“I know he did. He was a man everyone looked up to for a reason. He wanted you to live. You and Blanc.”

“And your mother…” China broke off with a little shake of her head. She lifted her fingers to her trembling mouth. “She was the most extraordinary woman I’ve ever met. Bar none, the most extraordinary.”

Blanc nodded her agreement. “She took us in when no one would. She claimed it would be a temporary shelter, but she gave us the first real home we’d ever had.” She lifted her gaze to Penny’s. “She would sit on our beds with Penny when we had nightmares. She rocked us like we were babies and told us nothing was our fault, and we were worth everything. She believed that, and she made us believe it.”

“Her name was Annabelle Foster, and we both took her name for our middle names,” China continued. “We wanted to honor her. She knew a judge who made our name changes legal.”

“My middle name is also Annabelle,” Penny added. “Her name ties us together as sisters. Maybe not by blood, but of the heart.”

“That’s so incredible. I wish I’d had the opportunity to know her,” Azelie said, meaning it. “Thank you for giving me such a gift as sharing your past.”

“It’s important that you know you can trust us, Azelie,” Blanc said. “Obviously, we read about you in the papers, just like most of the people here in San Francisco. It was all over the news. We don’t want you to feel alone.”

“If Annabelle were here right now, she would tell you that you deserve to live your life,” China assured her. “She would tell you that you took a tremendous knockout, but standing up and getting on with your life honors the ones you lost.”

“She believed everything she said to us,” Penny said. “She drilled it into the three of us that life is to be lived. To be experienced. It isn’t always easy, but when it’s right, it’s a thrill ride.”

“She also told us to be brave, to reach out to others worthy of our friendship with an open heart,” Blanc added. “Her advice has never steered us wrong. You have a good heart, Azelie. You also need to trust your instincts. What do they say about Andrii?”

She put her latte down and tried to answer honestly. “Everything in me wants to be with him. I’m afraid though. I don’t know what he sees in me. When we’re together and he’s talking to me, it’s almost overwhelming how drawn I am to him. I fell too far too fast. I can’t seem to help myself when I’m around him. I think I’m going to throw him out, but he starts talking in that voice he has, and I’m totally mesmerized.” She took a deep breath and made her confession. “I can’t help but want to make him happy.”

Penny frowned. “You want to make him happy. Does he feel the same way? Does he try to make you happy?”

“He’s spoiling me. If he takes me somewhere, he thinks he has to bring me clothes and shoes and jewelry. He brought the most beautiful coat I’ve ever seen. When I wanted to pay for it, he was upset with me. I don’t want him to think he has to buy me things. I’m not interested in him for his money.”

“That was the box you had Shaila and David hold for him,” Blanc guessed. “The clothes and jewelry were inside.”

Azelie nodded. “I felt I couldn’t keep them. He wasn’t happy. He showed up with more gifts.”

“Dear,” Penny leaned close to whisper. “Did you tell him you were interested in having sex with him?”

Azelie felt color creeping under her skin. “Unfortunately, he can read me like a book. Seriously. I look at him and melt. There isn’t any hiding that.”

“Does he take proper care of you in bed?” China asked. “If he’s selfish, end it, honey, no matter how much you’re into him. He needs to be more interested than you are.”

“Sadly, I don’t think that’s possible,” Azelie confessed. “I tried to tell him there were hundreds of reasons why we shouldn’t be together, but he countered every one of them.”

“He knows his own mind. That’s good,” Penny said. “You want a man who knows what he wants. Too many men are always looking for something shiny and new. Or they are ‘finding themselves.’ You’d think at a certain age they would know what they want and who they are.”

“Penny, dear,” Blanc said gently. “You mustn’t be bitter.”

“I’m grateful the old codger found himself with a younger woman,” Penny said. “Fourteen years of cooking and picking up after him, watching him quit job after job because he decided he wasn’t appreciated, it got old fast.”

“Your husband left you for a younger woman?”

“He didn’t want to leave. He wanted an open marriage, so I’d continue to support him while he ran around finding himself. What he didn’t realize was I was happy to see him go. Happy to let his car model pick up after him. He was going through his photography phase, and clearly, she thought he had money. He didn’t. I do really recommend prenups. Especially the cheating clause.”

“She had to prove he cheated in court,” China said. “He was ridiculous enough to demand a court ruling on the prenup. Sadly for him, his cheating was very blatant. He went to hotels and was photographed because his little darling wanted the publicity. They were caught in compromising situations several times.”

“I’m so sorry, Penny,” Azelie murmured. “I don’t have words.”

“I’m not. Truly. That’s why I say trust your instincts. If I’d followed mine, I wouldn’t have wasted so many years with him. Right from the beginning I knew he was a worm, but I was certain he would blossom into a wonderful man.” She gave a snort of self-derision. “Once I shed that snake, I had the time of my life. I just followed my mother’s advice and stood back up, more determined than ever to live my life fully. I grabbed on with both hands and I rarely looked back.”

“That’s when she acquired all her excellent knowledge of men and their various kinks,” Blanc said solemnly. “If you need answers to any question regarding sex, just ask Penny.”

Rather than take offense, Penny laughed, breaking the tension that had built up with the revelations the Christian sisters had made.

“I became an official groupie for an entire summer, following a very popular band around. It was the most fun I’d had in years.” There wasn’t a sign of remorse in her voice or her expression.

“You refer to yourselves as the merry widows,” Azelie pointed out. “But it sounds as if you didn’t lose your husband to death.”

The three women exchanged a long, amused look and then burst into laughter. Penny nearly knocked over her coffee, she was laughing so hard.

“I’m officially a merry widow because I killed my husband off in fifty clever ways without actually killing him. It was an amazing journey of retribution and recovery. It was China’s idea.”

China nodded. “We played a game thinking up heinous ways to do in cheating husbands, wrote the ideas down and burned them in a solemn ceremony. When we reached fifty, we were feeling quite merry. Hence the name.”

The women burst into laughter again, and Azelie joined them. “How do you top that?”

“Now we play cards with Doug Parsons and Carlton Gray,” China said. “Neither one of them is anywhere near as good as we are, but we let them win unless money is on the table.”

“Once Doug had a little too much to drink and wanted to play strip poker,” Penny said and burst out laughing all over again at the memory. “We made sure he lost every hand.”

“I’m sitting at a table with some badass women,” Azelie declared.

“You’re one of those badass women,” China said. “You just have to believe in yourself.”

Azelie glanced down at her watch. “I have to catch the bus. I don’t want to be late for class. I have a very tight schedule today.”

“Promise you’ll talk to us later,” Blanc said. “We want to know you’re safe. And happy.”

“We mostly want you to know we’re here for you,” Penny said.

Azelie shrugged into her backpack and caught up the latte. “Thank you all. I’ll see you later.” She didn’t have too much time before the bus would show up. Hurrying along the street toward the bus stop, to her dismay, she spotted Alan Billows in his sporty little BMW. He was parked directly across from the bus stop, talking on his cell phone.

As Azelie approached the corner, Billows looked up and beckoned to her. She shook her head and indicated her watch and then the bus stop.

Billows scowled darkly at her. “Get in the damn car, Azelie. I don’t have all fucking day to wait around for you. I’ll drive you to school.”

“I have to take the bus.” That sounded lame even to her own ears. She tried to look calm and all smiles as she waved to him.

“Azelie?” A woman’s voice had her spinning around. The woman was tall and curvy, absolutely gorgeous with her sleek, shining black hair, perfect skin, dark eyes and lush lips. “I’m sorry I was late.” She winked at her. “We have time to study on the bus together.”

She came close. “I’ve seen you around the campus. Is that man bothering you?” She whispered the question, her back to Billows.

The last thing Azelie wanted to do was to have this woman who was trying to help get on Billows’ radar. He could be ugly and vindictive when he didn’t get his way.

Azelie hastily texted Billows that her study partner was there, and they’d planned to ride the bus together to work on their project. Billows didn’t answer, but roared off, his expression a mask of fury.