Ben spent a summer week at the farm helping with records and sweeping the workshop. He had grown tall enough that Earl no longer needed to lift him onto the tractor seat, though he was still too young to operate the machinery himself. The boy liked comparing the first broken table with the second one in the kitchen. Earl allowed him to handle the pieces and describe what was different.
"This one moved because you hurried," Ben said, examining the old gap. Earl nodded. "And this one stayed together because I didn't," he answered. Ben thought for a moment.
"So waiting was the job?" Earl smiled. "Part of it. Knowing what you were waiting for was the other part."
In 1990 the bank ordered a formal review of its barrel inventory. The reports were not flattering. A significant portion of the stock needed to be rejected, reconditioned, or sold at low prices, and the storage and labor costs had already consumed much of the anticipated return. The most damaging conclusion was that the bank had no reliable system for producing consistent, graded material that could command the prices Larkin had admired.
At the board meeting, one officer asked why the Whitaker operation had succeeded while the bank's attempt had struggled. Larkin described Earl's unusually favorable original purchase price and years of experience. The officer asked why those years had not been included in the bank's original projections. Larkin looked down at the reports. He did not have an answer that made the oversight disappear.
The board decided the bank should stop trying to process the material itself and investigate commercial arrangements with experienced suppliers. Several firms were contacted. Some would take only the best stock and leave the bank responsible for the rest. Others wanted prices that eliminated most of the return the bank hoped to recover.
Eventually somebody mentioned Whitaker Reclaimed Oak. Larkin knew Earl still operated the workshop and still had a reputation among regional woodworkers. He had avoided the farm since the failed buyback attempt, unwilling to be reminded of the first deal or the pride with which he had once announced it. Now the bank's problems were serious enough that pride began to look expensive.
He telephoned Earl on a rainy afternoon and said he had a business proposition. Earl listened while the manager described the new lot in careful, general terms. He did not ask why the bank had failed to handle the stock properly, nor did he agree to take responsibility for it. He asked for an inventory and the records showing where the barrels had come from.
"You want paperwork before we've discussed a price?" Larkin asked. Earl answered without hesitation. "I want to know what's there before we discuss anything."
The manager sighed. "It's all whiskey oak, Whitaker. You know how valuable that can be." Earl looked at the first failed tabletop resting beside his office shelves. "Some of it can be," he said. "That's why I need the records."