Chapter 3
The wild ponies grunted as Tyson and his best friend, Luke, coaxed them toward the horse trailer. Two rangers from US Fish
& Wildlife assisted them in the rescue.
Riptide, a chestnut stallion, reared, kicking up dust. He was wild and beautiful with a flaxen mane, a white blaze, and four
wildlife refuge.
Bridge traffic was blocked and the line of cars extended as far as the eye could see. The bridge to Assateague was well traveled
during the warmer months. Tourists crossed the channel to see the wild ponies grazing on marsh grass. But today they’d ended
up getting quite the show.
Ten minutes later the sun was low in the sky when the men ushered the stallion into the trailer. The mare, Summer, followed
docilely. Tyson shut the trailer doors and turned to the rangers. “How’d they get loose?” The ponies had managed to get clear
across the long bridge connecting the barrier islands—a feat that had happened only twice before to Tyson’s knowledge.
“Best we could tell, some tourists accidentally blocked their escape route. Me and Greg chased ’em on foot half a mile and
across the bridge. Thankfully they found some nice grass here and stopped for a spell, or they might’ve been halfway to the
mainland by now.”
Or been tragically hit by a car. The rangers had set up a portable corral to contain the ponies until members of the volunteer fire company could come get them.
Though the US government owned Assateague Island, the Virginian herd was tended by the Chincoteague Fire Company, who leased grazing rights from them.
“Thanks for your help.” Luke’s wavy hair gleamed copper under the late-afternoon sunlight, contrasting with his pale blue
eyes.
Tyson gave a nod. “We’ll get them back home.”
Once the pair returned to the truck, Tyson started it and turned toward the bridge, careful of his load. People waved and
honked their horns, no doubt grateful for both the show and its end. “We’ll need to find the break in the fence and fix it.
Otherwise we’ll be doing this all over again.”
“Sure didn’t expect all this when I rolled out of bed this morning.”
“Riptide likes to keep the grapevine buzzing. Today’s little jaunt will be one for the record books.”
“He’s a pistol, that one.”
Luke had been Tyson’s best friend since high school, and they’d also graduated from the academy together. Though Tyson was
a fourth-generation firefighter, Luke was the first in his family to join the company. He was a hard worker and had earned
the respect of their fellow firefighters.
The bridge to Assateague was empty of cars, the traffic having been blocked on the other side as well. Though they were barely
into May, the season was getting underway. His home island of Chincoteague was only ten square miles and home to about three
thousand residents. But that number swelled during the summer, culminating in as many as forty thousand in late July for the
Pony Penning Days, all coordinated by the volunteer fire company.
Luke adjusted the air-conditioning. “How’s that other matter going?”
“What matter?”
“Come on, Ty. Maybe I haven’t been through it yet, but it has to be hard, losing someone.”
The image of that seventeen-year-old kid, brown eyes full of fear, flashed in his head for the millionth time. He shook it
away. “Part of the job.”
“Sure it is. But that doesn’t make it easy.”
Tyson didn’t want to talk about the incident from four weeks ago, a car accident—vehicle versus tree. He’d give anything to
go back and do things differently.
“You’ve hardly missed a call since then.”
“I don’t have a wife and kid like most of the others.” And Ty just wanted to erase that night from his memory.
“It wasn’t your fault, man.”
He gripped the steering wheel. “I know that.”
“We’ve been friends a long time. I can tell it’s eating at you.”
“Don’t want to talk about it.” He felt Luke’s eyes on him.
“Maybe not, but you shouldn’t let it fester.”
It wasn’t festering. Okay, maybe it was. But at least he’d learned something valuable from that terrible night. He’d been
burning the candle at both ends since his divorce last fall. Dating had become an Olympic sport, and he made the mistake of
getting tangled up with Marissa Moran, one of the two paramedics who operated out of the firehouse.
Stupid.
His idea of casual and hers hadn’t been the same apparently. The dustup had created tension at the station, and there wasn’t
a single volunteer unaware of it.
“At least Marissa seems to have settled down,” Luke said. “Not that she had any right to get up in your face like that.”
“Maybe I wasn’t clear enough with her.”
“You’d only been on two dates, for crying out loud. And everyone on the island knows you’ve been sowing your wild oats the
past six months.”
Tyson rolled his eyes. A bit of an exaggeration. But yeah, the divorce had made him a little unstable. He could see that now.
He’d been on a mission of some kind. But that was over now. He’d learned his lesson.
“Trinity Evans was eyeing you the other night at Chatties,” Luke said. “She broke up with her boyfriend a while back. You
should ask her out.”
Trinity was the sweetest server at the seafood restaurant. “Why don’t you ask her out? Seems more your type.” Plus, he was
pretty sure Luke had a good crush going.
“Beautiful and brunette?” A mottled flush—curse of the redheads, Luke called it—worked its way up from the collar of his tee.
“Sweet and smart. Bet she’d say yes.”
“Aw, she was looking at you, not me.”
“I don’t think so. Anyway, I’m officially on a dating moratorium, and I’m sure she’d warm up to you if you could squeeze two
words past those lovelorn lips of yours.”
“Dating moratorium? Since when?”
“Since now.” Tyson had sought distraction after the divorce and he’d gotten one. Or twenty. Time to focus on other things.
Like his work at The Sand and Saddle, his parents’ bed-and-breakfast. Now that summer was gearing up, the place was starting
to fill up again.
More tourists on the island meant more calls. Scooter accidents, water rescues, runaway campfires. Then in late July, Pony Penning Days.
There’d be plenty to keep his mind off the divorce he’d never wanted.
For now he just had to get these ponies back to the refuge. Once they were settled with their band, he and Luke would repair
the fence, then Ty would go check on Jenna. She’d surely arrived at her mom’s by now—and who knew how that would turn out?