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father was a dear friend, but he kept some of his business to himself.
    "Will, you know how I've always felt about this place." Sonny watched Michael's father as he carefully pulled the worn pipe from the pocket of his shirt. He lit the end, stuck between his teeth, and filled the air with the aromatic blend of the tobacco blend that was so much a part of him.
    "I know. But, you're a strong girl and you'll see things differently in a few months. That I promise you."
    Sonny turned her head away from the kind eyes that looked back at her. She knew that Will had spent a lifetime here, training, managing and overseeing every detail at Pinebrook. And she also knew that his heart was here too. He would have to understand that her heart wasn't. It never had been.
    "I haven't decided what I'll do with it all yet," Sonny explained. "Dad's attorney says Michael and I have to review the farm's business at the end of the six month period."
    Will arched one eyebrow and then smiled. "Our new champion will be weaned by then."
    He was ignoring her last comment.
    "Graceful Lady's foal?" If Will did not want to discuss the future of Pinebrook, then Sonny would not press him.
    "I feel it in my bones, Sonny. This is the one we've been waitin' for." The laugh lines around Will's eyes were pronounced as he cocked his head to one side. He seemed always to be hearing something the breeze whispered in his ear. Something private that only he could know or understand.
    "You're that sure?" Sonny asked.
    "It's that I am. Graceful Lady has a contentment to her this time that's not like all the other times."
    "But, Michael said you check those things on charts and…"
    "Blarney to the charts. He'll be a champion, you'll see. A real horseman can feel it in his bones."
    Will was emphatic that Sonny believed him too. When her father had found the beautiful stallion,
    Irish Crystal, in Ireland, he had brought him back to the stables with his trainer, Will O'Brien. The family story was that Will had known the horse would be a champion. J.B. had kept Will with him,
    training, breeding and always turning to him for his inherited expertise. This new champion was a descendent of Irish Crystal and might just be the animal to bring Pinebrook the big victory.
    Will stuck the pipe in his mouth again, and then gave Sonny an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "I'll be going now. I've got to pick up the mess I just left on the kitchen table or my sister will have me on a platter."
    Sonny leaned against the fence post as she watched Will hurrying back to his cottage. Having him back made her feel good. She remembered as a child how often she had tried to follow him around as he did his work, always talking and telling him her latest news from school. She realized now just how busy he must have been, but he always took the time to listen.
    Graceful Lady grew nearer to her time, and Sonny could not tear herself away from the gentle eyes of the splendid horse. The solid, flowing lines of her muscular body and the long slender neck that she held so high intrigued her. Sonny worked with her every day, taking her time to brush and rub her down as she talked to her. She found herself telling Graceful Lady things that she was not even aware existed in her heart. The grand and beautiful chestnut horse had become her friend.
    The plush greenery that surrounded the farm was a natural backdrop for Sonny's photographs. She was able to capture all the beauty of nature and still maintain the Thoroughbred as her main subject. As the days passed it seemed that Graceful Lady knew she was being admired. She was "on stage" the moment Sonny put the camera to her face. As well as the shots of her feeding in the pasture, Sonny liked to capture other impromptu moments.
    Being accustomed to her own small dark room, Sonny knew she would have to make some arrangements to have one close at hand. She liked to develop her own pictures and nothing short of that would do now.
    Since her pictures were being