Page 42 of Flippin' Cowboy
“You’re not—” Winnie began fiercely.
Autumn interrupted. “I mean, Summer’s a famous chef, you’re a TV star, and Spring saved the family ranch by building those vacation cottages. But what haveIaccomplished? I don’t haveanything. I dissolved my marketing firm after Phillip convinced me it would be better for Jayden if I was home full-time with him.” She blew her nose again. “How could I have been so stupid?”
“No one thinks you’re stupid,” Winnie reassured her, sickened by her brother-in-law’s dirty dealings. She hated that she’d been right about him. “Or a failure. You just need a little time to get back on your feet. And becomingReviving Snowberry Springs’publicist is gonna help you restart your marketing business, right?”
Autumn balled up her used tissue and stuffed it into her purse. “We both know I only got that job because of you, sis. It’s a charity gig.” She grimaced.
Winnie snorted. “Have youmetKarla? She doesn’tdocharity. We really needed a social media-savvy marketer to create buzz for my new show. You know, she reviewed your portfolio before agreeing to hire you.”
“Really?” Autumn asked in a low, uncertain voice.
“Really.” Winnie took her eyes off the road long enough to give her sister a sharp look. “So, I don’t want to hear any more nonsense about this being a charity gig. With Geoff and Melanie doing their best to trash me online, my reputation needs all the help it can get. And you’re the only one I trust to do a good job.”
Autumn turned in her seat to face Winnie. “Thank you. Everyone’s been so good to me.”
“That’s what family does,” Winnie told her. “We look out for each other. You guys had my back on the worst day of my life. Now it’s my turn to have yours.”
∞∞∞
Two weeks later
“A season finale viewing party?” Winnie asked in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? What the hell is there tocelebrate?”
She removed a piece of doorframe trim from the table saw she’d been using just before Karla approached her and sent a piece of scrap wood crashing to the floor with a violent sweep of her arm.
“Look, I know it’s a sensitive subject,” Karla said. “But my boss invited reporters fromGossipGawkandEntertainment Weekly, so I’d like you to make an appearance. It doesn’t have to be long.” At Winnie’s scowl, she added in a placating tone, “We rented The Yummy Cowboy for the night and are going to invite your family to join theReviving Snowberry Springscrew.”
“Oh, great,” Winnie said with sarcastic enthusiasm. “I get to relive the worst day of my life with an audience. What a great idea! Thanks a lot, Karla.” She shook her head. “And just when I thought things were going so well, too!”
Karla heaved a sigh. “Please tell me you’ll at least think about it,” she wheedled.
“Believe me, I’ve thought about it plenty.” In fact, as D-Day, a.k.a. “Doom Day,” a.k.a. the night that the final episode ofRestoring Seattleaired on The Renovation Channel, approached, Winnie been trying to avoid obsessing over the date.
Thanks to their contracts with The Renovation Channel and the HomeRenoTV network, both she and Geoff had to participate in a series of “aftermath” interviews about the disastrous wedding.
Last month, Winnie and Karla had squeezed her interviews intoReviving Snowberry Springs’ busy filming schedule. Winnie had hated every minute of being forced to relive The Wedding Day from Hell.
Even now, her stomach clenched and she felt like throwing up every time she remembered how she’d literally been left at the altar in front of five hundred wedding guests and all those cameras.
She lifted the next piece of trim and turned the saw back on. As far as she was concerned, this conversation wasover.
The end of November and beginning of December had passed quickly.
At the ranch, Mom was busy preparing for the first family Christmas together in a long time. The past four years had been busy for all three Snowberry sisters, and at least one of them had missed the family celebration each year. This Christmas, though, they would all be together.
Meanwhile, the inn’s restoration work was going smoothly despite the project’s rocky start. Now that they weren’t constantly butting heads, she found she actually enjoyed working with Nick and trading good-natured banter both on camera and off camera.
As well as being an expert on historical architecture and nineteenth-century interior designs, he was a font of amazing historical knowledge about Montana itself.
They still argued a lot over the details of the restoration, especially when supply chain issues demanded he compromise some of his design details in favor of sticking to the construction schedule.
But at least they were both rowing in the same direction now. She tried to bury herself in work.
To be honest, arguing with Nick over the best ways to restore the inn’s lost historic charm was a welcome distraction from obsessing about the day her life detonated on camera.
Winnie gritted her teeth and forced herself to concentrate on making the cuts.
Last week, Nick had salvaged a bunch of antique Douglas fir doorway and window trim from a place in Belgrade. He had then commissioned Jason Lund to recreate the original dove motif in the corner rosettes.
