Hollis laughed so hard she had to put down her pen. "I wish corn and money worked that way."
They walked together toward the barn doors. Hollis showed the applicant the difference between the tractor's analog controls and the modern machine's displays, carefully emphasizing the training each required. One was not automatically safer because it was simple; the other was not automatically superior because it was advanced. Both could hurt people or ruin crops if handled carelessly. Both could accomplish useful work in capable hands.
"My dad loved this one," Hollis said, resting her hand on the green hood.
"Do you?"
Hollis thought about the first test start, the old binder, the grain wagons, and the letter hidden behind the map. "Yes. But I love what it reminds me to do even more."
"What's that?"
"Look for another way before deciding there isn't one."
The applicant smiled. They returned to the workbench and completed the employment paperwork. Hollis watched the young woman sign her name carefully and felt an unfamiliar weight settle over her. She was now responsible for somebody else's safety and wages. Her father's farm had become an employer under her decisions. If she wanted to deserve the authority that came with that responsibility, she would have to listen as seriously as she expected others to listen to her.
By summer, the new employee had become confident with inspection routines, basic field documentation, and the lighter tasks assigned to her. Hollis enjoyed watching her learn. She also found herself repeating Roland's favorite phrases, sometimes so precisely that Ellis would stop working and grin. Once, after Hollis warned the young woman not to confuse a machine running with a machine being safe, Ellis said, "You sound just like the old man."
Hollis smiled. "I hope I sound like myself sometimes."
"You do," he said. "He'd be proud of both."
The words stayed with her long after he drove away. For the first time, she could imagine reaching adulthood without constantly comparing herself to Roland. He had taught her what he could. She had learned things he never faced. The farm would need both sets of knowledge, along with skills belonging to people she had yet to meet. Keeping it alive did not require becoming a copy of her father. It required being the person willing to make the next sound decision.