Page 27 of Firefly Embers

Hayes brushed her off, having dealt with his fair share of bar fights in his day. If there was one thing you could guarantee about a small town, it sure came with a healthy dose of drama.

I walked out to the truck to check on Izzy while Ray settled things up inside. She was leaning against the tailgate, one of her boots propped up on the rear tire. There was a tightness in her posture that I hadn’t seen in her before tonight.

Granted, I didn’t see much of Izzy outside of training and the occasional rodeo event I was able to make it to, but I’d known her as long as I’d known Ray. She was normally an easygoing, albeit wild at heart, woman. Something had to have set her off tonight to get her that riled up, and it wasn’t just the tequila.

“Wanna tell me what the fuck that was about?” I asked, hiking a thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the bar.

“Not particularly,” was her curt response. Giving her the quiet space to stew, I watched as she edged a rock around the gravel parking lot with the toe of her boot. She was focused, lost in thought, and I could tell something was eating at her.

“You know your sister is going to want to know what’s going on.”

I could feel the rage simmering in her, even though we were at least ten feet apart. It was something akin to the rage that simmered within me. She was nearly vibrating against my truck, holding back the venomous words she really wanted to say.

“How about this? You’ve got approximately thirty—make that twenty-nine—seconds until your sister comes out here and chews you a new one for that stunt you just pulled. Wanna cut the bullshit and tell me what’s really going on?”

Hanging her head in defeat, Izzy resumed kicking at the gravel around her feet. She looked exhausted, mentally and physically. I felt for her because I knew that pain all too well.

“I just thought that maybe this time, things would be different.” Her deep sigh cut through the warm air with a twinge of sadness. “Tanner was supposed to meet us out tonight to celebrate the start of the heavy training season, but he couldn’t be bothered to put his own shit aside to do something for me for once. I was heading to the bar for another drink, and the guy got handsy. I snapped.”

Tanner was Izzy’s fiancé. He didn’t live in Firefly Cove, but he and Izzy had been doing the long-distance thing for a couple of years now.

I didn’t know much about their relationship, other than what I heard from Ray. She wasn’t the guy’s biggest fan, but she was Izzy’s big sister, and I always brushed her hatred of him off as her being overprotective.

“He said he had a work event with the partners at his firm. Drinks and dinner at some fancy-schmancy bar in Atlanta. He promised that he was going to make it out here tonight.”

The hurt in her voice was almost palpable, and I watched as tears welled up on her lower lashes. It took a lot to make a cowgirl cry, and it was at that moment that I surmised that this wasn’t the first time she’d been stood up by him.

Clearly, this was a habit of his, and I could see how much it was hurting her.

“Tab’s all paid, let’s go.” Ray’s tense voice cut through the emotional fog surrounding Izzy and me. I could hear the sniffles of someone holding back tears as Izzy turned away from her sister and stepped toward the back door of my truck.

I clicked the unlock button, and Izzy immediately flung open the door and, with graceful ease, scaled her way into my lifted truck. I stopped Ray with a hand on her arm before she had a chance to berate her sister.

“Go easy on her,” I said softly, running my fingers down to tangle with hers. I squeezed her hand three times in quick succession and rolled my lips inward in a tense smile.

It seemed Izzy had enough on her plate. If there was one thing I was intimately familiar with, it was anger and pain, and Izzy Cortez was plagued with both.

RAY

Wade’s sentiment to go easy on Izzy told me she’d been more forthcoming with him over what was bothering her than she ever would have been with me.

I had a feeling her outburst hadn’t just stemmed from some first-year bronc rider getting handsy, like Hayes had said when I asked if he knew what had set her off.

The ride back to Izzy’s place was quiet. She lived on the outskirts of town in a duplex she and Tanner had bought together. Although he was rarely there, leaving her to take care of the house alone after long stints on the road. Tension hung heavily in the air, blanketing everything in a haze that felt oppressive.

As her big sister, I wanted to heal whatever was hurting her, but I knew Izzy wasn’t a child anymore and could fend for herself.

Realistically, she hadn’t been a child at all when Mom had died, and we’d all been forced to grow up before our time. Although we were only a little over a year apart, there was a weighted expectation thrust upon me that she’d been spared.

The difference between eleven and thirteen hadn’t been any clearer when she got to choose her life path. Being the oldest meant I didn’t get to choose.

As we pulled up to the duplex, Wade had barely stopped the truck when Izzy was launching the door open and stepping out. I watched her stumble toward the front door, pulling her keys out of her pocket as she swayed from side to side on the thin sidewalk.

It gutted me to see her so dejected. She was drunk off her ass, which wasn’t common for my straitlaced sister. Whatever had set her off tonight must have been major enough to warrant the chance of throwing her entire career away.

I turned in my seat, facing Wade, a look of pure apology on my face. I knew we needed to talk about what had happened outside of Jack’s, but at this moment, my sister needed me more.

“Go,” he commanded, hiking his chin toward Izzy’s door as we both watched her feeble attempt at shoving her key in the lock. It was almost painful to watch her struggle with such a mundane task.