olive put her arm around me. “Your Saturn return plan sounds fun, Luce. I’ll come with you for any of it. I just hope you know that you don’t need to find yourself. You’re not lost.”
I leaned my head against her shoulder. I’d known Olive for less than a year, but I couldn’t imagine my life without her. No matter what she said, though, I’d been adrift for a while now, probably since before they came into my life, but certainly after they’d left it in flames.
But it was a new year, a new phase of life. I sent all my hopes for a fresh start into the universe, envisioning triumphing over the growing pains of my Saturn return and welcoming all the good surprises waiting for me.