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Chapter 1

Alex

I stepped out ofin the crisp air that blew across the rolling hills of this part of Kentucky and closedthe moment for just a second more There was plenty to do around the ranch today, but I wanted to take a minute more to revel in the stillness of this most remote part of the ranch

My father knehat he was doing when he gave me land in this area of the ranch It was no secret that I was the most hermit like of all the Killarny brothers I just had s and h I was close to each of my brothers in one way or another, I was the one who tended to prefer retiring to et away from the hustle and bustle that followed them all around It seeether it either turned into a friendly argu match

It was simply that we liked to poke fun at one another My mother had been very patient with us all, but I knew that while she was alive, we had caused her an awful lot of grief She had tried tirelessly to keep us all out of trouble and aside frohts spent in county lockup we had stayed out of any kind of th of our adult lives We had all been a worry to her, and I thought about that on occasion, how she wanted us all to be happy and how many times I had heard her pray for that

Now s on the ranch hadn't been the sa on in our oays, and things had changed even further when s and move to Puerto Rico It hadn't been too et past my mother's death, and the best way for hi that most reminded him of her -- the ranch that the two of therandfather

Killarny Estate spread out across the vast expanse of green hills in this part of the state Perfect for raising horses, my family had carved out their place in the industry over a hundred years ago and continued to raise sohbreds in the country and all over the world You never kneho ht call the office to inquire about a Killarny horse We had seen so our estate in the years e had ournew foals every year

The breeding had been what my father was most passionate about and in the years whencancer it had taken a backseat to her health Now that ere back to our nors could be withoutthe operation, ere expecting more foals, and we had reached the ti ouron my to do list for this particular day

I closed the door behind me and headed up the road It was about a half mile to the h I preferred being on a horse, I didn't really see any need in building my own stables like some of my brothers had at their own ho out away from the rest of the world I had a lot of pasture lands around me where some of our wild horses from the Dakotas were kept, and out the back of s became a deep, dark thicket the further in you went That was all Killarny land as well, a portion of it that had been set aside and would never be cleared, at least as far as any of us were concerned because it provided a nice buffer between our estate and the other ranch that was the nearest to us

Walking up the road to the barn I caught sight of my niece Emma on her horse Saoirse It was clear that she had not seen me there when I sahat she was about to do Eether they bounded over a fence -- a fence that was absolutely not intended for ju I knew better than to shout out because it would spook the horse, and at that point, there was no need The two of the her horse on the head, telling her what a good job she had done I was up behind the two of them before she noticed me there

"So, E your jumps back here?"

Startled,red and her eyes going wide