House Beside the River

Running from vile rumors and merciless ridicule, thirteen-year-old Nicole Beaumont flees her home in Parsons Valley. She leaves behind Chris, the boy who had been her best-friend-for-life, her soul mate, the one with whom she was supposed to spend her life, vowing to never to trust anyone again. When she meets Richard, she lets down her guard, but as they fall in love, Chris re-surfaces. Nicole finds herself enmeshed in a deadly game that pits Chris, the boy she once loved, against Richard, the man she loves, now, a game from which only one will emerge unscathed.