Believe in Me: A Rosewood Novel Read Online Free PDF

and began posting on the Internet vicious stories not only about Jade but about her mother, too.
    It was horrible enough to be labeled a whore and have pornographic images of oneself Photoshopped on the Web, but to have one’s dead mother called a cheating slut, to know that stories were being widely circulated about her affairs was more than anyone should bear.
    Wounded, Jade struck back. Unfortunately, her method of retaliation—stealing the boyfriend of Blair Hood, the ringleader of the clique, and making out with him at a wild house party in plain sight of everybody—only landed her in more hot water when the Warburg police arrived, responding to a call from a neighbor who complained about the noise.
    Passed out from drinking shots of Jägermeister, Jade was brought home in the back of a police patrol car, the backseat of which was covered with vomit by the time the cruiser reached Rosewood. It was only the next morning when Margot confronted her that Jade, hungover and scared about her run-in with the police, confided to her about the bullying she was being subjected to at school. With the fierceness of a lioness defending her cub, Margot saw to it that the vile pages on the Web were removed, and that the girls responsible for the sleaze were disciplined by the school.
    All this had happened last year. But even now, judging from the closed expression on their half-sister’s face when she came home from school, Jordan could only assume that the clique of girls behind the Internet bullying had simply switched tactics, tormenting Jade in more devious ways.
    So why should it surprise any of them that Jade’s answer was to try and make herself so unattractive to the boys that the girls would stop seeing her as a threat?
    But her plan hadn’t worked as intended. From the constant buzzing of her cell, the boys were still after her. Not even her bored replies when she bothered to take their calls deterred them.
    If the boys were this crazy for her, then the girls must be puce with jealousy. Navigating a social scene like that had to be a waking nightmare. Jordan only prayed that Jade would manage to keep her cool and not get provoked into doing anything more serious than driving Margot nuts with her polychromatic ’dos.
    Having finished slicing the carrots, Margot arranged the sticks in a neat pile next to Travis’s sandwich and passed him the nearly overflowing plate. “Here you go, honey.”
    “Thanks. This looks great,” he said, a smile spreading across his lightly tanned face. Travis was a very good-looking man. When he smiled at Margot like that, he made movie stars look homely.
    “You want anything else to go with that?” The breathlessness in Margot’s voice showed just how susceptible she was to her husband’s slow smile.
    “Maybe later,” he said softly.
    They stared into each other’s eyes, lost to the rest of the world.
    She was not going to be jealous of Margot and Travis’s happiness, but right now three was most definitely a crowd.
    “Bye, guys,” she said, her voice extra chipper.
    “Oh!” Margot gave a start at the sound of her voice but recovered admirably. “You’re leaving?”
    She nodded. “Miriam will chew me out if she finds I’m still on the premises.”
    “Good luck, sweetie.”
    “Yeah, break a leg, Jordan.”
    “Thanks.” She smiled. “I should be back around three.”
    “I’ll stick a bottle of the champagne Damien gave us as a wedding present in the fridge—we can toast Rosewood Design’s first commission and your taming of Warburg’s scariest dragon lady.”
    “Sounds lovely.” Jordan only hoped she would have something for them to celebrate.
    The Harrison house, formally known as Overlea, was located a mile outside of Warburg. As Jordan drove along the winding country roads that led toward town, she steeled herself for what was bound to be a less than relaxing lunch. Nonie Harrison handily captured the title of Warburg’s most domineering woman, which was