Excerpt

Billy Costello, an established young lawyer in the rapidly-growing town of Sacramento, meets the girl of his dreams, Thalia Ward. He is determined to make her his wife. She sees a lot of promise in Billy.

He seeks advice from a fishing pal who gives him many pointers on creating and continuing a happy married life. His law partner also advises him about marriage.

This sobering advice helps Billy evaluate his upcoming marriage and he finds in Thalia all the qualities he thinks are necessary to their happiness. He eventually wins her hand and they join together.

Thalia is a well-educated and accomplished young lady and she leads Billy into learning about the fine arts, music, and literature – all life-enhancing experiences that he has had little or no connection with so far in his young life. Thalia teaches him about opera and classical music and, in the process, she wins from him a large-size bet.

Their honeymoon to the Los Angeles area is an eye-opener. They enjoy the milder climate and see a lot of interesting sights. Billy learns about the newly-forming oil industry. With a local speculator, he develops a partnership connected to this industry.

At one point, they are introduced to some special foods – foods that impress them. Thalia promises that these new foods will become interesting parts of their future meals.

Meanwhile, back in their hometown, neighbors and other townspeople have problems. One young wife loses her mind when her husband and baby are killed in a home fire. At another time, a loyal dog saves two young boys from a similar fate.

A wobbly table in a restaurant leads to a wedding of two middle-aged people who discover that they need each other.

At a special tribal ceremony that recognizes the Indian Three Sisters, Thalia is honored as one of the Three Sisters. This is in recognition of special legal work that Billy has done for the tribe.

Another couple, Janet and Garth, still unmarried but with two children, try to make a go of it. However, they come up short, mainly because of stubbornness. Janet goes back to Illinois to live with her folks, leaving Garth with no family ties to his children. How did they get into this mess and how will it end up?

Meanwhile, the town holds another Jubilee, starring local talent. One man talks about being present, along with Benjamin Franklin, at the very first balloon trip carrying humans. Another man tells the story of being on the very first steamship trip up the Hudson River when Robert Fulton makes his successful venture of that kind.

Also, as one of the stars of the Jubilee, Eric does a magic trick using mathematics. Phil George, a local wit, has everyone roaring over his one-man stand-up comedy act.

In the approaching election, Billy’s buddies decide that he should run for Councilman, but he has sobering thoughts about politics. So far in his life, he has avoided getting into that game. Eventually, he must decide to run or not. He makes a decision with the help of his wife and sweetheart, Thalia.

This decision will have a strong influence on his life and career as he and Thalia move forward together.