Seduction

It’s 1964. Sixteen-year-old Brody Rivers is not only an outsider, he’s part Native in a bigoted town and his father is in jail for murder. Brody takes over a rural grocery route, driving a battered old grocery trudck from one farm to another. The farms on his route have been in the same families for generations, and he senses disapproval and hostility from his customers.

When he first arrives at the Porter farm, he senses something else – a strange empathy toward the young girl who lives there, Tricia Porter. But it is only a vague feeling that he shrugs off. As time passes, it intensifies until he believes that he can sense the emotions of several other people in his life as well. These connections are frightening, causing him physical pain. He worries that he will go crazy, just like his tormented grandmother. In 1953, when Brody was barely five years of age, she told him that he had the “gift”, just like she did. But no one will explain it to him. With no insight into the abilities of an empath, Brody feels that his gift is actually a curse.

The friendliest person on his grocery route is Lizzy Baker, a lonely married woman who hates the isolation of the country and barely tolerates the tight-knit farming community. Before long Lizzy invites him into her farmhouse. Her advances add to his burdens.

As Brody struggles to understand his empathic and psychic ability, he’s drawn into the abuse and turmoil in Tricia Porter’s life. His concern for her safety deepens. At the same time, his relationship with Lizzy Baker threatens to destroy them both.

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Betrayal

As Brody Rivers becomes deeply enmeshed in the lives of both Tricia Porter and Lizzy Baker, his life in Granger’s Crossing grows complicated and disturbing. His pain, as he experiences empathic connections to the people around him, grows so intense that it’s often crippling. The hatred that comes from Tricia’s father stabs through him every time Brody interacts with the man.

By now it’s 1967. Brody has worked his grocery route for almost three years and he’s also been involved with Lizzy Baker for most of that time. Lizzy’s abusive husband is suspicious of her relationship with Brody but she manages to block Brody as he attempts to read her. As a result, when the threat increases, she is able to drag him into her desperate situation.

Then the dreams start, vivid and frightening and always connected to Tricia Porter.

Yet they also seem to come from a past life. A garnet necklace that Tricia receives as a birthday gift seems to transport a woman from her nightmares into Tricia’s daytime reality.

At the same time, violence shadows Tricia’s home life and Brody is certain that her safety is at risk, but he is immersed in his own turmoil with Lizzy. Although betrayal is rife in their small town, the ultimate betrayal will alter the path of Brody’s life.

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Entrapment

It would be foolish to underestimate Lizzy Baker.

It’s 1970. Brody has stayed away from Lizzy for two years and she is determined to lure him back. Clever and devious, Lizzy understands small town politics of the time. She also knows how to manipulate the people in Brody’s life.

Danny Pringle, the owner of the general store, has health problems. Brody has abandoned his grocery route in order to help him out. While larger towns and cities now embrace department store chains, Pringle’s General Store still services Granger’s Crossing, selling everything from local produce to farm supplies. It’s convenient for Brody to leave his old grocery truck parked behind the building to gather rust – it gives him a reason to avoid Lizzy Baker’s farm.

Yet Brody still struggles with his disturbing attraction to Lizzy. He doesn’t understand it, especially when Lizzy is the one person in his life who eludes his psychic perceptions person who ruthlessly betrayed him. In spite of his resolution to avoid her, Lizzy’s magnetic pull draws him closer.

Brody’s empathic ability has increased. When he’s confronted with fear or hatred from other people, the feelings are so powerful that the associated pain is crippling. He’s convinced that he’s losing his mind, especially when his recurring nightmares won’t let him rest. A vague danger hovers over Tricia Porter and Brody can’t reason away his concern for her.

Unknown to Brody, Tricia is constantly seeing the ghost of her aunt, even during her waking moments. Something happened to the woman, something terrifying, and Tricia’s sleep is as fitful as Brody’s. Brody tries to shield her from his turmoil by pushing her out of his life, leaving Tricia with no one to turn to except her brother Taylor. Yet Taylor has troubles of his own and they’re growing larger every day.

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Revelation

With the arrival of 1971, all the lies and manipulation, the secrets and abuse that have lurked in the shadows for years are about to be exposed.

The conflict between Tricia Porter, Brody Rivers and Lizzy Baker is now ready to burst open. Add in the strange nightmare apparition who plagues both Tricia and Brody, and the tension and turmoil in Brody’s life is at a fever pitch. In his opinion, his empathic ability is truly the curse that Brody always believed it to be.

The ghost of Tricia’s aunt triggers vague and confusing images of a tragic experience that happened long ago, from a past that Brody couldn’t possibly remember. For the first time, Brody not only starts to believe in a past life, he also suspects that it might be the reason for his empathic ability in his current lifetime.

Along with this eerie connection, Brody, Tricia and Lizzy are thrown together when a violent January blizzard comes out of nowhere. The old ploughs and local road crews are unable to deal with the relentless barrage of snow and ice, leaving people stranded in their cars and homes.

The resulting confrontation that erupts between the main characters is as intense as the historic snowstorm that strikes Huron County during the winter of 1971.

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