Unveiling the Bridesmaid by Jessica Gilmore

nothing. Until he’d started Expose and made them need him.
    â€˜That must have been tough.’ Her dark eyes were limpid with a sympathy he hadn’t asked for and certainly didn’t want.
    â€˜Expensive education, great allowance and a suite of rooms in one of the oldest and grandest houses in the Hamptons? Yeah, I suffered.’ But Gael didn’t know if his words fooled Hope. He certainly never managed to fool himself. He greeted the elevator with relief. ‘Come on, I’ll buy you a coffee and fill you in on everything you need to know about life with the Carlyles. I’ll warn you, you may need to take notes. There’s a lot to learn.’ For Gael as well as Hope. He wasn’t entirely sure why he’d decided to go all This is Your Life with her but one thing he did know. He wouldn’t let his guard down again.

CHAPTER FOUR
    â€˜I T ’ S ALL SET UP and ready to go. Where do you want me to start?’ Hope was perched on one achingly trendy and even more achingly uncomfortable high stool, her laptop set up on the kitchen counter, her bright yellow skirt and dotted cream blouse feeling incongruously feminine and delicate set against the stainless steel and matt black cupboards and worktops.
    To one side was Gael’s own laptop and several backup drives plus a whole box of printed photos, most of which had names and dates pencilled on the back. Hope had spent the morning looking through the box and scanning through a couple of the hard drives before setting up the spreadsheets and database she was planning to use.
    Gael strolled into the kitchen carrying yet another box, which he set next to the first. Great. Even more photos. ‘I think you are best off starting with the old blog posts. They’re all archived and filed.’ He pushed one of the hard drives towards her and Hope plugged it into the side of her laptop.
    â€˜Okay. So what do you want? Names obviously so we can cross reference them, dates—what else?’
    â€˜Any references made to the subjects in Expose . Once we’ve finished with that we’ll move on to the photos I either didn’t use or were taken after the blog closed down. We’ll only need names and dates unless they were used professionally in which case the magazine will need referencing as well. Most are saved with all the relevant information but any that aren’t put aside into a separate folder and I’ll go through them with you at the end of each day.’
    She was scribbling fast, taking notes. ‘Got it. I don’t think it’ll take too long. You’ve kept good notes and everything seems to be labelled...’ She hesitated and he looked at her. Really looked at her for the first time since they had left the Empire State Building yesterday afternoon. Oh, she’d spent time with him. Had coffee, learned some tips on handling her new in-laws-to-be, drawn up a list of possible venues for her sister’s wedding, but he had retreated behind a shield of courtesy and efficiency. She barely knew him and yet that sudden withdrawal left her feeling lonelier than she had for a long time.
    â€˜Everything okay?’
    â€˜Yes, it’s just... Obviously I know that you’re a photographer.’
    â€˜Were,’ he corrected her. ‘Hence the retrospective. I’m a struggling unknown artist now.’
    Hope looked around at the kitchen full of gleaming appliances, each worth the same amount as a small car, and repressed a smile. There were few signs of struggling in the studio. ‘ Were a photographer. And you do—did—a lot of society shoots and fashion magazines and stuff...’
    â€˜And?’
    â€˜Where does the blog fit in? If I’m going to catalogue properly I need to know what I’m dealing with.’ Somehow Brenda had failed to make this clear in any one of her excitable emails, most of which just reminded Hope how important this assignment was.
    Gael