Page 69 of Protective Cowboy

To his relief, she smiled. “It was actually okay. A bunch of people came up to me during the parade and told me they didn’t believe a word of Phillip’s story. Oh, and Karla didn’t fire me after all, so I went over to Winnie and Nick’s place after the parade to do the usual stuff, and things there were… weirdly normal.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Matt told her. “Maybe we’re through the worst of it.”

He sure hoped so. He hated seeing her in pain, and the last few days had been torturous for both of them. “Just out of curiosity, why was Karla trying to get hold of you? She must’ve sent you, what, ten texts? Twelve?”

“Oh, that.” Autumn suddenly looked uncomfortable again. “It’s uh, good and bad news.”

“Tell me the good news first,” Matt suggested.

“She made me the most amazing job offer today.”

Matt raised his eyebrows. That was unexpected.

“That’s great!” he said. “What kind of job?”

“Director of Publicity and Social Media for all the shows on HomeRenoTV.”

“No kidding? That’s perfect for you!” Matt exclaimed, genuinely happy for her. She deserved some good news after all the nasty shit this week. “So, what’s the bad news?”

“The job is at their headquarters in Seattle. If I accept the job, I’d have to relocate.”

He froze, his stomach dropping. Seattle? That was over seven hundred miles away. “And you’re thinking about accepting the offer?”

Of course she’s thinking about it! he told himself angrily. A job like this was too good to pass up.

She nodded.

Dammit. His heart plummeted like a stone tossed into a lake. The prospect of losing her, just when they’d reconnected, made him feel like she’d just pulled the rug out from under him.

“Moving to Seattle is a big change,” he pointed out. “Have you really thought this through?”

“Of course I have!” She glanced at Jayden, who was listening to them, wide-eyed. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it since my meeting with Karla!”

“Jayden just started at a new school here. And your whole family is in Snowberry Springs. You’d be completely on your own in a big city full of strangers.” He tried to keep the emotion out of his voice. Tried to hide how much the idea of her leaving gutted him.

“I know,” she said. “But after everything that’s happened, maybe it would be better if I made a fresh start somewhere else.”

Matt’s heart raced as he tried to process Autumn’s words. He felt a mix of shock, hurt, and anger boiling within him. He had thought their relationship was on solid ground, but now it seemed like everything was slipping away.

Worst of all, he hadn’t seen this coming. Hadn’t thought that Autumn would want to leave him… again.

“I didn’t expect you wanted to move away to another state,” Matt said, trying to mask the pain in his voice. “I thought… well, I thought things were going well between us.”

She looked down at her hands, her fingers nervously fidgeting with her napkin. “Matt, this doesn’t have anything to do with you. You’ve been amazing. A real friend. It’s just… maybe being here isn’t what’s best for me and Jayden right now.”

Her words stung, and Matt couldn’t help but feel a stab of betrayal. He clenched his jaw, holding back the frustration that threatened to surface.

“Well,” he said, taking a deep breath, “if you want to run away to Seattle, I can’t stop you.”

She looked up at him, her blue eyes sparking with anger. He realized he hadn’t purged his emotions from his tone.

He added, “But I hope you’ll consider your options. We all care about you here.”

“I know, Matt, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. More than you can imagine. But… I’m just so tired. I need to figure things out, and maybe a change of scenery will help.”

“All right,” Matt snapped, feeling the weight of her decision settling on his chest. “If that’s what you need to do, I won’t stand in your way.”

“Thank you for understanding,” she murmured, her fingers fidgeting with her napkin. “I should probably get some sleep. I’m exhausted, and I have an early start tomorrow.” She looked at Jayden. “Are you ready to say goodnight to Matt?”

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