Page 66 of Protective Cowboy

Autumn nodded. She couldn’t rely on Matt to hold her hand through every difficult moment. But it was nice to know he cared. “Okay. Now, wish me luck.”

“You don’t need luck. You’ve got this.”

Matt has more confidence in me than I do, Autumn thought.

Chapter Sixteen

An Irresistible Offer

“Do you think Uncle Spring will let me feed the goats today?” Jayden asked, bouncing in his seat with excitement as Autumn drove through the gates of the Snowberry Springs Ranch.

“I don’t know. You should ask him,” Autumn replied. She looked around, but didn’t spot any reporters hiding in the bushes. Thank goodness.

But when she parked outside her parents’ house, she spotted Karla standing next to Mom on the porch, both of them holding coffee cups.

Busted. Her heart sank.

But Karla didn’t look angry or grim. In fact, she and Mom appeared to be having a friendly chat. And both of them looked glad to see Autumn.

Autumn unclenched her hands from the steering wheel and stepped out of the car.

Hand in hand with Jayden, she climbed the porch steps to face her doom.

“Hi, Mom!” She kissed her mother’s cheek, then turned to Karla.

“Karla, I’m so sorry I haven’t returned your calls or messages. It’s been a rough few days.”

“Don’t I know it?” Karla replied with a sympathetic expression. “I totally understand that you needed a couple of days off, but I’m really hoping that you’re ready to come back to the set this afternoon.”

Autumn blinked in disbelief. “Wait—you’re not firing me?”

Karla’s eyes widened. “Of course not! Why on earth would you think that?”

“Because of what Phillip—” Autumn began.

“Oh, please!” Karla exclaimed. “Why would we believe the guy you took a restraining order against? He’s such a di—” Her gaze flicked to Jayden, who stood next to Autumn. “Uh, a dork.”

Autumn just stared at her. She felt gobsmacked by the news that her biggest client still wanted her services.

“And if you’re worried about being hassled by those so-called reporters, we’ve got extra security guys on-set,” Karla assured her.

“I thought—well, it seemed natural that the show wouldn’t want this kind of controversy,” Autumn stammered.

“Nonsense,” Mom said crisply. “Why should Karla punish you for a bunch of lies Phillip is spreading?” She turned to Jayden. “Sweetie, Daisy escaped from the goat pen again this morning. You want to go help your uncle and cousins find her?”

“Sure!” Jayden gave his grandmother a hug, then turned to Autumn. “Bye, Mom!”

He dashed off the porch and headed around the house towards the barns and corrals at a run.

At least all of this awfulness isn’t affecting him too badly, Autumn thought with deep relief.

“Priscilla told me you’re off to the Huckleberry Queen Parade at ten,” Karla said. “Could you stop by the Craftsman afterwards? We’ll be filming Nick’s reveal of the restored fireplace. It’s the highlight of this episode and we’d like to you tease it on RSS’s Instagram feed and Facebook pages.”

“Of course,” Autumn replied automatically.

Inside, she was reeling with the unexpected good news.

“And then I have something important to discuss with you,” Karla continued. “Please stop by my trailer once Nick’s done with his fireplace reveal.”

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