She thought about Gracie Kessler. Her performance review was coming up in 2 weeks. If this got back to her, if Julian said even a fraction of what happened, it wouldn't just be embarrassing. It could cost her the promotion she'd been chasing for 3 years. It could cost her the job entirely.
"Mr. Marrow," she tried again, softer this time, more careful. "I hope this doesn't affect our business relationship. Halbrook truly values the partnership with your farm. " Julian didn't look at her. Funny how much you value something the second you realize it can hurt you.
Haley pressed her lips together, saying nothing, because there was nothing left to say that wouldn't dig her deeper. The captain's voice crackled overhead, announcing their initial descent, asking flight attendants to prepare the cabin for landing. Haley barely heard it. Her mind was somewhere else entirely, spinning through damage control, trying to figure out exactly how bad this was going to get. She glanced sideways at Julian one more time, searching his face for any hint of what he was thinking, any sign of whether he planned to let this go or blow it wide open.
His expression gave her nothing. Calm. Unreadable. A man who'd already decided something and wasn't in any hurry to share it. Haley turned back toward her own window, watching the clouds thin out below them, revealing the sprawling grid of the city coming into view.
Her stomach turned right along with the plane. Whatever was waiting for her on the ground, she had a sinking feeling it wasn't going to stay contained to just this flight. The plane landed with a hard bump and Haley Albert was on her feet the second the seatbelt sign flicked off, pulling her bag from the overhead bin before the flight attendants had even finished their announcements. She wanted distance. She wanted to be anywhere but three feet from Julian Morrow.
She didn't say goodbye. She didn't look back. Her phone buzzed the moment she stepped into the jet bridge and she glanced down at it expecting an email about tomorrow's schedule. It wasn't that. It was a video.
Her name tagged underneath it. Halbrook Foods tagged right beside it. Someone had posted the clip from the plane. Her voice sharp and ugly demanding Julian be moved. The comments were already piling up, fast and furious.
Strangers she'd never met calling her exactly what she was starting to fear she might actually be. Her stomach dropped. She walked faster, weaving through the terminal in a daze, barely registering the signs pointing toward baggage claim. Her mind spun through options. Delete her social media?
Call legal? Call Milo Danes in PR? But none of it felt fast enough to outrun what was already spreading. Down at the baggage carousel, Julian Morrow stood waiting for his single canvas duffel, calm as ever, like nothing on that plane had rattled him at all. A young man jogged up to him grinning wide.