Carlson Melody - Stealing Bradford

OTHER BOOKS BY MELODY CARLSON:

Carter House Girls series

Mixed Bags (Book One)

Girls of 622 Harbor View series

Project: Girl Power (Book One)

Project: Mystery Bus (Book Two)

Project: Rescue Chelsea (Book Three)

Project: Take Charge (Book Four)

Project: Raising Faith (Book Five)

Project: Run Away (Book Six)

Books for Teens

The Secret Life of Samantha McGregor Series

Diary of a Teenage Girl Series

TrueColors Series

Notes from a Spinning Planet Series

Degrees Series

Piercing Proverbs

By Design Series

Womens Fiction

These Boots Werent Made for Walking

On This Day

An Irish Christmas

The Christmas Bus

Crystal Lies

Finding Alice

Three Days

Grace Chapel Inn Series including

Hidden History

Ready to Wed

Back Home Again

ZONDERVAN

Stealing Bradford

Copyright 2008 by Melody Carlson

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

ePub Edition June 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-85658-0

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Carlson, Melody.

Stealing bradford / by Melody Carlson.

p. cm.(Carter House girls; bk. 2)

Summary: DJs efforts to make sense of Christianity, prayer, and the Bible only seem to make it harder for her to deal with the inability of the girls in her grandmothers boardinghouse to get along, especially after Taylor begins flirting with Rhiannons boyfriend.

ISBN 978-0-310-71489-7 (softcover)

[1. Christian lifeFiction 2. Interpersonal relationsFiction.

3. BoardinghousesFiction. 4. GrandmothersFiction 5. High schoolsFiction

6. SchoolsFiction 7. Conduct of lifeFiction 8. ConnecticutFiction] I. Title.

PZ7.C216637Ste 2008

[Fic]dc22

2008001421

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Interior design by Christine Orejuela-Winkelman

IM SORRY, BUT MY CARS just not big enough for all the girls, announced Eliza as they were finishing breakfast. She pushed a glossy strand of blonde hair away from her face and then took a slow sip of coffee. As usual, Eliza was stylishly dressed, her hair and makeup absolutely perfect, and she looked ready to make her big debut at Crescent Cove High today.

And Ive already reserved my ride with Eliza, said Taylor a bit too smugly. She too was perfectionat least on the surface. But DJ was well aware that looks can be deceiving.

Eliza smiled at DJ now. And I told Kriti she could ride with me toowhich only leaves room for one more. Eliza and DJ hadnt really spoken since last night when theyd made their splashy entrance into Harrys beach-house party together. A few hours and a lifetime later, DJ had left the party and driven all the girls (except Taylor and Eliza who werent ready to go) back to the Carter House in her grandmothers car. They barely made it home before curfew, and DJ felt certain that the party-hardy girls, Taylor and Eliza, got back quite a bit later than that. Although, as far as DJ knew, Mrs. Carter hadnt said a word.

Naturally, this double standard aggravated DJ. Not that it was unexpected since her grandmother clearly favored those two, but it did seem a bad omen for the year ahead. Still, DJ was determined not to complain. Because today was not only the first day of school, it was also the first day following DJs amazing life-changing episode on the beach last night. And she didnt want to blow it by getting mad.

Schools not that far away, pointed out Rhiannon. I dont mind walking. Thats how I used to get there.

DJ had walked to school last year as well. And she wouldnt mind walking today, except that she had on a new pair of Michael Kors shoesones that Eliza had coaxed her to buy, telling her they would be perfect for the first day of school. Now DJ wondered if she should run upstairs and change them. Maybe she should change her whole outfit and go back to her old style of casual grunge sportswear. Although she knew that would upset her grandmother, not to mention Eliza.

I will drive the other girls to school today, proclaimed Mrs. Carter with a loud sigh. DJ could tell that her grandmother was not pleased with this setup. Still, wasnt this her own fault for boarding this many girls? She shouldve considered there might be transportation problems down the line.

Eliza smiled at DJ now. So, do you want to ride with us then?

DJ glanced over at Casey and Rhiannon. These two still looked like the Carter House misfits, although at least Rhiannon was trying. Casey, on the other hand, could clearly not care less. DJ briefly considered abandoning them to ride with Elizain the cool car. And maybe she wouldve done just that yesterday. But today things were different. She was different. And so she simply shook her head. No, thats okay, Eliza. I can ride with my grandmother today.

Eliza frowned. Are you sure?

Yeah, but thanks anyway. DJ could tell that Eliza was not happy about her choice. And she suspected that Eliza had hoped to make a flashy entrance this morning, probably with Taylor on one side and DJ on the othermaybe with Kriti trailing slightly behind them like a handmaid. And, of course, Eliza probably hoped that Rhiannon and Casey, who did not measure up to her fastidious fashion standards, would lag somewhere far, far behind.

Well, Im going up to put on my finishing touches, said Eliza lightly. And then Ill be ready. As if on cue, the breakfast table began to vacate. And before long, they were all on their way to school. The sporty white Porsche, with its three fashionable girls, drove about a block ahead, while Mrs. Carters more sensible silver Mercedes followed discretely behind.

Rhiannon and Casey sat silently in the backseat, and DJ sat next to her grandmother, wondering what school would be like this year. Feeling nervous, she fidgeted with the handle of her Herms bag. Of course, this only reminded her of that embarrassing moment at the beach when Taylor had used the contents in the purse to humiliate her. Still, it seemed that DJ and Conner had made it past that. It seemed that he had really liked her. And she knew she liked him. Theyd even gone out since then. And after that, it seemed that their relationship had begun to unravel.

Still, she couldnt put her finger on what had gone wrong between them last night. Maybe she would never know. On one hand, she told herself that it might be for the best. After all, she had just invited Jesus into her heart. Perhaps that was what she needed to focus on for the time being. And yet, she couldnt deny that she still really liked Conner. And she still wanted him to like her. She tried to block the disturbing image of him and Taylor dancing together last night. Or Taylors superior expression this morning. Like shed won. And she reminded herself that Conner had kissed herbefore hed said what sounded like a final good-bye. None of it made much sense. And thinking about it just frustrated her more.