1972. While the Vietnam War rages overseas and his beloved Pirates battle back-to-back World Series titles, Matt Plumley's family moves to Dogwood, West Virginia, where he quickly bonds with two unlikely friends for a preacher's kid: Dickie Darrel Lee Hancock, a mixed-race boy, and Jesse Woods, a tough-as-nails Appalachian girl. As the trio traipses the hills and hollers, Matt falls for Jesse, and their promises to each other draw him deeper into her terrifying reality. One night, the river of Jesse's secrets overflows and Matt joins her in a rescue that saves one life and ends another and mysteriously severs the bond of their friendship. Years later, Matt is pulled back to Dogwood, haunted by memories of the momentous summer and news of Jesse's upcoming wedding. He always suspected there was more to the story of that fateful night, and he's determined to learn the truth behind the only promise Jesse Woods ever broke.