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chapter thirty-six

Graham

M inutes after the plane took off, a baby started crying a few rows behind us, and it never stopped.

It wasn’t a soft, pitiful cry, either. It was more of a scream, and no amount of shushing or singing was lessening it one bit.

As frustrating as the nonstop wailing was, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the parents.

“Better get used to that, Graham,” Meghan said from across the aisle, giving me a grin. “You’re going to be hearing that sound a lot in a few months.”

I let out a chuckle. “You’re right.”

On my other side, Xander’s knee stopped shaking and he looked up from his phone, his eyes flicking from me to Jill. Ah, hell. He thought Jill was pregnant.

“My daughter’s having a baby,” I clarified.

There was a flash of relief on his face. But then he muttered, “Didn’t ask,” pulling his hood up over his head and turning away.

I didn’t take it personally. In fact, it made me smile. Because Jill had chosen me, a forty-year-old man about to become a literal grandpa, over him, and I knew that had to sting.

Good.

He could stand to be humbled every now and then. I just hoped his bruised ego wouldn’t push him into opening his mouth and exposing Jill and me.

In the back of my mind, I kept thinking about that conversation with Chris from the IndyStar and how he wanted Xander to apply for the regional reporter position. How I’d told Chris that Xander was one of the best damn writers the Woodvale Times had ever seen.

Maybe Xander would respect me more if I actually said that out loud to him. I would, someday—and soon. But in that moment, I leaned my head back against the seat, trying to tune out my restless thoughts and the fussy baby.

When I glanced toward Jill, all I could see were her hands, opening a packet of Biscoff cookies over her tray. I heard her sigh, like she was already feeling the weight of everything that awaited us back in Woodvale. I felt it too.

At least she was eating something.

Just as I was about to doze off, the seatbelt light dinged as the plane began its descent. I put my tray up and sighed, stretching one leg out into the aisle when the flight attendants were done collecting trash.

We touched down with a bump, and Xander hunched forward with a sigh, pulling his phone out of his hoodie pocket as the notifications began to roll in.

We taxied down the runway, and I was momentarily distracted by the man in front of us who was already standing up like he was somehow going to get to the gate faster than the rest of us.

And then, out of nowhere, a phone appeared in front of me.

Xander held it out wordlessly, letting me read the texts on the screen. “What’s this?” I asked, but I got my answer a second later.

Intern: Are you gonna be back today

Intern: I have something to tell you

Intern: It’s about your exgirlfriend

It was safe to assume “intern” was how he had Isaiah saved in his phone. And it was just as painfully easy to conclude that this was about Jill. And me.

Dread flowed through every vein, and I looked up at Xander’s face. He returned my panicked expression, almost like he was genuinely concerned. “Looks like he’s already talking.”

“Fuck.”

If he was texting Xander, there was a good chance he’d already run his mouth to someone else.

Like his family.

Or the other interns. Including my daughter.

I’d thought we had more time. Naively, maybe. I had hoped I could get ahead of this and control the narrative. We could have disclosed our relationship to HR before they caught wind of it from someone else. But it was starting to look like that window had already closed.

I watched Xander screenshot the texts and forward them to Jill. She read them just as we stood up to deboard, her eyes snapping to mine in horror as she reached for her bag.

We couldn’t talk about it now. Not here. All I could do was frown and shake my head.

As soon as we stepped off the jet bridge and into the terminal, Jill came to an abrupt stop and turned toward the others. “I need to talk to Graham alone for a minute. Can you guys wait for us somewhere?”

Meghan nodded toward the little café in the center of the terminal. “We can grab coffee. Do you guys want me to order you something?”

Jill and I both shook our heads, and we watched Xander and Chase follow Meghan to get in line. We moved to an area near the windows overlooking the tarmac, away from the people waiting on their flights. I sighed, letting go of my suitcase handle to put my hands in my pockets.

It was time to come up with a plan. We didn’t have the luxury of hiding from this problem anymore. Whether we liked it or not, it was time to face this mess head-on. We had to act.

And I wanted to do it the right way.

I opened my mouth to tell her this—to suggest that we come clean to HR together, tell them what Isaiah saw, and own up to the secret relationship—when Jill looked at me and said, “Xander has dirt on Noah Sherman.”

I blinked. “What?”

“He’s having an affair with one of the baristas at Riverside Coffee. Xander has proof.”

My jaw tightened as I stared at her in confusion. I wasn’t sure I’d heard her right.

“We can use that against him if he threatens to expose us to get better campaign coverage,” she said, tucking her hair behind one ear with a hopeful look in her eyes, as if she weren’t casually suggesting extorting a politician.

And it was like a punch to the gut. All I could do was stand there and stare at her with my mouth slowly dropping open; because Jesus Christ , look what I had her doing.

She was standing in an airport terminal talking about blackmailing one of the most powerful men in our city like it was a perfectly reasonable next step.

I thought about Isaiah’s words in the parking lot, about how Xander told him that the longer people try to hide something, the messier it gets. But we were already in the center of a mess.

I cleared my throat. “Jill, let’s be rational.

Noah isn’t our only problem, and even if he were, blackmail isn’t the answer.

” I paused, glancing up at a plane on the tarmac slowly crawling toward the gate.

“I think we just need to come clean. Go to HR. Disclose the relationship like we should’ve when it first started. ”

She blinked at me. “And what happens then?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, swallowing hard. “It won’t be up to us anymore."

Jill’s lips pressed into a thin line. She glanced toward the café where the others were standing at the counter.

Then, turning back to me, she raked her fingers through her hair and sighed.

“They’re probably already looking for reasons to let me go after my on-air breakdown,” she said quietly. “This could be it for me.”

She paused, locking her eyes on mine. And her next words crumpled me.

“Or worse—they could go after you.”

Or worse? Fucking hell.

“You shouldn’t be worrying about that right now,” I said, scowling at the ground.

“With your health and everything else you’re already dealing with, the only thing you should be thinking about today is your appointment with the rheumatologist. I should be the last thing—” I paused, trying to swallow.

“The last thing on your mind right now.”

I struggled with the last few words, the lump in my throat making it damn near impossible to speak. I kept picturing her in Times Square holding back tears over me, when she should’ve been smiling and laughing with her friends. She’d missed out on everything.

I’d ruined NYC for her.

And maybe her career, too.

“But you’re always the first thing on my mind every day,” Jill said, her voice just above a whisper. “And the last thing on my mind before I fall asleep. I think about you all the time, Graham.”

I looked up. “Well, you shouldn’t,” I snapped, shifting on my feet. “Jesus, Jill. I’m just a stupid man who stupidly fell for someone way out of his league. You were supposed to realize that a long time ago.”

“I guess I’m stupid, too,” she shot back with a sarcastic shrug.

“Great. The only thing we’ve established with this conversation is that we’re both stupid.”

“And now our stupid friends are walking over here,” she said without tearing her eyes off my face, “so maybe we should wrap this up.”

I wanted to point out that they were her stupid friends and my stupid employees, but that would only highlight the absurdity of our entire predicament. The word “stupid” didn’t even feel like a real word anymore by the time Meghan, Chase, and Xander wandered over with their coffees.

“You guys good now?” Meghan asked.

Jill and I stared at each other. Were we?

I drew in a sharp breath, reaching for my suitcase. “Let’s put a pin in that and discuss it more tomorrow,” I told Jill, like I was wrapping up a meeting with an employee. Then again, that’s exactly what the fuck I was doing.

She huffed out an annoyed sigh before gripping the handle of her suitcase and dragging it away. The rest of them just stared at me like I’d done something wrong. “Let’s go.”

The five of us walked in tense silence through the airport to the parking garage, where we broke off into our two groups. I loaded my suitcase into the trunk and climbed into the driver’s seat, holding my breath in agony as Chase took the backseat.

Damn it.

Xander slid into the passenger seat beside me, yanked off his hoodie, and let it drop to the floorboard.

“Look, I don’t want her trying to blackmail Noah Sherman,” I said, pulling my seatbelt across my chest. “I wish you wouldn’t have suggested that to her.”

Xander slowly turned his head toward me, his eyes dark with judgment. “Oh, good, Graham Harlowe is taking the moral high ground yet again.”

“Someone has to.”

His lips parted. “Says the man who’s been fucking one of his employees.”

“Fucking her?” I licked my lips, annoyance surging through my veins. “Maybe you were just fucking her, but I’m in a relationship with her. I care about her.”

Xander didn’t even flinch. “Ah, that must be why you’re letting her ruin her reputation over you.”

“It wasn’t supposed—” I drew in a sharp breath, knowing I couldn’t explain myself out of this. I pinched the bridge of my nose, slumping my shoulders forward.

Everything Xander was saying was completely fair.

“Look, I don’t want to fight with you,” I said. “You’re not wrong. I fucked up. I should’ve handled it better. Should’ve protected her.”

Xander was silent. I didn’t wait for him to reply. With a sigh, I sat up straighter and shifted into reverse, backing out of the tight parking space.

In the backseat, Chase cleared his throat and leaned forward, putting his hands on both of our headrests. “Hey, so… I feel like I’ve missed a few memos or a group chat or something. You’ve been sleeping with Jill?”

I just shook my head as I merged onto I-70, too tired to explain. And then I looked over at Xander, who was staring out the window with his arms crossed.

I was supposed to be telling him about the job recruiter from the IndyStar asking about him. However, it suddenly occurred to me that I had no obligation to tell him about the job opening. And I wondered how the pay for this regional reporter gig compared to my current salary.

I blew air out through my nose as I cut over into the left lane, shaking my head at myself.

Jill was talking about extorting a local politician, and I’d just entertained the idea of stealing a job opportunity out from under a man who rightfully deserved it.

This scandal was bringing out the worst in us.