THE EMPTY CHAIR AT HER SISTER’S WEDDING WAS SUPPOSED TO PROVE HER FIANCÉ HAD LEFT HER—BUT WHEN A QUIET STRANGER SAT BESIDE HER, KORA NEVER IMAGINED HE OWNED THE HOTEL, OR THAT HIS FAMILY WAS ALREADY PLANNING THE MARRIAGE THAT COULD DESTROY THEM BOTH

He set down his fork and said, “I’m glad she asked the band.”

“So am I,” Kora said.

“What did the lullaby do to you?”

Kora looked at her water glass.

“It returned my father to me for three minutes and twenty seconds,” she said. “In a room my sister had filled with people who loved her. It was, on balance, an enormous gift. I did not know that until I heard continue reading …