mapleblue2018
Lila lost her father when she was young. After a tragic water snake bite took his life, the world she once knew seemed to wash away with him.
Only days after the funeral, her mother, terrified of being alone, impulsively remarried. The man she chose was cruel, angry, and often drunk. When Lila's mother eventually left, she took her two favorite children with her-leaving Lila behind.
Alone and trapped, Lila finds herself drawn back to the one place that still feels like her father: the old dock where he spent countless days by the water. There, overwhelmed by the feeling that she may never escape the life she's been given, something impossible happens.
A sudden shove. A voice she doesn't recognize.
And a boy who appears at exactly the right moment.
As an unexpected friendship begins to grow, and feelings neither of them fully understand begin to take root, Lila discovers that some connections are stronger than distance, stronger than fear, and perhaps even stronger than death itself. But neither of them realizes how deeply their lives are about to change-or what secrets the water has been keeping all along.
A heartfelt story of loss, hope, friendship, healing, and finding light in the darkest places, Stillwater explores the bonds that slowly grow between people when they need each other most-and how friendship can become something neither of them ever expected, stirring feelings they never thought they would have to face.