I’d just arrived at work when I saw Levi come in. You could always spot Levi because he was the only man in town who never wore a ball cap. That had been true before he left for the Air Force, and it was still true now.

“Ella?” he said as he approached the parts counter. “What are you doing here?”

“I work here, what do you think?”

“I thought you worked at Dolly’s.”

“I do. I work here, 8:30 to three o’clock, Monday through Friday, and work at Dolly’s four until eight, weeknights, and then either ten to three or three to eight on weekends.”

“You work seven days a week?”

His tone signaled his disapproval, and I shrugged. “You do what you have to do.”

“But Saturday you were there at lunch and didn’t get off until eight.”

“I was covering for Diane. Now, how can I help you?”

He blinked at me a couple of times. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to pry. I need two complete sets of knives for a 640FD.”

“Two complete sets, as in upper and lower, or upper and lower for two headers?”

“Upper and lower for two headers. Do you have them in stock?”

I didn’t even bother looking the part up on the computer. This time of year, every farmer and his brother was in here buying replacement knives.

“Yeah, I keep them in stock. Hang on and I’ll go get them.”

I went into the parts room to get his blades. The parts counter at Goodall Equipment was open from seven until six, Monday through Friday. The shop foreman handled the counter until I came on at 8:30 and after I left at three. I’d been begging Mr. Goodall to make me full time, and the shop foreman had backed me up, but old man Goodall didn’t want to pay the benefits, so I worked part time during the busiest part of the day. I fetched parts for customers and techs in the shop, ordered parts for the same, and maintained the inventory. The pay wasn’t great, but I enjoyed the work well enough, and it helped pay the bills. I stacked sixteen boxes of blades aside. I couldn’t carry them all at once, so I took eight boxes to the counter in one trip before returning for the other eight.

“Anything else?” I asked as I set the second eight boxes beside the first.

“No, that’s enough…unless you want to install them for me?”

I grinned. “I would, but you know, work,” I said as I waved around the parts department. “Put them on your Dad’s account?”

“That’ll be great. Thanks.”

“Hang on, I need you sign the paper.”

I typed on the computer to print up his bill and relieve the inventory. Levi had put a major dent in my knife supply. After he was gone, I was going to order some more so I didn’t run out.

“Hey, I heard you were back!” I glanced up as Steve walked in. “How you doing, man?” Steve said as he extended his hand to Levi. “I guess the Air Force didn’t agree with you, huh?”

Levi smiled politely as he took the offered hand, though I could tell he’d almost rather pick up a pile of shit. “I guess you could say something like that.”

“A lot has happened since you left. I guess you heard your girl there had a kid?”

Levi said nothing as shame and embarrassment filled me. I pressed enter and the printer behind me began buzzing. When it stopped, I ripped the paper off and slid it across the counter for Levi to sign.

“Here you go, Mr. McCormick. If you’ll sign here please.”

“Mr. McCormick?” Steve asked, looking at me. “Kind of formal, aren’t you? I suppose I’m Mr. Calhoun now?”

“Lay off, Steve,” Levi said as he took the paper and scribbled his name.

“I’m just saying. Mr. McCormick sounds kind of stuffy, considering you two were going to get married at one time.”

Levi glared at Steve. “I said lay off.”

“Yeah, okay, sure man. No offense. How you doing, Ella? How’s Abby?”

“Why do you care?”

“Whoa! Don’t bite my head off! I was just asking!”

I clenched my jaw. “She’s fine. What can I get you?”

Steve glanced at Levi. “Damn, she’s like a mother lion. She’s kind of touchy about that for some reason.”

Levi said nothing as he gathered up the boxes of blades. He couldn’t manage them all in one trip either. He left six boxes sitting on the counter. “I’ll come back for those.”

As soon as Levi was out the door, I turned on Steve. “Why are you being such a prick?”

“What did I do? I was just being friendly.”

I wanted to slap that smarmy smile right off his face. “Asking about Abby in front of Levi? You’ve never sent her a Christmas present, a birthday card, not one damn thing, and now you come in here and act like you’re concerned about her?” I left off the ‘you can go fuck yourself’ that I wanted to say because I needed this job.

“She’s my kid too, you know.”

“Then why don’t you act like it sometime?”

“Jesus Christ, Mary Ella, are you on the rag or something? What’s your problem?”

I gripped the counter. “What can I get for you, Mr. Calhoun?” I asked, using my best, happy, fake, customer service voice.

“You know, we should go out to dinner sometime.”

“I’m not going anyplace with you. Now, do you need something or not?”

He sighed. “Okay, yeah. I need a rear straw chopper drive belt for a 6620.”

I looked the part number up on the computer. I’d just finished getting the information when Levi came back in.

“Excuse me,” Levi said as he stepped around Steve and reached for the remaining boxes of blades.

“Hey, Levi, we should get together and catch up,” Steve said as I turned to go get his belt.

“I’ll think I’ll pass on that,” I heard Levi say as I entered the parts room.

Though I knew right where the belt was, I took my time. I wasn’t anxious to go back out there with Steve being an ass. I picked the correct belt off the shelf and sauntered back to the counter, belt in hand. Steve was standing there, red in the face as Levi grinned at him nastily.

“I’m just saying, it mustn’t have been that great for her if she can’t even remember it. Maybe all those rumors about you having a little penis are true? Or maybe you’re a two-pump chump and it was over so quick she didn’t even have time to notice? You know what, I bet it was both.” Levi glanced at me. “Steve was just telling me how much he enjoyed his romp with you. I guess it’s good that one of you did.”

I thought my heart was going to stop. “That’s enough! Both of you!”

“Fuck you, McCormick,” Steve snarled.

“Sorry, but you’re not my type. I prefer women, not whiny little bitches who take advantage of a helpless woman and thinks getting a girl pregnant and not taking responsibility for their kid makes them a man.”

Steve sneered. “Well, maybe if you were actually hot shit like you think you are, she wouldn’t have been sniffing around for a real man to satisfy her.” He looked at me. “Isn’t that right, baby?”

“How dare you!” I snarled. “I was drugged, you raped me, and you know it, you fucking asshole!” I yelled, my voice steadily getting louder as my anger overcame me.

“You wanted it. Everyone saw you hanging all over me. You were begging for it. You said you were on the pill. I was just giving you what you wanted. It’s not my fault you got pregnant, and the whole town knows it.”

I wanted to come over the parts counter after him, and Levi was looking at him, his eyes narrowed.

“What’s going on back here?” Mr. Goodall demanded as he stomped into the parts department.

“Nothing, Mr. Goodall,” Levi said, picking up his remaining boxes of blades. “Steve and I were just having a friendly little chat.”

“I know about you two. If you’ve got a problem with each other, take it somewhere else or I’m calling the cops.”

“Yes, sir,” Levi said. “I’m leaving.” He looked at me, and there was something in his face, something I couldn’t read. Sadness? Understanding? I couldn’t be sure. He nodded, his lips tight, before he turned and walked out.

“Here’s your belt,” I growled, slamming the package down on the counter.

“He started it,” Steve complained.

“You started it, Steve. You just kept rubbing his nose in it even after he warned you to stop.”

“Ella, that’s enough!” Goodall snapped and glared at Steve. “You need anything else?” he growled.

“No.”

“Then take your part and get out of here. I’ll put it on your account.”

Goodall glared at Steve until Steve picked up the belt and sauntered out like he owned the place. Mr. Goodall turned on me. “I don’t know what went on back here, but I won’t have you cussing out the customers, I don’t care what they do or say. If it happens again, you’re fired. Have I made myself perfectly clear?”

I was burning with shame. “Yes, sir. Sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“It’d better not. If you have a problem with a customer, you call me. If you have a personal problem with a customer, you’re just going to have suck it up and deal with it.”

“Yes, sir.”

He glared at me a moment, turned, and stomped away. I stood behind the counter and fought against my tears. It wasn’t fair! Every time I tried to stand up for myself, I got blamed.

Marcy, a dumpling of a woman in her fifties, crept in from accounting. “Ella? Are you okay?”

Clearly with Goodall showing up, and now Marcy, everyone in the place must have heard me yelling at Steve. I sniffed and took a deep breath, trying to get control of myself. “No, not really.”

I turned to my computer and printed Steve’s ticket. Marcy usually picked up the tickets at nine, noon, and three. She was a little early this morning. She was also a terrible gossip. The joke around Goodall’s was the three fastest modes of communication were telephone, telegraph, and tell Marcy. By the time I arrived at Dolly’s this evening, everyone in town would know that Levi and Steve had tied up in front of me, I’d called Steve a fucking asshole, and Mr. Goodall had threatened to fire me. I couldn’t catch a break.

I added Steve’s ticket to the small pile and handed them to Marcy. “Steve didn’t sign his ticket, but Mr. Goodall said to bill it to his account.”

“Anything I can do?” she asked, taking the thin sheaf of papers.

I wanted to tell her she could help by keeping her mouth shut, but I might as well have asked for the sun to not rise. “No, but thank you for asking.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing. I lost my temper, that’s all.”

“Were Steve and Levi fighting over you?”

At least I knew how the story was going to go. “No, they weren’t fighting over me. I don’t think I’m very popular with either one of them.” I knew I was wasting my time telling her that. Marcy wasn’t one to let a few facts get in the way of a good story.

I completed the rest of my shift without incident. I clocked out and drove the few blocks to Dolly’s. I clocked in and got started.

“Where am I?” I asked Dolly.

“Take one,” she said, giving me my normal section. “I heard about what happened at Goodall’s. Am I going to have to worry about that here?”

Again I became hot with embarrassment. “No.”

She nodded, seeming to take my word for it. “I know you’ve had it rough, Ella, and I know Steve Calhoun can be a real ass sometimes, and I’m sure Levi coming home hasn’t made things any easier for you.” She paused as she looked at me, thinking something over before continuing. “You don’t get to be seventy without learning a thing or two, so I’m going to give you a piece of advice. Stay out from between those two. Nothing will make a man meaner than fighting over a woman. You don’t want to be around if it gets ugly.”

I wanted to shake my head. That damned Marcy. “Despite what you heard, they weren’t fighting over me. Steve was being a jerk to Levi, trying to get his goat. I guess he got it. I don’t know what he said because I was in the back and didn’t hear it, but Levi set him straight.” I shrugged. “After that, it got a little out of hand and I said a few things I shouldn’t have.”

“I heard you brought up rape again.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah. I guess he kind of got my goat too.”

She nodded and moved away as customers came in. “Just don’t let it happen here.”

“No ma’am,” I muttered.

It was still slow, with the dinner crowd just starting to trickle in, when Diane pulled me aside. “Is it true?”

I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them again. “No.”

“At Goodall’s this morning, Levi didn’t threaten to kill Steve for getting you pregnant?”

“No! Where’d you hear that?”

“That’s the rumor.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I hate this town.”

“I think it’s kind of sweet.”

I shook my head. Diane was only seventeen. I wondered if I was that naïve when I was her age. “That’s because you’re not stuck in the middle of it. Do me a favor, please. Don’t spread it around, okay? All that happened was Steve and Levi had a few words, they both made me mad, and I lost my temper. That’s it. Nobody’s fighting over me, and certainly nobody threatened to kill anybody.”

She looked almost disappointed. “Okay, I won’t.”

“Thank you.”

That was the last I heard of the rumors for the rest of the evening, but I knew in my bones, the stories were circulating, and they were probably getting more outlandish with every telling. Before they died out, Levi and Steve probably would have pulled knives on each other and had a duel right there in Goodall’s, probably shirtless, as I suffered a case of the vapors and passed out. I couldn’t get anyone to believe me when I was trying to find justice, but people had no problem believing Levi and Steve were fighting over me and threatening to kill each other.

I finished my shift and drove to Mom and Dad’s to get Abby. I was so tired. Tired of working all the time, tired of the rumors and the stress, and tired of people whispering about me behind my back. I’d been working my ass off, scrimping and saving every penny I could, and I had a little money put back. Maybe I could move to Abilene and start over. It was only forty-five minutes from Hamlinton. Close enough that Mom and Dad could easily visit Abby, but far enough away that I wouldn’t have to deal with all the baggage I had here.

My problem was I didn’t have any skills. My idea of becoming a nurse had been dashed when Abby came along. I couldn’t see how I could handle school, a job, and Abby, all at the same time. Maybe in a few more years. But for now, it was hand to mouth for us, and it appeared it was going to continue that way for a while longer.

“Here’s my girl!” I cheered as Abby ran into my arms, Theodore firmly in her grip, and I picked her up. “Ready to go?”

“Yep! Grandma let me feed the chickens!”

“Thanks again, Mom. Same time tomorrow, I guess.” I noticed her looking at me funny, and when Dad joined us in the hall, I knew something was up. “What?”

“I heard from Larry Windel that Levi was causing trouble,” Dad said, his tone low and dangerous.

I slumped. “I don’t know what you heard, but it’s probably not true.”

“He didn’t come into Goodall’s today and start trouble?”

I sighed. “Not now,” I said, nodding my head at Abby. “Let me go get her to bed, and I’ll call and tell you all about it, okay? Why do you believe this stuff?”

“I’m about sick of this. If Levi keeps it up, he and I are going to have a come to Jesus meeting.”

“Levi didn’t do anything. Not one thing, so you can get off your high horse right now,” I snapped. I was about sick of it too, and I glared at him until Mom tugged gently on his arm, silently telling him to let it go. “I’ll call you in a couple of hours, but right now I need to go. Somebody needs a bath and to get ready for bed,” I said as I goosed Abby in the ribs to make her giggle and squirm.

“Come on, Ken,” Mom said, pulling him by the arm. “They need to go.”

“I’ll call you,” I repeated as I turned, opened the door, and stepped into the darkness.