He told Naomi during a community meeting that he was glad he'd spoken up.
She looked toward him.
"You were taking a risk."
Daniel nodded.
"So were you."
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then he added.
"A lot of us work hard out there. We don't want anybody's farm getting damaged because something wasn't checked."
Naomi smiled.
"That's all I ever wanted."
The financial negotiations were difficult.
Naomi's attorney reviewed the property damage, emergency expenses, lost grazing income, and the projected cost of stabilizing the affected land.
The company disputed portions of the claims.
Technical specialists debated which repairs were necessary because of the recent incident and which addressed older conditions.
The county's historic role also required examination.
For months, Naomi attended meetings, reviewed documents, and tried to understand the implications of decisions made decades before she inherited the farm.
Some days, she was tempted to accept the first settlement offer simply to end the uncertainty.
But her attorney reminded her that an agreement needed to address the actual damage and future responsibilities, not merely provide enough money to make the immediate problem disappear.
Naomi agreed.
She didn't demand to become wealthy.
She wanted the farm stabilized.
The old waterworks properly managed.
And the property restored to a condition where she could use it safely.
Eventually, the parties reached a resolution that funded necessary corrective work and addressed documented losses, with separate regulatory oversight of the relevant infrastructure.
The agreement didn't make the farm magically perfect.
It didn't erase every old risk associated with the natural groundwater system.
But it provided a practical path toward repairing the damaged land without forcing Naomi to bear the entire financial burden of a failure she hadn't created.
When the final documents were signed, she sat in her attorney's office for several seconds without moving.
Then she began crying.
Not because she'd won a fortune.
Because she finally believed she might be able to keep her home.
The restoration took more than a year.
Engineers developed a plan based on the actual ground conditions.
Specialists addressed the damaged conduit and chamber.
The unstable areas were stabilized through appropriate construction methods.
And the surrounding pasture was regraded and restored where feasible.
The work required heavy equipment.
Temporary access roads.
And several months during which large sections of the farm remained unavailable.