Where Fireflies Wait

When Junia Belle Sorrell returns to Booey Creek after her grandmother’s passing, she plans only to settle the old house and leave again. But the mountain valley holds a pull stronger than she expects. Among her grandmother’s keepsakes, Junia uncovers a box of maps, journals, and small relics—evidence of a secret project to protect Native American artifacts hidden deep in the mountain on the property.

As Junia begins piecing together the story, she crosses paths with Cal Rainer, a quiet rafter who knows the river and its legends by heart. Together, they trace the clues her grandmother left behind, uncovering not only a forgotten history, but the fragile connections between past and present, land and love.

Set against the misty ridges of Western North Carolina, Where the Fireflies Wait is a luminous story about memory, Native American heritage, and healing—where what we inherit is more than what we can hold, and sometimes the light we seek has been glowing all along.