In Plain Sight

In Plain Sight
Margot Dalton

Welcome to Crystal Creek, TexasIf this is your first visit to the friendly ranching town of Crystal Creek, deep in the Texas hill country, get ready to meet some unforgettable people. If you've been here before, you'll recognize old friends and make some new ones.Isabel Delgado has to fake her own death in order to get away from her vengeful husband. But when her plan goes awry, she finds herself stranded in Crystal Creek and in more danger than ever. Then rancher Dan Gibson has an idea–marry him. Dan needs help raising his three small kids, and Isabel needs a new identity.Perfect! Except Isabel's feeling for Dan–and his for her–could put them both in a different kind of danger.

“We can get married.”

Isabel’s jaw dropped as she turned to stare at Dan. “Married? How would it help to marry a total stranger?”

“It would give you a legal name. One that wouldn’t jump out at anyone searching a computer bank. Instead of Isabel Delgado, you’d be Bella Gibson. You can apply for credit cards and other forms of identification under that name.”

Isabel was silent. “Even if I agreed to this,” she said at last, “it’s not possible to get married without some proof of identification and citizenship, is it?”

“It’s possible,” he said calmly, “when my cousin’s the county clerk.”

She studied him, amazed to be having this conversation and even more astonished that she was actually considering his offer. At that moment another obstacle presented itself.

“This house is so small,” she said at last, her cheeks flaming. “And your children are in all the other bedrooms. If we’re supposed to be married…”

Dear Reader,

Almost ten years ago, Harlequin approached a number of authors with an exciting new idea. We were given the challenge of helping to create a central Texas town and ranching community, along with a host of exciting, heartwarming characters to populate this setting. The result was the 24-book CRYSTAL CREEK series, which has remained popular with readers since publication of the very first book in 1993.

As an author, I loved everything about writing the CRYSTAL CREEK books. So you can imagine my excitement when the Superromance editors suggested I might want to return to Crystal Creek with a new series of books. I could hardly wait! In Plain Sight, the beginning of the new miniseries, will bring back many of your old favorites. Bubba Gibson and Mary are here, still raising their ostriches, along with J. T. McKinney, Manny Hernandez, Howard Blake and Nora Slattery down at the Longhorn. More and more of the familiar townsfolk will pop up in the next two books, along with some newcomers you’re going to like, as well.

I loved making this nostalgic return to Crystal Creek. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Warmest regards,

Margot Dalton

Crystal Creek titles by Margot Dalton

HARLEQUIN SUPERROMANCE

928—CONSEQUENCES.

940—THE NEWCOMER.

In Plain Sight

Margot Dalton

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE (#u9fc312b4-692d-51b0-b4e7-ad9a6619754d)

CHAPTER TWO (#uaa2d53cb-280b-53ec-a420-2f827ba4b7d2)

CHAPTER THREE (#u09a8e928-5294-537a-85d3-1d797879ba43)

CHAPTER FOUR (#u51b33304-96ba-54cf-af18-2673ac7e8457)

CHAPTER FIVE (#u2c66c524-a2e0-5a62-ab1e-1ec3490fb1f5)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE

ISABEL DELGADO was a precise, orderly person. She liked things to work the way they were supposed to, and objects to be stored in their proper places. At school she’d sometimes been accused of keeping the contents of her handbag in alphabetical order.

That was an exaggeration, but she did compartmentalize with care.

No messy rummaging for Isabel. She could put her hand instantly on a nail file, a pack of tissues or a library card.

So when it came time to plan her death, she embarked on the project with the same meticulous care.

Everything in her plan had to function smoothly, with no loose ends or messy slipups. Isabel realized all too well that good preparation was her only chance to achieve any possibility of life after death.

For weeks she planned her “fatal accident.” She’d driven around the Texas countryside north of San Antonio to scout the best possible locations, imagining the scenario, trying to anticipate anything that could go wrong.