He didn’t make things easy on Colette either, refusing to let her go, and had tried to drag out the legalities for as long as possible. But Colette, as always, kept things simple. She wanted nothing from him, other than to be free.

Even if she had wanted money as part of the divorce, there was little to share: a series of bad investments over the years on Ed’s part had bled their finances dry and left them practically penniless. That was why he’d refused to help out Annie financially, the first and only time she’d ever asked him.

Every time she thought about that, Kim felt for her friend and wished she’d paid close enough attention to their friendship, so that Annie would have turned to her instead. But she guessed if she had done so, then all the secrets they’d discovered that night would never have come out.

She was still bewildered to discover that the journal upon which she’d built The Sweet Life had actually been Colette’s, and had since tried her utmost to include her friend in the company, granting her shares and even offering her a place on the board, but Colette was having none of it.

Her motto had, after all, been to follow the simple life.

And she certainly had that now with Luca. Once she and Ed divorced, she had married Luca and moved lock, stock, and barrel to Italy, living in bliss above his restaurant ever since.

Now, with a baby on the way, all her dreams had finally come true.

While Ed had failed in his aim to sabotage Villa Dolce Vita’s relaunch and thus thwart their ultimate reunion (while also hoping to make some money on the side through threatening Kim with a plagiarism lawsuit), he had at least succeeded in one thing—finally enabling Colette to live the life she deserved.

“Hey, guys.” Annie peeked her head around the entrance gate of the courtyard. She looked amazing. Dark curls tumbled around her head; she wore a pretty floral summer dress and, flanked by a mischievous-looking Charlie on one side and a smiling stranger on the other, she looked...happy.

Kim smiled.

“Buonasera!” Colette called out happily, rushing to greet Annie.

“Who’s your friend?” Lily asked, pointing to the man with her.

“This is Nick,” Annie announced proudly, and Kim knew that this time she truly was head over heels.

Good for her. From what she’d heard about Nick he was a great guy who genuinely cared for both Annie and Charlie, and had also been a huge help in getting her business back on its feet. But for her part, Kim never had any worries on that score. No matter what life threw at her, Annie O’Doherty always came back fighting.

“So—” she looked from Kim to Colette, the old devilish glint in her eye “—are we going to get this party started or what?”