Page 10 of Protective Cowboy

“I’m sure. If that video makes folks smile, then it was worth it.” Her relief was palpable. He couldn’t help adding wryly, “Besides, we caught our suspect, didn’t we?”

She smiled back, and to his relief, the sparkle returned to her deep blue eyes. “For the record, if you ever decide to leave law enforcement, come work for Mom and Dad at the ranch. You’ve got a promising future in goat herding.”

Matt laughed out loud. “What can I say? I’m just naturally talented, I guess.”

Her eyes twinkled. “I can’t argue with that.”

As Autumn left to rejoin her son and family, he realized chasing Daisy had been the most fun he’d had in a long while.

∞∞∞

Maybe Matt’s finally decided to stop giving me the cold shoulder, Autumn thought as she headed back to the town square. Jayden and the rest of her family were waiting there for her.

Matt had been avoiding her since she returned to town last winter, and she hadn’t pushed the issue. After all, she was the one who’d broken things off.

Now she was struck by how quickly they’d fallen back into their old banter. And how sexy he still was.

He’d always been tall and fit, with a great sense of humor. These days, a buzz cut tamed his once-curly brown hair under his wide-brimmed felt cowboy hat.

That hat shaded a face marked by strong features, a slightly beaky nose, and warm hazel eyes that seemed to look right through her. He exuded good-natured confidence and command, even while chasing a mischievous goat down Main Street.

Phillip wouldn’t have dealt with the situation so gracefully, she thought. He would’ve been enraged at Daisy’s antics, and blown his stack if I’d dared to film him doing anything he considered undignified, like trying to catch a runaway goat.

But it hadn’t bothered Matt at all.

As she retraced her steps up Main Street, she saw that most of the booths had already been restored to their pre-Daisy state.

Even the collapsed El Churro Redondo stand was rapidly rising from the dead. The festival was now in full swing, with live music coming from the town square.

Autumn couldn’t help feeling a swell of gratitude and pride at the sight of all the smiling faces crowding Main Street.

Grandma Abigail had given her a lot of credit today. But Autumn knew her grandmother was the real force behind all the positive changes to their town over the past year.

She was the one who’d convinced Autumn’s younger sister Summer to rescue the town’s oldest eatery, The Yummy Cowboy Diner.

And Grandma Abigail was also the one who’d campaigned for Winnie to work with noted historical preservationist Nick Evans to restore the town’s neglected historic hotel, paving the way for Winnie and Nick’s hit TV series, Reviving Snowberry Springs.

Sure, Autumn’s marketing expertise had amplified those efforts through social media. But even a genius marketer couldn’t have done much for the town without Summer and Brock’s amazing food and Winnie and Nick’s sizzling on-screen chemistry.

Autumn was just happy she could play a supporting role. Helping Grandma Abigail on her mission to save their town had given her a sense of purpose through a bleak winter and spring spent filing for separation, then launching divorce proceedings.

When she arrived back at the town square, she found her parents and the rest of her family still seated where she’d left them.

“That goat causes more trouble than all the rest of the animals put together,” Grandma Abigail was saying as Autumn walked up.

“Yeah, but at least her mischief is entertaining,” Mom replied. “And thanks to Autumn’s videos going viral, we had twice as many visitors booking our cottages this summer.”

“All I did is film her,” Autumn pointed out. “Daisy does all the hard work. People love her. She’s such great PR for our ranch and the town.”

“That’s all well and fine, but she’s supposed to be a working animal, not a pet,” Dad said with an exasperated huff, but Autumn could see the laughter lurking in his eyes.

As exasperating as Daisy could be, even he couldn’t deny that she’d become the ranch’s greatest asset since a video of her chasing a young black bear out of the goat paddock had gone viral last March.

Autumn looked around. “Where’s Jayden?”

Just before she dashed off, she’d told him to go sit with Grandma and Grandpa.

Mom frowned. “I thought he was with you.”

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