Page 67 of Protective Cowboy

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To Autumn’s relief, the crowning ceremony for this year’s Park County Huckleberry Queen, followed by a parade down Main Street, passed without incident.

It was kind of a shame that the paparazzi who’d harassed Autumn earlier hadn’t stuck around long enough for the parade. The event deserved some extra publicity.

After the parade wrapped up, she packed up her camera bag and headed over to the Craftsman. As usual, subcontractors’ pickup trucks and vans lined the street, along with the production company’s makeup and office trailers.

Autumn put on her hard hat and went inside. Jake Lee greeted her with no sign that he’d heard about the interview fiasco. Though of course he did.

She began taking her teaser shots. Nick had done a beautiful restoration job on the fireplace surround’s antique tiles. No trace remained of the plaster that had covered them for decades.

She was finishing up when Winnie came up behind her. “This is really shaping up to be my dream house, isn’t it?”

Autumn lowered her camera. “It sure is. I can’t wait to see what it’ll look like with finishes and furniture.”

“I can’t believe that a year ago, I was working on another so-called ‘dream house’ and hating everything about it. This is like a dream come true.” Winnie studied her and added with her usual bluntness: “You look terrible.”

“Thanks for noticing. Didn’t get much sleep last night.” Autumn shrugged.

“No one in Snowberry Springs believes anything Phillip said in that stupid interview. You know that, right?”

“So people keep telling me.” Autumn sighed. “It’s hard because this is so damned personal, Winnie. It’s much easier when I’m trying to manage someone else’s social media meltdown.”

“Like my wedding from hell?” Winnie asked with a crooked smile. “I know exactly what you’re going through right now.”

She probably did. Winnie’s ex-fiancé had put her through the social media wringer, too, trying to justify his unjustifiable behavior. In the aftermath, Autumn had helped her sister as much as she could, but the public humiliation and heartbreak had devastated Winnie.

“You remember the Wicked Witch of the West’s flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz?” Autumn asked.

“Those monkeys scared the heck out of me when we were kids,” Winnie admitted. “I hated that movie until I saw it again as an adult.”

“Right now, I feel like every troll on the Internet is flying at me.”

Winnie hugged her. “You once told me, ‘it gets better.’ That was right after Geoff jilted me at the altar. On TV. And you know what, sis? You were absolutely right. It’s less than a year later, and things are going better than I could’ve ever dreamed.”

“And I’m so happy for you. Nick’s a great guy, and you deserve every ounce of your success,” Autumn said with genuine feeling.

“Well, I’m sure that the same thing will happen to you.” Winnie sounded impossibly confident. “I know things are horrible right now, but just keep your chin up and carry on. By this time next year, no one will remember or care about anything Phillip has to say.”

“Amen to that,” Autumn said. “I mean, Karla didn’t fire me after the poop hit the fan. That’s a start, right?”

“Speaking of Karla,” Winnie said, “She told me she really needs to talk to you. She’s in her office right now, if you want to go see her.”

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When Autumn entered Karla Jones’ trailer a few minutes later, she found the producer sitting behind a desk piled high with blueprints, flooring and tile samples, and paint chips.

“Autumn! Thanks for stopping by,” Karla greeted her with a warm smile. “Have a seat.”

Reviving Snowberry Springs'producer was an energetic Black woman, with a cascade of dark curls framing her beautiful oval face and intense, warm brown eyes. She’d worked with Winnie for years, starting with Restoring Seattle.

Wondering what this was all about, Autumn lowered herself warily into a guest chair. “I came as soon as I could.”

“First of all, I wanted to tell you I’m so glad you’re working with us,” Karla said. “You’ve done such a great job for us, publicizing our first two seasons. I’ve been talking you up to my bosses at The Renovation Channel. And let me tell you, they’re impressed by how many followers the show’s feeds have, not to mention Winnie and Nick’s social media accounts.”

“Thank you, Karla,” Autumn replied, touched by her support. “That means a lot to me.”

“Well, it’s all true,” Karla said. “Now, I have some exciting news for you. My big boss is Lisa Maiffret, the General Manager of U.S. Programming and Development at The Renovation Channel. And she’s so impressed with your work on this show that she wants to offer you the position as The Renovation Channel’s Director of Publicity and Social Media at HomeRenoTV’s headquarters in Seattle.”

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