Tidewater Lowlands

A coastal basketball heritage transcends the low-lying swamp

~Where staying above sea level requires careful alignment~ Indigo Ownley hesitates to aid a motorist in distress along the Great Dismal Swamp, and then cringes when she sees the NBA Tidewater Titans’ star center, Shae Swain. Reprimanded for his ejection from a game, Shae receives a penalty of two hundred community service hours and frantically needs to get started before another December day passes—so he selects Indigo’s nonprofit that mentors promising athletes. A chance encounter with a poster in the mop closet reveals that Indigo is really IOU, a lithe player he shared the court with back in his college days at Old Dominion University. As he delves into the fate of a note of affection spurred by his college crush, his one-sided admiration ignites into something more mutual. Will Indigo enforce the stringent Rule of Verticality on which Latchkey Locker is established—or lean in to meet him halfway? To successfully navigate the Tidewater region of North Carolina, it pays to respect the swamp.