The new business brought old shop work along with it, and there were days when Martha wondered whether she had mistaken an opportunity for a second full-time job she could not staff. Repairs arrived even while she and June were preparing the combine. Customers called during harvest with broken lights, leaking hoses, and tractors that failed just before they were needed. Martha could not ignore them all without losing the repair business that had kept her afloat. She began scheduling small field calls in the evenings, leaving June to complete appropriate shop tasks under agreed limits. Some nights she returned home at ten with her shoulders aching and ate cereal standing over the sink because sitting down felt like permission to fall asleep.
June noticed. One Thursday she found Martha leaning against the workbench after a long day, eyes closed and one hand still resting on a service bulletin. "You need help," June said.
"That's why I hired you."
"More help than me."
"More help costs money."
"So does making a mistake because you're exhausted."
Martha opened her eyes. The observation was correct and unwelcome. She could hear her own voice in it, the same reasoning she used when correcting June. They reviewed the week's tasks and agreed to postpone two nonurgent repairs, refer one specialized job to another shop, and leave a day open for rest and inspection. Martha disliked turning away money, but the plan meant they would reach Clara's field with clear heads. June had again found a problem Martha was trying not to see.
Word of the John Deere traveled through the county in less flattering versions too. Someone told a customer Martha had won an unsafe machine by tricking Calvin Briggs. Someone else said the combine had broken down three times on Henry's field and only finished because Henry supplied his own labor. One farmer called Martha to ask whether she was insured to work on equipment she did not own, which made no sense for the harvesting service but told her where the rumor had landed. Martha answered factually. She offered references, described the business coverage, and explained the machine's documented inspection. She did not name Calvin as the source of the rumors because she did not know that he was, and she would not turn a suspicion into a claim.
The rumors affected June more than Martha expected. June had grown up watching teachers tell boys that a mistake meant they needed practice and tell girls that a mistake meant they should choose something easier. She understood why people doubted an old combine. What she could not accept was the satisfaction with which some people hoped Martha would fail. At a gas station, a man she recognized from the auction asked whether she had spent all the free money already. June told him they had earned their first harvest check, and he laughed as though she had missed the point of the joke.