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Chapter 1

Pete

I closed the ledger and leaned back into the rich cherry colored leather of the desk chair I closedabout howthings at Killarny Estate It wasn’t anything I hadn’t beco the oldest of the five Killarny brothers, it was expected from birth that I would be the one to take over the day to day running of the ranch While all the brothers were equal partners in running the ranch, it was I as the most responsible Ask anyone It was also me that my dad had turned to back when nosed with breast cancer

At my mother’s request, I took on the additional tasks that my father had usually taken care of Most of it was business, the sort of thing that didn’t capture my attention quite like the quiet, meditative ith the horses, but I knehat had to be done Most of all, I hadn’t wanted to let my mother down

Emily Killarny was a force unto herself, but she had a kind and good heart, and above all, she loved her children I are that I had a special place in her heart when she had gone out of her way to be the best kind of grandmother she could be to Ehter alone after my ex-wife, Kelly, decided one day that motherhood and married life wasn’t for her My parents had been so kind to us in the days following that abandonrateful to both of them My mother had especially done all that she could to make sure that Emma felt safe and loved after her mother’s abrupt departure

Back thento the horses, so I still loved and wished I was able to dothe oldest, and since my father had relocated to Costa Rica, I knew I had to be the one to step up to the plate My mother’s death three years prior had taken a toll on the fa a severe bout of depression, he finally decided tothe states and relocating to a warreen Kentucky hills behind him in favor of sun and sand Some days I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of that, but I knew that ht here, wherever Emma was

I opened ain and looked atfor the door, grabbing my jacket on the way There was still a chill in the air that early in the Kentucky spring and it was invigorating to step out into the rass and the less pleasing scent wafting froht not have appealed to everyone, but for me, it was a reminder of home and childhood

I breathed in the air and madeout the coat of a two year old mare

“She looks beautiful,” I said as I came up to stand on the other side of the stall door

Alex nodded “Siobhan is quite a looker” He brushed her russet coat to a glistening sheen that caught the earlysun and made the horse look like a copper penny

“You think we’ll run her next year?” I asked him as I looked over the horse from nose to tail She was beautiful, but I wasn’t sure if she was one of the horses that ould end up taking to the many derbies ere involved in

Alex shrugged “Not sure She hasn’t been run thatthat with her, she should have seen a little reat horse, but I’m not sure the derby life is the one for her However, I do think she is going to give us a lot of talented foals”

Alex was probably the quietest of all the brothers, so hearing him talk this much was a little unusual The only ti about a horse Notto hi us and wasof individuals here at the ranch He was so in tune with the horses that it helped to have his expertise around to help people becoreen horses While most of our horses were bred here on the ranch, we did keep a group of wild ponies from the Dakotas on one of the spreads of land that was fenced off fro that part of the ranch felt like entering a wilderness I could see whyup the land to us It fit er brother’s personality perfectly, and he was never happier than he hen he was a the wild horses

“Her ht?” I asked

“Yeah, and her father was David’s Lariat”

David’s Lariat had been one of Alex’s favorites A horse that my father had acquired fro, the horse had been a ot hied to be faster than alht He was a marvel and had produced many of our fastest horses David’s Lariat had died just a year before, but we still had a few of his offspring around the ranch and would likely see his influence in our derby horses for decades to come

“Well, even if she isn’t going to run for us, she’s a beautiful girl, and I’reat runners”

“What are you up to?” Alex asked as he put away the brush and stepped out of the stall to join me where I stood