Page 25 of The Irish Rogue

“Hello there, sweetie. Are you hungry?” she asked, taking her son from Tom and cradling him. The little guy was a voracious eater and when he was hungry, he made sure everybody knew it! Right now, he was squirming eagerly, nuzzling her breast, eager for his next meal.

“I’ll be in my office,” she announced, ignoring the stunned silence. She spun around and walked off down the hallway. Once she was in her office, she closed the door, sat down, and started unbuttoning her shirt.

“Okay, okay! Just hold your horses little one!” she murmured. But Declan had already created a wet spot on her cotton blouse and was grumbling angrily, his tiny fists batting at her chest.

“Goodness, you’re a hungry boy!” she soothed. His blue eyes looked up at her and she smiled, wondering if Sean had made the connection. She certainly hoped not. Maybe, if she was very lucky, he would just leave town.

Exactly as he’d done a year ago.

Leaning back in the comfy chair she’d purchased for exactly this purpose, she rocked Declan as she shifted her ugly nursing bra out of the way. Immediately, Declan started suckling, his tiny hands kneading his “meal” as he sucked hard. Immediately, Kennedi felt the pressure in her breasts begin to ease as her son drank his fill

Sighing, she stroked his hair, then slid a gentle finger down over his tiny nose. It was their thing, she thought. She loved touching him, loved the way he paused in his feeding to beam at her when she stroked his nose or his ears.

Goodness, she loved this baby!

Sean stared at the now-empty hallway where Kennedi and the tiny infant had disappeared. He wasn’t sure what he was thinking other than, “What the hell?!”

“You’re early, Mr. Byrne.” Tom commented, clapping his hands together. “Would you like to talk?” Tom offered.

Sean turned towards the older man, then back towards the closed door. “What is going on?”

Tom lifted a gray brow at him. “I invited you here to talk about buying additional interest in the brewery, right?” he replied. “Are you still interested?”

Sean stared at the closed door, while his mind whirled with unformed questions. Something wasn’t right. He vaguely heard Tom say something about the sale and brewery. That snapped his thoughts back to his bastard father and Sean’s hobby of buying up the best breweries in the world.

He nodded, but his eyes were still trained on that closed door.

“Mr. Byrne, if you please?” Tom called out, pulling Sean’s gaze away from that damn hallway.

Reluctantly, Sean pulled his eyes away, but he was still confused. Slowly, he stepped into Tom’s sunny office and blinked as his mind tried to figure out what was going on.

“Have a seat,” Tom offered, gesturing to one of the rough tables in the corner of the office Sean sat down in the nearest chair and Tom came over, several file folders in hand.

“Thanks for flying down here again to discuss selling ‘The Old Goat’,” Tom said as he sat down. “I’m sorry I wasn’t ready to talk about the sale last year. But things have…” he paused, chuckling as he shook his head. “Well, my life is a bit different now. My wife and I are ready to take some time off, and be with each other so that we can finally enjoy our retirement.”

Sean stared at the man, still thinking that he was missing something. Something big. Monumentally huge.

“Who’s baby was that?” he asked, and knew that was the right question.

“Oh, that’s Declan. He’s a cutie, isn’t he?”

“And Kennedi is his mother?” Sean asked, needing clarification.

“Absolutely. She’s a wonderful mother too. She just dotes on that little guy. Dorothy and I love watching him whenever she lets us.” He slid a folder across the table to Sean. “Now,” he started off, “after doing some research on similar breweries, I’ve come to the conclusion that a fair price for my controlling shares would be this,” he said and pointed to a number on the bottom of the first page. “If you are interested in the distribution plant, then the price would be here,” he continued, flipping to the second page. “But I have another buyer who is interested in the distribution aspect. Someone from Ireland who says that my factory and bottling plant would be a good way for his company to break into the American market.”

Sean knewexactlywho the other buyer was. His father. The old man had been trying to break into the American market for years now. That was exactly why Sean’s hobby was buying up the best breweries. Every time his father tried to buy a place here, Sean was already there, purchasing the company and stopping the old man’s ambitions. It was his favorite hobby and goal in life, to mess with his father’s business aspirations as much as possible. The cost of buying up these breweries was nothing compared to the profits of his other businesses. And it gave him a great deal of joy.

Trying to focus on the current issue, that of stopping his father from expanding, he forced himself to concentrate on the matter at hand.

For the next hour, they went through the details of the brewery and the bottling company, Tom’s distribution reach, his marketing plans, and other details. They talked about financial issues, competition, obstacles, overhead costs, capital expenditures, and even staffing challenges.

But the whole time, Sean couldn’t get the image of the baby out of his head.

When Tom leaned back in his chair with a satisfied expression, Sean looked out the window. “Would you mind taking me on a tour?” he asked.

Tom chuckled. “I would be honored. This place is my pride and joy.”

“Who is the other potential buyer?” he asked, just to be sure. He still wanted to buy the place, even more so now that he understood just how well run the brewery was. Tom was an excellent business manager and he had a staff of people that worked hard and believed in his vision. That was rare to find.

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