IRISH FIRE by Jeanette Baker Read Free Book Online

in ways that it never could in that green country across the Atlantic where she was born.
    In Kentucky, yearlings sold for more than ten million dollars, horses dined in stables lit by crystal chandeliers, and it was not unheard of for waitresses to receive thousand dollar tips from well-fed foreign buyers.
    Caitlin couldnt be blamed for falling under Samuel Claibornes spell. Sam was a gentleman, soothing, complimentary, protective. His oozing, relaxed confidence, his appreciative glances and his casual disregard for money were as different from a blunt, principled Irishman as Lucy Claiborne, elegant matriarch of Claiborne Farms, was different from blunt-speaking Brigid Keneally, local publican.
    Lucy had disapproved of her from the beginning. Now, when she reflected back, Caitlin could see her point. Sam was a catchintelligent, educated, and rich. His mother had wanted the very best for her only son and Caitlin Keneally, Irish immigrant with only a high school education, did not measure up.
    But for once in his life, Sam had proven unusually difficult. He was set on Caitlin and none of the debutantes his mother paraded before him swayed his thinking. They met on a crisp fall morning, shortly after her nineteenth birthday. Hed recently returned from six months in Europe, a gift from his parents upon his graduation from Duke University. Sam wasnt particularly interested in horses but he was interested in business, and Claiborne Enterprises was enough of a business to warrant his full-time interest.
    Because Sam was a dutiful son and because he was intelligent enough to know what was coming to him, he did not protest when his father roused him before dawn to see the latest batch of Claiborne yearlings.
    Caitlin, dressed in black jodhpurs and a red sweater, dark curls twisted untidily away from her face, was exercising
Mollies Joy
. Sam Claiborne, caught by the brilliant red and black against the colts dark coat and the breathtaking beauty of Kentuckys fall foliage, stopped to take a second look and forgot to breathe.
    Already,
Mollies Joy
showed the promise of great speed, and when the two of themhorse and girl, perfectly formed, effortlessly alignedthundered around the track, Sam, a connoisseur of beauty, was smitten as he had never been in his life.
    Caitlin flushed becomingly when Bull introduced them. Looking back she wondered if what had happened that morning would have blown over if she had been a bit further removed from Ireland or if Sam had been less romantically inclined, or if Lucys protests hadnt been so uncharacteristically strident, or if Bull Claiborne hadnt praised her so effusively, as effusively as any father proud of a daughters accomplishment.
    As it turned out, Lucys protests went unheeded. When Bull Claiborne pronounced Caitlin the best little bruising rider hed seen this side of the Mason-Dixon, his wife threw up her hands and, with the beautiful manners instilled in southern women from birth, gave up graciously and began planning the wedding of the decade.
    Caitlin was a reasonable person. Although she could never really like Lucy Claiborne, over the years fairness forced her to admit that the woman was a wonderful grandmother. Shed often taken Sam to task for his philandering and assured Caitlin that no matter what happened to the marriage, her grandchildren would never want for anything.
    Unfortunately for Caitlin, Lucy was no longer a major shareholder of Claiborne Enterprises. Since Bulls death, his son ran the company, with the exception of a few duties his father had stipulated Caitlin take care of. Those duties had escalated, earning her a reputation in Kentuckys thorough-bred community. They also brought Claiborne Farms a healthy profit. Sam made it quite clear that if Caitlin chose to humiliate him with a divorce, he would see her reduced to nothing.
    His threat was meaningless, of course. American courts were reasonably fair to women whod given birth to a wealthy mans children. And Sam