Page 79 of Firefly Embers

The nurse took a set of vitals, listening to Izzy’s breathing, pulse, and checking her reflexes. Everything seemed to check out as she stripped off the gloves and made notes on the chart at the end of her bed.

“While I’m in here, we were having a little bit of trouble billing your insurance.” She looked down at the chart and flipped one of the papers over, looking for the information. “It looks like the billing department contacted the policy owner to sort a few things out, and we just need a signature or two to send it back over. It looks like your⁠—”

I didn’t miss the stiffness that fell over Izzy’s demeanor and the wild look in her eyes. Something was off. She was old enough to be on her own insurance. I had assumed she’d been given insurance through one of her sponsors or that she had signed up for her own policy once she’d been removed from Dad’s.

Another knock came from the door, interrupting the nurse, and we looked around, wondering who else could be showing up.

Pushing into the room, Sterling looked around from person to person, clearly uncomfortable. He was still dressed in his riding gear, obviously having left the arena and going directly to the hospital after checking on Oakley. His flannel shirt stretched across his broad chest, the sleeves rolled to just above his elbows, straining against his biceps and accenting the sleeves of tattoos that swirled around his forearms. He wore a leather vest littered with rodeo sponsorships and a black felt Stetson, which he respectfully removed.

“Ah, yes! Mr. Morgen, I was just telling your wife about the issue with the insurance.”

You could have heard a toad fart with how quiet it got in the room.

Wife?

What the actual fuck was going on?

“Uh, hey… wifey,” he choked out nervously.

Tanner looked from Izzy to Sterling, his face reddening with pent-up rage as he worked to figure out what in the world was going on. Welcome to the club, bud.

“Wife? You’re married?” he screeched, throwing Izzy’s hand back down in her lap. She clutched at her forehead, wincing with pain as he raged beside her.

“How about we all take a walk?” the nurse asked, giving Izzy the quiet she needed while recovering. “I’ll show you where the cafeteria is,” she said, guiding Tanner to the door.

I walked over to Izzy’s bedside, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “We’re gonna talk about this later.” She nodded.

Wade and I walked out the door, leaving her and Sterling to work out whatever the hell had just happened back there.

“And I thought we were the only ones who got married in Vegas,” Wade joked. I chuckled, nervous energy coming off me in waves as I looked back at the door, wondering if we should wait around.

“Sunshine, let’s leave them to sort their shit out. Sterling’s a good man, and Izzy is smart and strong enough to handle herself. I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.” He ran a gentle hand down the back of my head as he pulled me into a hug.

Yeah, I hoped it was all just a misunderstanding, because explaining to my father that my sister was married while engaged to another man wasn’t going to go over well.

Izzy was released from the hospital that evening with strict doctor’s orders to go home, rest, and stay off the back of her horse for a couple of days.

Wade and I hadn’t stuck around for the conversation between her and Sterling, but whatever had transpired, he’d offered to drive her truck and Oakley back to the ranch so Izzy could fly home with us.

None of us was comfortable approaching the subject. Clearly, the two of them knew each other better than they had let on, especially since they were somehow married.

Tanner had stormed out of the hospital, not bothering to come back or offer to fly home with us. I could tell the exhaustion of the day’s events and Tanner’s fury were weighing on my sister.

“You okay?” I asked softly, the dashboard lights of Wade’s truck illuminating just enough for me to make out her downtrodden features.

“Fine,” she snapped, turning to look out the window, shutting me out. In the reflection of the glass, I saw the subtle swipe of her hands across her cheeks, brushing away tears as they fell.

I reached my hand over the seat, grabbing hold of hers, squeezing three times. She returned the gesture, never taking her eyes off the passing landscape around us.

“What a fucking day,” Wade groaned, throwing himself backward onto the plush mattress, not bothering to remove a stitch of clothing.

“You got that right,” I replied, climbing into bed next to him, snuggling into his side, and resting my head on his bicep.

“You know what I’m most disappointed about?” he asked, a devious grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“What’s that?”

“I didn’t get to join the Mile High Club.”