Caleb noticed it.
Then Elaine asked him a strange question.
"How many mechanics work for you?"
"Just me now."
"Used to be more?"
"Three. Had to let them go when business slowed."
"And you still stopped to repair a stranger's tractor for free?"
Caleb glanced at Lily.
"Someone needed help."
Elaine studied him for several seconds.
Then she reached into the tractor cab and removed a battered leather folder Caleb hadn't noticed before.
Wade saw it.
The color drained from his face.
"Elaine," he said quickly, "there's no reason to involve—"
She raised one hand.
He stopped talking.
That was the moment Caleb realized something about this dusty woman in muddy boots wasn't what it seemed.
Elaine opened the folder.
Inside were property maps, contracts, and a document bearing a corporate seal Caleb recognized from grain trucks he saw all over Nebraska.
Wade stared at it as though someone had pointed a weapon at his future.
Elaine turned to Caleb.
"Mr. Morrison," she said, "before you drive away, there's something you should know about whose tractor you just fixed."
Then she placed the first document on the hood.
At the top was a name Caleb had seen on elevators, freight trailers, processing plants, and thousands upon thousands of acres across the Midwest.
His hand froze over the page.
Type TRACTOR and I'll continue.