Page 8 of Beneath Pearly Irish Skies
His dad’s mouth twisted. “You’d negotiate with me? Your own father?”
“Yes, and that’s the way of it.” He pressed away from Winston, knowing he needed to stand tall as he laid out his terms. “Are you hearing them?”
“I’ll hear them, although I might keel over dead because my only son, the man I want to give all I’ve built, wants to lay out terms like he’s a client coming to our very own farm.”
Kade waited for him to settle down before saying, “In exchange for helping with Legend, I want the thirty acres that go along the beach and cut across to Kenmore Abbey.”
“But that’s prize land—”
“You’ll still have one hundred and seventy acres left, Dad,” Kade said, well aware he could have asked for more. “You don’t need the views to breed horses, whereas those views would be quite lovely on a pony ride as well as the house I plan to build for myself and the family I hope to have.”
Killian made a shocked sound. “When did you think about having a family after breaking poor Mary Kathleen’s heart? Is there something I don’t know? Clearly your mother doesn’t, or she’d have told me.”
He decided not to argue about the status of Mary Kathleen’s heart. He knew she was glad he’d called a halt to them settling into something that wouldn’t have fulfilled them. Now she had four children with a mechanic in a nearby town and seemed happy, although not everyone remembered that.
“I’m only thinking ahead,” he answered, although he was thinking about Megan and Ollie. She loved the beach, and he thought she’d like having a view of it from their house, should things go as he hoped.
“Thinking ahead and then some, I’d say.” Killian tromped around the entry of the stables. “Asking for thirty acres from your very own father.”
“Take it or leave it, Dad.” He hated the harshness of his own voice, but his dad only respected strength. He and Megan both had fathers who liked to fight.
“I’ll take it, seeing as how you haven’t given me another option.” Killian’s jaw ticked. “You have from now until January to do whatever you need to do with Legend to prepare her. I’ll arrange for her to come down to your very own stables today. If something isn’t wrong with her body, it has to be in her head, and supposedly you heal both things.”
He did and was proud of it. “I want our agreement in writing.”
Killian pursed his lips as if the whole discussion tasted like sour milk. “Fine, but you’ll hear my terms if Legend isn’t expecting by the end of January.”
He wasn’t a nervous man, but a ripple of fear trembled in his belly. “State them.”
“You will either join me in helping with the farm, or you will find another place for your pony therapy with all its brightly colored bridges, wind chimes, and playground equipment.”
His father hated those things, complaining they marred Donovan land. This, he knew, was the source of his dad’s complaint about his wealthy patrons expecting a certain kind of buying experience. No denying it—he saw the distasteful looks they gave him when he rode by with his special needs clients. Kade tried to understand people, but when someone scoffed at or snubbed another human being, especially the children he helped, he was at a loss. Bottom line—he didn’t want to work with people who felt that way about others, something his father couldn’t fathom.
Kade rubbed the back of his head. Maybe his father had maneuvered him to exactly where he wanted him. Ah well. Maybe it was always going to come to this. “Just so we’re clear. I won’t be giving up my business. I believe in what I’m doing.”
His dad met his gaze without flinching and said, “So do I.”
“Then I agree on one more condition,” he said, sadness creeping into his voice. “I choose the horse for Legend, and we do it the natural way. No insemination.”
“You don’t know breeding like I do since you’ve eschewed all I wanted to teach you,” Killian said, crossing his arms over his massive chest. “I’ll choose the stallion—”
“You haven’t gotten it right so far,” Kade responded. “You’re going to need to trust me on this, Dad.”
“I can’t, and I won’t.”
Wasn’t it ironic that Megan trusted him, despite having only met him a few months ago, and his own father couldn’t? That hurt.
“This is my business and my deal with Joris,” his father stated in a hard tone. “I won’t allow for a horse with the wrong bloodlines to be joined with Legend.”
Kade knew when his dad became as immovable as an oak. “Fine, then we’ll do it together. What about covering the mare naturally, like I asked?”
“I’ve done that successfully in the past, so I’ll agree this time and show you how it’s done.” His father laughed dryly. “Maybe you might take to my way of things if we work as partners.”
Another maneuver? “Or we’ll drive each other mad,” he quipped, as that was more likely.
His dad extended his hand. “It’s a deal, then.”
Kade shook on it, holding his gaze. The way his father squeezed his hand spoke of a power struggle he had no interest in entering.
He smelled Sorcha’s orange scent then. My, was he glad she was going to be around to help him with this as well.
He feared he was going to need it.
