Genevieve had a pleasant voice and eyes that seemed to assess the barn, the patched fence, and the old pickup before they settled on Kora's face. She spoke about the expense of protecting years of breeding research and the responsibility Harrington carried toward the agricultural sector. She mentioned disease, intellectual property, and the risks posed by unverified facilities, each point wrapped in reasonable language. She did not ask to see Leah's records or request a veterinary assessment.
Instead, she produced an offer. Harrington would pay twenty thousand dollars, arrange a partial forgiveness of debt Kora owed a feed supplier associated with its distribution network, and organize immediate collection of the flock. Kora would sign a comprehensive release, agree not to discuss the batch, and refrain from making any future claim against the company. Genevieve called it more than fair compensation for the inconvenience Kora had experienced.
"I spent almost everything I had keeping them alive," Kora said.
"Which was your decision. We are offering to relieve you of the ongoing burden."
"What happens to the birds?"
"They would go to facilities equipped for valuable research material."
"Would they be kept alive?"
Genevieve's smile held. "The disposition would be determined by our experts."
Kora looked past her toward the outbuilding where the poults were moving under soft heat. "That isn't an answer."
"It is the answer available to you."
Janet had instructed Kora not to argue legal issues in the yard, and Kora followed that advice. She said any offer would need to go through her attorney, and she declined to sign the papers. Genevieve glanced at the farmhouse with the expression of someone mentally calculating how much of it was financed.
"Women in your position rarely have the luxury of rejecting reasonable help," she said.
Kora felt the sentence settle between them. She had spent nine years hearing variations of it from men who thought losing Aaron meant losing the right to make decisions. It did not sound more persuasive from a woman who understood exactly how to use the implication. "Then perhaps you should explain something," Kora replied. "Why is a company this large willing to spend twenty thousand dollars retrieving a flock it told the county was garbage?"
The man with the portfolio shifted, but Genevieve did not. "Because we prefer to prevent problems before they become expensive."
"Then maybe you should have prevented the mistake that sent the eggs to a landfill."
For a moment the pleasant expression disappeared. Genevieve looked at Kora as if surprised by an object that had spoken out of turn. Then she adjusted the strap of her purse and said the offer would remain open for forty-eight hours. She walked back to the SUV without asking to see the birds whose welfare she had invoked so confidently.
Kora stood in the driveway until the vehicles were gone. Her hands were shaking, and she hated that they were. She had declined an amount of money larger than any check she had held in months, and part of her wanted to chase the SUV and ask whether the offer could be increased enough to save the farm. Then she remembered Genevieve's refusal to say whether the birds would live, and the desire passed.