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Mike’s lap, where she lay her tousled blond head upon his chest and returned to her dreams.
    â€œThat looks good on you, Mike,” I told him. “You’d make some lucky little boy or girl a wonderful father.”
    He looked down at Lauren and gently smoothed a stray lock of hair from her cheek.
    â€œI’m already making a couple of lucky kids a wonderful uncle,” he told me. “I figure I should quit while I’m ahead.”
    I frowned at him and he grinned back.
    â€œSo what’s up?” Sam asked.
    â€œWell, I’ve got some money in the bank that’s not making all that much interest and I was hoping you would give me some advice about investing it,” Mike said.
    I was immediately alert.
    Sam was puzzled.
    â€œI think you’ve come to talk to the wrong guy,” he said. “I don’t know anything about investment.”
    â€œYou know about the oil business,” Mike said.
    Sam nodded. “Well, this might be a good time to buy some Big Four stock,” he admitted. “The price of crude this week is down to thirty and a half a barrel. That’s the lowest we’ve seen it in years. It’s hard to imagine that OPEC is going to let it slide any further.”
    Mike was nodding thoughtfully.
    â€œThe value of fossil fuels can only go up,” Sam continued. “It’s a limited commodity and the industrial economy depends upon it. International production has become so risky and politically vulnerable that what’s pumped here at home becomes increasingly more valuable. So you’re looking at the Big Four?”
    â€œNot really,” Mike told him. “I’m not interested in putting my money in some faceless corporation that I hear from once a year in a slick report. What I’d like to do is invest in a small, well-run company that’s expanding and growing. I want a place where I trust the management and know they’re honest, hardworking and there’s lots of potential for future earnings.”
    Sam’s brow furrowed. “That’s a good idea,” he said. “I’m sure there are some very good opportunities just like that. I’m not sure I can really advise you, off the top of my head like this. If you’d give me a couple of weeks to look around, ask a few questions, I’ll do what I can to come up with some choices for a good, safe situation for you.”
    â€œI appreciate that, Sam,” Mike said. “But honestly, I’ve already figured out where I want to put my money. There’s a local business that I’ve watched grow from nothing. It’s well-managed, respected, and the guy running it is honest as the day is long and very careful about keeping things on a sound financial footing.”
    â€œSounds good,” Sam agreed.
    â€œI’m absolutely certain that this is exactly where I want my money to be. I’m just hoping the guy will let me buy in.”
    â€œWhat company is it?” Sam asked.
    Mike glanced over at me. I already knew the answer.
    â€œBraydon Oil Field Service,” Mike told him.

Sam
    1982
    W e moved into our very own brand-new house in May. Fifteen hundred square feet in a new track of housing just east of town. We fenced in the backyard and put up a play set. In the front we planted two red oak trees with the symbolic assumption that they would grow tall and strong like our children. Just the idea of the mortgage made my palms sweat, but I was so happy to be able to move in. It was the nicest place I had ever even spent the night. And now it was ours, mine and Corrie’s.
    The first night we made love in our bedroom, I asked her afterward, “Can you believe we actually own our own house?”
    She claimed that she always knew we would.
    I have to admit, I was never so sure.
    The kids both had their own rooms and Corrie and her mother worked day and night to get everything painted and papered and decorated the way that