Chapter 2 — Pearls I Never Bought

My mother swept in before I could answer, glittering in pearls I had never seen.

Solveig Merrit had always known how to fill a room.

Behind her came my younger brother, Torsten, wearing my watch and my leather jacket and the easy grin of a man who had been sleeping well in another man’s life.

“Ingrid has been very emotional while you were away,” my mother said, squeezing my shoulder far too hard.

“Don’t take it to heart.”