At a roadside stand the South Hotel manager arrives and offers to buy all of Murphy’s tomatoes—South Hotel being Sinclair’s biggest rival. Murphy hesitates because selling to them could enrage the Sinclair family, but he accepts when the manager transfers $40,000 and promises to send a truck for delivery. Locals mock Murphy for farming, yet the stock sells out and people rush to try the tomatoes. Murphy revels in the sudden windfall, while warning that the Sinclairs are likely furious and waiting for him to crawl back, leaving a looming confrontation unresolved.