Texas Sunset

By Lura Southard

Harper-Joy Miller hopes that the past is the past, but somehow the past catches up to her. She is falling madly in love with Jay Wilson, who was there that night that her whole world came crashing to the ground. He waited years to tell her his true feelings for her, but will life get in the way? Meanwhile, Dr. Fizzer and his soda pack gang are coming after her in hopes to finish her off. She was supposed to be his first kill, but Jay got to her before she bled out. Now Joy and Jay are on the run and hiding in plain sight, but will Dr. Fizzer and his gang of misfits find her first? Or will Jay save the day like always? Is Joy going to have to live in fear for the rest of her life? So many questions and not enough time before the sunset fades into the background.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664137318

Lura Southard

My name is Lura Rogers Southard. I am a twenty-seven-year-old mother and wife. I was born in a small town called Wichita Falls, Texas, and have stayed here since. I have two amazing boys Lukas, six, and Travis is five. I have a beautiful little girl, Raye-Jean, three. Michael Southard (my husband) and I have been married for seven years. I met him in a strange way and fell in love with him. The one thing that I want you to know about me is that I had to learn how to read all over again in the sixth grade. I graduated high school in the top 15 percent of my class. It is never too late to follow your dream and never give up. I ended up getting an associate degree from a junior college in Texas. I decided to write a book, because we were stuck in a national lockdown in 2020. I hope that there are many more books to come. I hope that the readers enjoy the book and let their imagination go wild.

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Copyright © 2020 by Lura Southard.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 10/15/2020

Xlibris

844-714-8691

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CONTENTS

Prologue

1     One Year Prior

2     Meeting the ’Rents

3     Nightmare to Daydream

4     ICU Bed

5     Hope and Pray

6     Breaking and Entering

7     Two Months Later

8     Life or Death

9     Goodbye for Now

10   Mr. and Mrs. Southard

11   Not My First Rodeo

12   Thanksgiving

13   Traditions

14   Merry Xmas

15   Dr. Fizzer

16   Time to Take Action

17   Kidnapped

18   Let’s Play

19   No More Games

20   New Beginnings or Not

Acknowledgements

PROLOGUE

My two best friends were long gone, and I knew Jay and I were going to have to make it through this hellish nightmare. The room that we were being held was tiny and dark. They had turned the temperature down to forty-five degrees.

Jay, God has to be on our side, right? I said as I shivered, trying to stay warm next to Jay. Those were the last words I said to him before I blacked out from the benzodiazepine that had fully made its way into my blood system.

Baby, please wake up, Jay yelled at me. At that moment, I finally lost all consciousness and hoped that the Feds were on their way to come and save the love of my life and get these sorry SOBs once and for all.

CHAPTER ONE

One Year Prior

I had just finished my last final of the spring semester. I sighed at the thought of graduation being just a week away, and my two best friends were going to be here in less than twenty-four hours. Then The Three Musketeers would be back in action. Texas weather was getting hotter as the days were getting closer to summer. The weather in Vermont would be much cooler, and I’d still be able to wear a lightweight jacket. The three of us went our separate ways for college, but we always made sure to call, text, Facetime, and send a birthday card for the last four years. We knew each other’s deepest, darkest secret, or so I thought.

I drove three hours to the airport, so excited to see them for the first time in over a year. I parked in the pickup garage for one-hour time parking, and headed inside to wait by the luggage bag claim area. Beth’s plane was first to land. I knew it was her because her hair was long and black, and she had the prettiest bluish green eyes ever. She had won prettiest eye superlative in high school all four years. She was super tall. My mother always said, Beth, you should play basketball, hun. However, my girl loved music and somehow got a full ride to Juilliard. She has the voice of an angel.

Beth, over here! I had to yell over the noisy airport.

Harper-Joy Miller, is that you with short blond hair and skinny as a bean pole? You are eating, right? Beth loved the over-the-top and larger-than-life personality.

Yes, yes … it’s me. How was your flight down here? I asked her as I gave her a huge Texas hug. Oh girl, it was tremendous. First class all the way, she said. I looked up at the flight board to see what time Lucy’s flight landed.

Looks like Lucy lands in ten minutes. Do you need coffee? I asked.

The Starbucks was just a few shops down from the other gate. I got my double-chocolate-chip frap. Beth got her regular black coffee with four cream and two sugar. She hadn’t changed her drink in the eight years I knew her. So? she asked with that look in her eyes. You’re going to tell me about this new guy you’re always talking about. I gave her that go to hell look. She gave me that I’ll check your phone kind of look. So I might as well start talking before she reads or see something she shouldn’t.

Fine, he is six feet and four inches tall, has broad shoulders, super built, blond/brown hair, and has the bluest eyes in Texas. And before you ask, no, he doesn’t have a twin brother, I said, trying to not run out of breath. All Beth could do was laugh at me, because I knew her better than she knew herself—sometimes.

We only went for coffee and to study together. He is getting his master in criminal justice. So dating is not a real option with him right now. But I could eat him up in a heartbeat. I looked to see if Lucy’s flight had arrived yet.

Lucy was five feet four inches tall, with light brown hair and beautiful brown eyes. Her mother was an immigrant from Spain and our senior year, every Thursday night, she would make a traditional meal. She ended up moving out to California to go to UCLA for gymnastics, which both me and Beth couldn’t be more happy for her. However, Cali’s sun was loving her, because she was tanner than ever. She was already dark complexioned as it was already.

Lucy, we are over here! I yelled over the crowd of people.

Here, let’s get your bags and hit the road. It’s about a three-hour ride. We will have plenty of time to catch up on the way home, I said as we stopped to get Lucy a cup of coffee before we hit the road. Then the Texas highways was going to be the newest adventure for all three of us, but the Texas sunset was the prettiest things that you could see on the highways.

Hey, Lucy, did you know our girl over here got a real cowboy? Beth said as she pointed to me in the driver’s seat.

What? … Harper-Joy, you better start spilling the bean, girl.

Well, for starters there is not too much to dish out. He is getting his master in criminal justice and we went to the local coffee shop and we studied together a few times, I said, smiling like a kid in a toy store. Beth turned around to the back seat to look at Lucy’s face. I know, and he doesn’t even have a twin brother.

Lucy started giggling and continued looking out the window. The rest of the drive went by fast with us laughing and finding out what was going on in each other’s lives. We pulled into my apartment building parking lot and unloaded the car (that took five trips). I called for pizza to be delivered and told the girls to make themselves at home. I put a new Netflix movie on and grabbed the beers.

I’m so glad the two of you got to fly to Texas to be here for my graduation. My parents will be here in a few days, I said, trying not to show the tears running down my face.

Joy, we wouldn’t miss this day, even if the world was on fire, they said together, about to cry themselves.

I looked over at my phone that had lit up, and in big bold letters that appeared on the message screen. JAY WILSON. Beth saw it too, Lucy, the big strong cowboy just texted. I rolled my eyes at them both and then checked my text from Jay to see what he needed.

Joy, did you make it home in one piece? he texted me with a smiley-face emoji. I replied back. Yes, cowboy, the girls and I are home. TY! Your folks in town yet? Then the three little dots appeared on my screen.

They land in 20, then the dots appeared on the screen, yet again. I want you to meet my folks … coffee in the AM … yes or no.

The only thing I could think about was we weren’t dating, so why did he want me to meet his folks? Was that normal for a friend to meet another friend’s parents? We were not in a real relationship, but did he want a true boyfriend/girlfriend title for us? I mean, I want more with him, a lot more, like licking ice cream off his six-pack easily—that kind more. I had that look on my face that my two best friends knew all too well. I was still in shock. Was I ready for dating again after last year’s sexual assault? I mean, for heaven’s sake, it’s not like Jay didn’t know what happened to me. He was the one that found me. He made me feel safe and didn’t leave my bedside at the hospital. He even went and