Texas Day Dream

By Alicia Morgan

This rebellious girl always finds herself caught in the crossfire of any unsavory situation. It was only a matter of time before trouble finds it's magnet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781329489011

Book preview

Texas Day Dream

Texas Day Dream

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright © all rights reserved 2015 A. C. Morgan

Cover design by A. C. Morgan

Images are not copyrighted by author.

Book design and production by A. C. Morgan lulu.com

Editing by A. C. Morgan

No parts of this novel may be changed or altered, copied or listed.

All rights are reserved by the author.

To the Loves of my life, without you I don’t know where I’d ever be.

My Boys; Drake and Duncan. You are, My Heart and Soul, the reason I breathe.

My mom, who despite all our hardships is my best friend. You never gave up on me, even when I gave up on myself. I wouldn’t know who I was if I didn’t have you in my life.

My family, whom I love deeply, and without reservation, against all odds couldn’t ask for better. Heather, Nicholas and Joshua- I will always love you.

To all my friends, who support me, thanks for believing in me.

With every road traveled a new path is given, we choose the right one.

TEXAS

DAY DREAM

The Mia Carmichael Series

Book One

Written and published by: Alicia Morgan

All Rights Reserved 2014

Chapter One

Do you know what happens when you travel to a teeny tiny town in the middle of friggin’ nowhere?

I’ll tell you what happens. Two planes, a Greyhound bus and a pickup truck is completely what happens. The Flights from hell, the smelly old man and some distant relation picks you up in his dirty red Chevy, which has seen better days, and drives you 10 miles into the middle of no where.

Nobody can compare to the hell I just traveled. No one!

I Mia Carmichael, am never setting foot on a plane or bus ever again.

I mean, come on, really, dirty planes with sick air and nasty germs everywhere. Being held captive by some creepy man in a business suit while he blabs on and on about his wife and like 14 kids. Not even a window seat can fix that.  Then plane number two having to argue with a nasty women with her half price suit trying to tell me she had my seat.

Excuse me I don’t think so!

It was a good thing the flight attendant fixed that issue before I popped that Barbie the office edition in the mouth. All she had to do was open her mouth one more time. Did she not understand I had come from another flight and I wasn’t in the mood for her bull-sh*t.

One of my ears was popped and the other wasn’t, my back was hurting and I was sure they would lose my luggage. How did they know it moved to another plane? I knew it would be lost and god knows what would be there when I arrived and had to take a bus for four hours closer to the middle of the destination. Why couldn’t they have just driven to Dallas and picked me up. Instead of making me haul my ass on two planes and a bus.

It was May, and the Texas sun was beating on my face. As the greyhound traveled down the road at a rather slower pace then I deemed acceptable travel speed. It was bad enough I was getting hot. The old man next to me was getting smellier by the second. The beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his face made me want to vomit. I closed my eyes and hoped that death would take me.

I AM NOT GOING! I screamed at my mother.

Yes you ARE MIA!! She screamed right back.

No I’m not, I don’t even KNOW them! I huffed crossing my arms, my arms growing stiff.

That doesn’t matter Mia, you're going. My brother is kindly taking you from me. I cannot handle this anymore. Its summer vacation and I have to work. I cannot leave you here to cause problems and trouble all day long. I am not bailing you out of jail anymore. I will be looking into a school to send you when summer is over, and that is what is going to happen. My mother said sternly, her eyes not even a flicker of remorse.

I’m not going. I muttered, under my breath.

Yes you are. She retorted. And it’s final. Your father agrees.

Oh he does, how lovely. Amazing to hear he even gives a shit. I spit back out of spite.

My father hasn’t talked to me in months. It’s been at least six of them. He has the grace to call me every six months and ask me how I am. How big of him really. He hasn’t cared about my well being since he married that women and started a new life without me in it.

It’s final Mia, go pack your bags, you leave in the morning. She said crossing her arms and walking away.

I’M NOT GOING! I yelled at her retreating back, throwing my arms up for good measure at her back.

YESS YOU ARE! she yelled back, closing the door to her bedroom with a hard thump, the photos on the walls shaking at the force.

My head hit the bus’s window harder than, I had ever expected it to ever bounce and realized that the bus had come to a stop. Its stop had woken me from my lovely family memory. I had been on this bus for two hours. It felt like my legs were made of jell-o. The sweaty man who was next to me, was now no where to be found.

Thank god.

I got up and stretched my back, putting my arms up high, cracking it a bit. I grabbed my bag and shuffled off the seats and into the aisle. Making my way outside of the bus I saw people walking around talking, eating.

We were at a rest stop it seemed, as if on cue, my stomach rumbled loudly. Guess I should probably eat something. Considering when I got to the bus station after my two long hell flights I had not eaten in a while. It wasn’t like I could change my clothes or even un-change my clothes because my luggage was missing.

Just like I knew it would be. Didn’t I originally say that?

I had a tiny carry on which held a few shirts and some shorts. I was stuck with only two pairs of underwear, three shirts and one pair of shorts. Which was bullshit, how could this get any worse?

Considering that I didn’t really have that much in my other suitcase besides some books and paper, and some clothes. My camera was in my bag. So at least I had a mind not to stick it in my suitcase.

The few random things I had put into my suitcase weren’t that important anyways. I was just a little bit pissed. Wouldn’t you be if you were banished from your life?

I made my way to this little shack that had some bench seats out front of it, and ordered some cheese fries. After eating my weight in cheese fries I heard the bus driver announce that the bus was departing and all passengers should board.

Not that I wanted to be sitting for another two and a half hours until we got to the next big-ish town where my Uncle was suppose to be picking me up from was waiting.

At least I hope he was waiting.

I got back on that nasty bus against my better judgment.

The old man was already sitting and he got up slightly to let me pass in front of him. I was almost positive it was so he could feel me up.

Gross, if my skin wasn’t crawling before it sure was now.

I sat in my seat and drifted back into a dreamless sleep, only because I was exhausted. There was no normal reason I’d be asleep next to that pervert unless I passed out cold. I was just glad there was an empty seat between us.

CLARKSVILLE the driver yelled. I smacked my head on the window again waking up quickly, the rate I was going I was going to have a huge lump on the side of my head. Possibly even horrible damage.

That would show my mother.

My brains slightly clicked back into place once I realized.

Shit this was my stop.

The bright sunlight blinded me. I pulled my shades down onto my eyes and grumpily got up and shuffled my way out of the seat, down the aisle and towards the front.

The old gross man was already gone so that was a plus.

The door to the bus opened, a couple of people got off before me. I made my way down the steps shading my eyes from the blinding light. I stepped down off the bus and looked around. It was like Main Street from a country western only much emptier.

It smelled like feet and dirt.

The people who had gotten off before me were all getting into cars and already driving away. I stood there as the bus started up and began to pull away.

I turned around quickly hoping I could get back on that bus and it would drive me back to my beloved City.

This was so wrong. I didn’t understand how anyone could actually get banished from their own home. How was this even legal? Sending your kid away to live with a relative. It’s not like I stole a baby or anything. The crime didn’t fit the punishment whatsoever.

When the bus pulled away I looked to my left and saw a Red Chevy pickup truck. It had a man standing on the tailgate. Man. Well I guess it was a man. He looked young like me, only maybe a bit older. He couldn’t be my uncle. He looked like your typical Cowboy. Hat and all. I snorted to myself. He had to be some kind of relation.

He jumped off the tailgate and walked over towards me.

You must be Me-Me he said with a thick Texas accent.

It’s Mia. I replied, rolling my eyes profusely.

Riiight, ME-Yah he said, his hands doing this weird point thing but, not a point. Gotcha!

Who are you? I asked, taking a step back, this was getting annoying. I had half a mind to walk away and start heading somewhere I could catch another bus to Vegas.

Me? I’m Ethan, your cousin he said with a chuckle making his way back towards the truck after grabbing my carry on bag and tossing it into the back of the pickup, throwing up that tailgate and climbing inside.

Right. I said standing there confused. So Uncle Chris couldn’t come?

Naw, he had some business he had to take care of, but he sent me instead to come getcha. Ethan smiled, like it held some joke I didn’t know.

Right…Awesome. I said, climbing into the beat up truck. How would this thing make it to the Ranch? I would be completely beside myself if it did.

Buckle-up! Ethan shouted.

I turned towards him and scowled. I buckled the belt and held on to the door for dear life. he backed out of the parking space he had made for himself like he was in some kind of Redneck nascar pre-race and sped down the road away from the town we were just kind of in. what town there actually was.

So…how long of a drive in this going to be anyways? I huffed in frustration, crossing my arms.

About 16 miles. Maybe a half hour. He said back with a big smile on his face, I really wanted to lean over and just smack it right off his face.

Great…Another half hour of hell.

Chapter Two

Being in Hell, sounded about a hundred percent better than my current location. Being in hell would have been like going to a nightclub on a Saturday night, compared to this truck right. My cousin, whom I was currently dreaming of ways I could strangle or mutilate, was yacking away like a society girl at a frat party.

This eternally long, loud and annoying car ride with this jackass, talking my ears off my head, couldn’t end soon enough. I felt like if I didn't see a Starbucks or a sidewalk soon. I was going to jump out of this moving vehicle in hopes that death would be quick.

If he said one more thing about rodeos, horses or his friends I was going to go for the jump. Death be a pleasurable experience.

Homicide was an option. There was a knife in my bag and I knew how to use it.

Sweet faced Ethan wouldn’t see it coming, while I jabbed the knife into his throat, his artery just sitting there yelling at me to slash it clean.

Granted I’d probably die in the wreckage of the car crash but I wouldn’t have to listen to him talking anymore.

Choices….such hard choices.

So, the ranch house is pretty big. Mom cleared out a room for ya, she had Val help her paint it and put new stuff inside. It looks pretty good. My cousins annoying voice rambled on and on.

The sound making me grip the door handle with joy.

JUMP ME NOW! Before I cut out my own eardrums with my knife.

Someone save me from this hell.

I almost hoped for a drunk driver to come out of nowhere and T-bone us.

Awesome I mumbled hoping he didn't hear me and think it was an invitation to talk more.

We’ll be there in a jiffy. He said finally breaking the quiet. I was beginning to hope he had lost his voice. We had a whole great five minutes of silence.

Great I said miffed. – Clearly he didn’t get that memo. Silence was golden.

Yup. He replied strumming his fingers on the steering wheel. This guy had like ADD or something he couldn’t shut up or sit still.

After another five minutes of total silence I was thanking the world for this happy silent time.  The truck pulled off to the right on a dirty road and started to bounce around. My behind instantly didn’t like the idea of this rollercoaster ride. We passed a large pasture with a shit load of cows in it. The smell made me want to gag. It was worse than the smell of the town before.

I should have rolled the windows up quicker. As the truck made its way down the road we passed under this huge wood sign hanging up on posts that said Tripple C.  We must be almost there. As, we obviously, started to get closer then I heard sounds of thumping on the ground.  I wasn’t even sure I wanted to know what those sounds came from.

We sped down the dirt road through giant trees, taller then the sky. Until we turned quickly up a hill and a huge yellow house came into view. It was Victorian style with white trim, light yellow paint. It was a fairy tale house, something out of the movies.

People were walking around, a lot of them.

We pulled up and stopped by the front porch steps. Ethan killed the engine on the truck and I finally felt like I could hear again. I opened my door and jumped down, my combat boots kicking up red dirt from the ground, making a puffy smoke-like cloud billow around my feet.  I turned around and grabbed my bag from inside the truck, closed the door and turned around to look up at the big house.

I was so over travel, the flight ended all happiness I could have had. Not that I was happy about this but, I had to make the best of it until I could get the hell out of here.

Come on! Ethan yelled at me as he came around the back of the truck my carry on bag in his hand. He carried it like it weighed nothing, to him maybe it did.

I looked to my left and saw some men huddled together on a fence post yelling at someone else who must have been on the inside of the fence.  They had mostly looked my way a couple of times and looked away. Getting back to whatever they were invested in. I put my sunglasses on the face and turned to follow Ethan up the steps and into the house. The inside matched the outside only the yellow was softer and more flowery. It looked like one of those home magazines. The kind I wanted to maybe rip apart at home and puke on, maybe stuff down the toilet and flush.

When you walked right inside there was a big staircase right in your face. It was like Welcome to our home, here are our stairs! Whoever built this beauty didn’t think that through. I laughed to myself.

This place was so weird. It was like Suzy homemaker would come popping out from the kitchen with a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

I really hoped my Aunt wasn’t Suzy homemaker, I didn’t think I had it in me to put up with that.

Soft country music was playing to my left in the living room where huge couches sat in front of a massive television. It was one of those screens you couldn’t believe existed. To big to just be normal. My dad had one of his own to go along with the overcompensation of her new lifestyle. Madam prissy pants liked everything to be perfect.

Just like she thought she was.

I heard the sound of boots coming from the left and a women came into view. She wore a pair of jeans and a plaid shirt like Ethan. Only hers was pink, red and white. Her blue jeans were tight and her boots were an easy beige color they looked old and worn. She had a big smile on her face, too much smile.

She had one of those faces that made you feel like you were instantly welcome. Her blond hair was straight and short to her shoulders. She was slender, and not to tall.

You’re here! she said, her