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Grinning, Mike shook his head and looked at his uncle in semi-disbelief. "How does it feel to be rich?" the young man teased him.

"Oh! knock it off!" laughed Adam, as Mike continued to chuckle. "Hiram, it's good to see you again," Adam greeted the older man standing beside Mike. "How has my nephew been doing? Has he given you much trouble?"

"Not much," smiled Hiram, shaking his good friend's hand and returning his gaze to the blueprints Beppe was showing them.

"What does Beppe have in store for us?" inquired Adam, putting on his glasses and bending over to get a good look. Peering over the rims of his eyeglasses, Adam gave Hiram a rather serious expression. "This is pretty involved, Hi. Are you and Mike up to it?"

"Reckon so," affirmed Hiram. Adam waited for Hiram to say more, but when he didn't, Adam smiled. Hiram was a man of few words, and never wasted his breath on very many, unless the situation called for it. Apparently, the situation didn't call for it, so Adam was content that Hiram was on top of things.

Then Mike started explaining what needed to be done. As usual, Hiram said as little as possible, and only interjected his opinion when Mike's was incorrect.

While Adam was brought up to speed, Charlie saw Vera and Kevin off to Twin Yucca. They were taking Chuck with them, for there would be no one in the mobile home to keep an eye on him.

Unbeknownst to Kevin, one of the workers watched with great interest as Kevin helped Vera and Chuck into the pickup, and then climbed in after them. "So, he's leaving," the man with a straw hat breathed with satisfaction. "That's useful to know."

After Charlie waved good bye to the pickup, she went to find out what Beppe was saying to Adam and Mike. To her amusement, Adam was wearing the black rimmed glasses he always wore whenever he needed to read, and he didn't have on his contact lenses. Adam asked some question Charlie didn't understand, and then nodded when he heard Hiram's brief answer.

"That sounds good to me, Hi. If you can use me anywhere, I'll be glad to help out." Adam took off his glasses and placed them into his shirt pocket.

"Okay," nodded Hiram, tossing Adam a hard hat and pointing to an area near the well. "We start there."

"This is going to be just like the old days!" Mike exclaimed happily. "I brought an extra tool belt, if you still don't have yours, Uncle Adam!"

"Of course I still have my belt," replied Adam, as if it was an unnecessary question. "I'd never get rid of an old friend like that. It's in the van."

"Is that beat up thing still running?" Mike asked with a laugh.

Adam looked over at the shiny, new Clark Plumbing Service and Supply van parked near the front gate. "I suppose you and Hi made the right decision to retire the old van, but I sure had a lot of memories with that vehicle." Just then, he noticed Charlie returning with his tool belt. "Thanks, Honey," he smiled. "You didn't have to do that."

"Do you need anything else before I go?" asked Charlie. "I'm going to be with the crew while they're putting in the oleanders."

"What oleanders? I don't see any," puzzled Adam.

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