Eighteen Months Later
“And...we’re back,” Kim said with a rueful smile as she stood on the terrace at Villa Dolce Vita with Gabriel and Lily.
Yet again she’d been transformed.
She’d stepped away from the business to focus on her family and Emilia, a decision she didn’t regret. Having more time with the people she loved most had changed her entire outlook on life.
Family is not an important thing. It is everything.
Finally, she was taking her own (or, in truth, Colette’s) advice.
“The place looks great. I’m surprised Antonio was able to let us have it with the amount of traffic that’s been going through here,” Gabriel commented.
“Hey, it’s still my company so I make the rules.” Kim tiptoed up to him and kissed her husband on the cheek.
Antonio had since confessed what Kim already knew—that his wife had mistakenly submitted alternative documents to the planning department, which he’d tried to cover up at the meeting.
“I didn’t know for sure until I saw the signatures,” he’d told Kim, finally willing to admit that his beloved wife’s condition had gone beyond him, and that she needed professional care. Kim assured him not to worry, that she would do everything she could to help. She didn’t want to add to her old friend’s anguish by telling him about Emilia’s suspicions of an affair, as she knew he had enough to contend with.
“You make the rules for the moment at least.” Gabriel smiled as he laid his hand on her swollen stomach. “Once this next one comes we won’t have nearly as much time for jaunts in places like this.”
“I can’t wait to see my baby sister,” Lily called out. She’d been on the grassy yoga area playing quietly with her dolls until she’d heard her favorite subject being discussed.
“You really think it’s a girl?” Gabriel said dubiously. “I was kind of hoping for a boy so that things might even out in this family.”
“Nope. I want a girl.”
“You’re biased, though,” Kim teased.
“Boys are icky,” her daughter insisted, with a wrinkle of her nose.
“Not all boys. Daddy’s a boy.”
“Mommy, Daddy’s not a boy. He’s a man.”
“But all men were boys once,” Gabriel teased.
“They’re still icky,” Lily insisted.
“Well, I certainly hope you won’t feel that way about our little man,” Colette’s voice resonated from the courtyard. She stepped down onto the pool terrace with a tray of food in her hand, eight months pregnant and absolutely radiant.
“Let me take it,” Luca insisted as he hoisted the platter out of her hands and brought it over to the others. “You should not be lifting things.”
“It’s just a silly tray,” she laughed, winking at Kim. She’d begun to waddle a little, something Kim remembered only too well. She’d been like Donald Duck when pregnant with Lily, but thankfully was a few months off that point yet.
She was so happy for her friend, though, and it was wonderful to see her looking so relaxed and happy.
The aftermath of that night had been a difficult time for all three of them, in more ways than one. But their friendship had got them through.
Colette and Annie’s heart-to-heart following the party had broken down all barriers, and enabled both women to see the man they both thought they loved for who he truly was.
Annie had been instrumental in helping Colette through her divorce, even offering her a room in Dublin for a while until she felt strong enough to return to London and leave Ed for good. And Colette in turn (and with some financial help and advice from Kim) had helped Annie with getting her business back on track.
Kim was still amazed at the revelations that had tumbled out the night of the party.
Who could have guessed that Ed—of all people—was Annie’s mysterious Romeo? And not only that but he had fathered Charlie and had promptly gone and set his sights on Colette before either of them knew about it. Granted, he hadn’t done anything behind her back, but for Colette it was still a betrayal. He’d concealed the truth and, even worse, from her point of view at least, was that having promised Annie he’d be there for her if ever she needed him, he’d turned his back on her and Charlie when they did.
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?”
Kim stood up and moved to embrace her and Colette, realizing that their journey had come full circle.
Their friendship had begun here at Villa Dolce Vita, and despite all the ups and downs, it would continue.
Annie had found love and contentment with someone who truly appreciated her, Colette was having the baby she’d always craved with the love of her life, and Kim was finding that true happiness was better to be lived than spoken of.
Life for all three was finally sweet.