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

it.”

“And the first man across the floor?”

“He was the second gift,” Kora said. “I haven’t yet decided what to do with him.”

Liam inhaled once.

“Take your time,” he said. “I am not on a schedule.”

It was the kindest sentence anyone had given her in eight months.

Weeks passed.

Liam wrote twice a week by post.

Never long.

Just sentences.

He told her Henry believed continue reading …