Page 18 of The Photograph

“Maybe next time. Thank you for a wonderful evening, Aelin.”

The woman is a menace.

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Aelin

We’re nearing the end of stage one of the work at Holloway. We’ve laid the floorings and carpets and installed the curtains and lighting fixtures.

The furniture will be delivered in a couple of days which gives me a bit of time to catch up on paperwork. Emma will be at the office for the whole day instead of only the morning while she devotes the rest of the day to her studies, so we can work on invoices, bills, and all the essential, but not fun parts, of the business.

Emma’s impressively good at it, and I shamelessly delegate to her for all this. She’s also a genius with computers who created a curated software which allows me to show my clients whattheirnewly decorated spaces would look like.

I also miss my best friend. Since I’ve started on Holloway House, we’ve barely seen each other, so this morning I made chocolate eclairs, pancakes, as well as bacon and eggs. As I pour syrup over the plate of pancakes, her lilted voice reaches me.

“Ael?”

“In the kitchen.”

Seconds later, she stops in between the archway and grins. “Holy shit. All this for us?”

I turn off the stove and we fall into each other’s arms. I love my Em.

She holds my hands and giggles. “Morning, boss.”

“Morning, darling.”

After filling her glass with apple juice, we settle at the table. “Let’s eat because we have tons to do before I go back to Holloway.”

Holding my mug of tea, I tilt my head to the side. “How’s my goddaughter?”

Em’s face lights up as it does every time Samantha’s mentioned. “Turning four in six months and Mom’s already planning a party which starts to sound more and more like a freaking wedding!”

Mindy, Emma’s very hands-on mom, dotes on Samantha, which is great but also seems to aggravate my friend to no end. We catch up for a few more minutes then get to task.

Well into the afternoon, I roll my neck from side to side and get on my feet. As I walk past Em’s desk, I ask, “I’m going to the kitchen. Can I get you anything?”

She shakes her head but as I pivot toward the kitchen, she catches my arm. “Okay. Spill.”

What?“Spill what?”

She narrows her perceptive eyes, takes my hand to lead me to the small couch in my drawing room where we sit face to face. Her pretty face looks angelic in this light.

“You’ve been in a funk. Is the work on Holloway going okay?”

I nod. “Everything’s fine.”

She frowns and smiles at the same time, the way only she can. “So why are you so quiet? And by that, I mean not your usual dreamy quiet, you’re almost … broody.”

Oh, shoot.“I am? I’m sorry, Em.”

My best friend squeezes my hands. “Don’t be. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

I dip my chin, Cara would go into protective overdrive and be all over me, but it’s Em, so I scoot closer. “It’s Gabe… He’s uh…” I shake my head. I don’t even know how to put it in words.

She leans in. “He’s what?”

I take a deep breath. “I’m really attracted to him, and I think he’s attracted to me, too, but I’m not sure…”

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