Almost Perfect

182 Pages·2011·0.74 MB·English

by  Tracy Marilyn

“Your past isn’t any of my business,” Carolyn told him.
Letter to Reader
Title Page
Books by Marilyn Tracy
About the Author
Dedication
An Almost, Texas Historical Perspective
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
Copyright
“Your past isn’t any of my business,”
Carolyn told him.
“Of course it is,” Pete said. “I’m living in your bunkhouse, eating my meals
with you and your daughters. I’m taking my baths in your house, for God’s sake.
Who’s business is it, if not yours? You should want to know what kind of man
you brought in here.”
Halfway through his words, her eyes had met his and widened. In his list of
things he’d done while he’d been at her ranch, he hadn’t mentioned kissing her,
molding her to his body, enticing her beyond her wildest dreams. But he might
as well have shouted it, for it hung between them like a palpable presence
waiting to be acknowledged.
“Run a check on me, Carolyn. If you want the truth, go to the source,” he
said with a slow, bitter twist to his lips. “Call the FBI.”
Dear Reader,
Once again, you’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for that
seductive mix of romance and excitement that is quintessentially Intimate
Moments. Start the month with The Lady in Red—by reader favorite Linda
Turner. Your heart will be in your throat as rival homicide reporters Blake
Nickels and Sabrina Jones see their relationship change from professional to
personal—with a killer on their trail all the while. And don’t miss the conclusion
of the HOLIDAY HONEYMOONS miniseries, Merline Lovelace’s The 14th. .
.and Forever. You’ll wish for a holiday—and a HOLIDAY HONEYMOON—
every month of the year.
The rest of the month is fabulous, too, with new books from Rebecca
Daniels: Mind Over Marriage; Marilyn Tracy: Almost Perfect, the launch book
in her ALMOST, TEXAS miniseries; and Allie Harrison: Crime of the Heart.
And welcome new author Charlotte Walker, as she debuts with Yesterday’s
Bride. Every one of these books is full of passion, and sometimes peril—don’t
miss a single one.
And be sure to come back next month, when the romance and excitement
continue, right here in Silhouette Intimate Moments.
Enjoy!
Leslie J. Wainger
Senior Editor and Editorial Coordinator
Please address questions and book requests to:
Silhouette Reader Service
U.S.: 3010 Walden Ave., P.O. Box 1325, Buffalo, NY 14269
Canadian: P.O. Box 609, Fort Erie, Ont. L2A 5X3
ALMOST PERFECT
MARILYN TRACY
Books by Marilyn Tracy
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Extreme Justice #532
Code Name: Daddy #736
*Almost Perfect #766
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*Almost, Texas
MARILYN TRACY,
author of twelve Silhouette novels and the widely praised Santa Fe Tarot
Deck, written and designed in collaboration with her artist sister, Holly Huber,
continues to live in Portales, New Mexico, in one of the oldest homes in town.
She wiles away the hours of the day and night behind her computer, locked in
the novel zone; chatting with friends while seated on the back of her forty-foot
cement dragon; picking out a melody at her out-of-tune piano; or hugging her
guitar, writing a new theme song to go with her books.
Marilyn speaks Russian, a smattering of Hebrew, a bit of Spanish, and
claims fluency in Texan. She likes writing about real people with real problems
and loves exploring that moment when two people find a connection that can
bring them happiness. She also loves hearing from her readers, enjoying the
glimpses she receives of their lives, interests and loves.
For John, who really wanted to know how Pete felt.
For Dad, who filled me in on drug deals and state troopers.
For Charles, who buoys me through deadlines.
For Melissa, who believes in Almost, Texas.
And for Chris, who makes fantasies come true.
An Almost, Texas Historical Perspective
Home to some six-hundred sunbaked people, the little town of Almost
huddles the New Mexico-Texas border, roughly at the midpoint of what’s known
as the Panhandle. After nearly a hundred years of hot dispute, the small
community can rightfully take its place in the Texas—and New Mexico—history
books. Not because its townspeople fought at the Alamo, rousted Geronimo
from their land or drove Pancho Villa from their streets, but because a
government surveyor finally decided Almost should delete one state and add a
comma. At that point, Almost found its current identity: Almost, Texas.
The Almost, Texas terrain is flat as the proverbial pancake, except where
former rivers have carved great gullies; arid as the moon, unless a tornado and
flash-flood watch is in progress; and such plant life as can survive the high
summer temperatures and the extreme cold of winter appears spindly, spiky and
utterly alien to the human species, except the lush green fields of maize, peanuts,
potatoes or cotton that farmers lucky enough to have irrigation rights maintain.
In other words, Almost could be called a land of contrasts.
And yet, people live and thrive there.
Almost has a combination minimart grocery store and gas station and a
joint Almost Volunteer Fire Department and Post Office and no stop lights. The
small town also boasts of the quality to be found in the Almost Public School,
covering grades kindergarten through twelfth under one roof, though the junior
class consists of only one student.
The town also offers an active Almost Over-Sixty Club, and the friendliness
found in the Almost Antique Store cum junk shop and the Almost Café—which
serves all-you-can-eat chicken-fried steak on Saturdays and is always closed on
Sundays—can’t be surpassed anywhere in the Texas Panhandle.
The town’s three churches—the Almost Methodist, Almost Baptist, and
Almost Catholic—thrive in the small community and serve as the predominant
social life in the area.
The town also maintains an Almost Historical Society which keeps
exhausting records of all goings-on in the community. Alva Lu Titwater serves
as current president of the society and takes pride in her assiduous accounting of
all events transpiring in Almost today.
According to Alva Lu Titwater, “Dry-land farming—a method whereby
farmers rely on the annual rainfall for whatever water is needed for crop
irrigation and one most farmers will say destines a rich man to be poor—and
graze-land ranching provide the base of Almost’s economy.”
As recently as the 1960s the town could boast seventeen active oil-and-gas
wells. The community of Almost literally boomed. Unfortunately, the oil crunch