The cannery's hauling contract changed again that spring. Larry called to explain that the plant had arranged a more consistent byproduct-processing program and would no longer need Mary Ann's unloading site for regular loads. He sounded almost apologetic, as though the disappearance of the waste might injure a relationship he had helped create. Mary Ann looked out across the clean planting blocks while he spoke and realized she felt relief.
"Larry," she said, "you don't have to bring me another truckload of pulp to keep us cousins."
He laughed. "You sure? There was a time you acted like the whole pile was treasure."
"Some of it was. Most of it taught me how much work I didn't understand."
"So you're done with the cannery?"
"Done needing it. That's different."
She thanked him for asking before changing the arrangement. They agreed to close out the old unloading area properly and keep the records she had maintained. There was no dramatic final truck, no ceremonial last bucket of seeds. The cannery continued processing tomatoes, and its byproducts continued moving to places equipped to handle them. Mary Ann's farm no longer depended on discarded material arriving every week, which was perhaps the clearest sign that the project had become something of its own.
Evelyn reduced Mary Ann's shifts at the feed store to one day a week during the growing season. She said the arrangement suited them both because an employee who spent every other day growing tomatoes could still help customers choose supplies better than anybody who only read the packaging. Mary Ann accepted, relieved and frightened by the change. For years the feed-store paycheck had represented the predictable part of her life, while the farm was the hopeful experiment. Now the predictable money was becoming the smaller part.
She did not give up her habits of careful spending. She repaired useful equipment instead of replacing it for appearances, bought packaging in quantities supported by real orders, and retained a cash reserve for storm damage and crop loss. She used a modest accounting system Teresa had recommended to keep sales, expenses, inventory, and payroll from becoming four separate piles on the same kitchen table. The program was not glamorous, but it made the financial picture harder to avoid.
One Saturday Owen asked whether Mary Ann planned to buy a larger truck. She looked at the schedule and asked why. He pointed to the overlapping market and restaurant deliveries that would fill the vehicle beyond what was comfortable by late August. Instead of dismissing him, she asked him to help compare renting extra transport during peak weeks against owning another truck year-round. Together they decided that scheduling deliveries differently and renting when necessary made more sense than taking on a large payment.
"I thought you'd just say no," Owen admitted.
"I was going to," she answered. "Then I remembered why I pay you to notice things."
He grinned. "You could still say no after doing the math."
"That's the privilege of doing the math."