Page 11 of Protective Cowboy

Chapter Three

Unexpected Reunion

Autumn’s stomach clenched in sudden worry.

“We haven’t seen him since you left, honey.” Dad looked around. “Maybe he followed you. Or went over to the petting zoo. He sure loves those dang goats.”

“I’ll check there first. If he’s not there, I’ll start looking around the food tents. He probably made it as far as the ice cream truck and got distracted,” she said, trying to convince herself as much as her parents.

You’re a terrible mother, running off to do social media stuff and flirt with your old boyfriend. Funny how her internal voice sounded just like Phillip. What if someone snatched Jayden because you were busy filming Matt and Daisy?

In a small town like this, stranger danger was rarely a worry. But the festival had brought in so many unfamiliar faces…

Bile rose in Autumn’s throat as worst-case scenarios flooded her imagination.

I have to find him. Now.

“Let’s split up and look for him,” Mom suggested, taking charge of the situation. “I’ll go check the petting zoo; you go back to Main Street and see if he’s at any of the food booths. Bob, why don’t you go over to the games area and look around? If we can’t find him in the next ten minutes, we’ll call 911, then make an announcement.” She tilted her head toward the bandstand with its PA system.

“All right,” Autumn agreed.

She wouldn’t feel better until they found Jayden, but at least they had a plan. And she wouldn’t have to search for him all by herself.

As she retraced her steps down Main Street, Autumn tried to shove away the fear gnawing at the edges of her mind.

This was Snowberry Springs, after all. She knew everyone. And everyone knew Jayden. But she couldn’t help thinking about the hundreds of strangers surrounding her.

“Jayden!” she called out, her voice nearly drowned out by the sounds of people laughing and shouting to be heard over the music.

She reached the end of Main Street, asking all the vendors along the way if they’d seen a little boy with short brown hair and a bright blue Superman t-shirt with matching shorts. No one had seen him.

She felt sick to her stomach with worry.

Hoping against hope that Jayden might be with Summer or Winnie, she pulled out her phone and frantically texted the Snowberry family chat group.

Has anyone seen Jayden? Did he decide to hang out with Kegan? Or April and Abby?

Jayden and his new cousin Kegan Evans were nearly the same age, and Spring’s girls were six and four, respectively.

One by one, Summer, Winnie, and Spring each reported they hadn’t seen Jayden either.

“Damn it,” Autumn muttered under her breath. Icy tendrils of dread coiled around her chest and stomach, squeezing the breath out of her.

It wasn’t like her son to wander off without telling anyone.

Navigating through the sea of people on her way back to Town Square Park, Autumn stopped everyone she recognized, asking them if they’d seen Jayden. No one had.

No help for it, then. She swallowed hard and dialed the police department. To her relief, Amy Wittenmeyer, the town’s longtime police and fire dispatcher, answered immediately.

“Hey, Amy, it’s Autumn. I don’t know if this is an actual emergency,” Autumn began, her fears for Jayden competing with her years of being pressured to never make a fuss. “But Jayden’s gone missing at the festival, and no one’s seen him. I can’t find him anywhere.” Her voice cracked on the last word.

“Oh, honey, I can only imagine how freaked out you must be right now,” Amy said in a soothing tone. “Especially with all these people in town for the weekend. I’ll put out the word right away. I just need some information from you. What was Jayden wearing today?”

Autumn answered all Amy’s questions. In the back of her mind, she was a little surprised that Amy wasn’t mocking her for being so concerned, even though Jayden had only been missing for a short time.

Phillip would have been calling Autumn a drama queen—or worse—for calling the police after twenty minutes.

Instead, Amy assured her she’d alert all the first responders in the area to keep an eye out for Jayden.

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