Page 3 of Protective Cowboy

Then he explained, in the most condescending way possible, that he was investing his bonuses and extra pay for Jayden’s college and for their retirement.

“Managing the finances is my job,” he’d told her. “You worry about your job. The house is always a mess and you suck at cooking. Too bad you didn’t learn something from that snotty celebrity chef sister of yours.”

∞∞∞

On Monday morning, the shrill ring of the house’s landline phone jolted Autumn awake in the predawn darkness.

She rolled over and squinted blearily at the Caller ID. It was FFPCU, the First Federated Pharmaceutical Credit Union where she and Phillip banked. She fumbled for the receiver.

“Hello?” she croaked.

“Good morning, is this Mrs. Snowberry-Garthe?”

“Yes, speaking.”

“Ma’am, this is Claire from FFPCU’s Fraud Department. I wanted to check with you regarding some recent unusual activity on your credit card account.”

Autumn sat up, suddenly wide awake. “What kind of activity?”

Phillip always handled bank stuff. But he was in New Jersey on his business trip. And he forbade Autumn to contact him on his cell during East Coast business hours unless it was a dire emergency.

“Did you or your husband pay a rental deposit on an apartment Saturday at Herrontown Woods Luxury Living in Princeton, New Jersey? We also have a charge from the Herrontown Lexus dealership for an SUV lease on Sunday. We wanted to verify these transactions with you.”

“New Jersey?” Autumn’s mind raced.

ZenithMed Solutions was headquartered in Princeton, but Phillip had never mentioned wanting to move there. In fact, just last week, they’d discussed enrolling Jayden in a private school located here in Bozeman, so that he could bring his math skills up to snuff.

She took a breath to steady her voice. “No, I don’t know anything about those charges.” She opened her mouth to suggest that maybe the bank should contact Phillip instead, but then clamped down on the urge.

Something was definitely wrong. There was no way her husband was moving their family to the East Coast without at least warning her first.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Claire said. “We appreciate you taking the time to clarify. We’ll go ahead and mark those charges as fraudulent, then issue you and your husband new credit cards. You should receive your new cards in five business days.”

After the call ended, Autumn couldn’t stop thinking about the strangeness of it all. She got up and made herself coffee, then began preparing breakfast for Jayden.

All throughout breakfast, her brain wouldn’t stop asking, What if those charges weren’t a mistake? What if he’s planning to leave me?

The possibility should’ve horrified her. Especially after she’d tried so hard and for so long to make their marriage work.

Instead, all she felt was relief. And sneaking hope.

Autumn dropped Jayden off at school. As she headed back home, she couldn’t stop thinking about the locked filing cabinet in Phillip’s home office. The one containing financial documents he never allowed her to see.

Now, with ugly suspicions crowding her mind, she wondered if he was hiding something.

I should look.

Autumn wavered, chewing her thumbnail as she waited at a red light.

Breaking Phillip’s rules went against everything she’d conditioned herself to do over the past eight years. She shuddered to think what would happen if he found out that she’d been snooping.

And yet… if Phillip had made a decision that affected her future, and Jayden’s, she had to know.

I’ll just have to make sure he never finds out what I did.

Decision made, she marched upstairs as soon as she got home.

First, she retrieved the filing cabinet keys from Phillip’s not-so-secret hiding place in their bedroom. Then she tiptoed down the hall to his office.

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