Elaine nodded.
"What about proprietary calibrations?"
"We'll contract appropriately qualified service providers when necessary. We won't claim we can do work we can't."
The banker studied her.
Then turned another page.
"How much equity have the members committed?"
Claire gave the current figure, distinguishing firm deposits from conditional commitments.
Elaine nodded approvingly.
"And how much borrowed capital?"
Claire explained.
For nearly an hour, they discussed risks.
Cash flow.
Seasonality.
Staffing.
Liability.
Parts inventory.
Member disputes.
The possibility that AgriTech would lower prices to compete.
The possibility that farmers would join during a crisis and leave when the crisis passed.
Claire had considered most of those problems.
Not all.
She wrote down the questions she could not answer.
Finally, Elaine closed the folder.
"I won't approve anything today."
Claire nodded.
"I didn't expect you to."
"But I'll take this to our business lending team for preliminary review."
Claire looked up.
Elaine continued.
"Provided your counsel finalizes the structure and the member equity is verified."
Claire felt her chest tighten.
It was not a loan approval.
But it was a path toward one.
She nodded.
"Thank you."
The banker looked toward the window.
Then back at her.
"Claire, you know what I find interesting?"
"What?"
"When you first came in, you asked the bank to help you survive one bad harvest."
Claire waited.
Elaine tapped the cooperative proposal.
"Now you're asking whether a group of farmers can change the economics of equipment service across several counties."
Claire smiled faintly.
"Sounds ambitious when you put it that way."
Elaine nodded.
"It is."
Then she added quietly, "That doesn't make it foolish."
The first reliable account of what happened to Claire's service ticket arrived three weeks after harvest.
Her attorney had requested records from AgriTech relating to the repair agreement, including customer-facing service histories and the documentation supporting the rejection.
The company initially responded with a summary.
It listed the original fault report.
The harvest priority flag.
Several notes about parts availability.
And a final rejection.
But important entries were missing.
The dates did not match the promises Claire received by telephone.
A technician appeared to have been assigned and then removed from the job.
The stated reason for the removal was vague.
And the initial repair request had been downgraded from urgent to standard service more than a week before Harlan Sutter arrived at the farm.
Claire studied the report beside her attorney.
The lawyer was named Rachel Bennett, a forty-eight-year-old Kansas attorney who had spent much of her career handling commercial disputes and agricultural contracts.
She was patient, skeptical, and unimpressed by clients who wanted dramatic accusations before examining evidence.
Claire pointed toward the service history.
"Look at this."
Rachel nodded.