Daniel planted four young trees the spring before he and Claire were married. Three were apple trees, and the fourth was a struggling pear tree he brought home because he could not leave something in need of help behind. Over the years, the trees became part of the family. Daniel taught his son Ben how to care for them, explaining that pruning meant removing what would not serve the whole. When Ben was nine, Daniel told him, “These trees will keep feeding you, even when I’m gone.” He died twelve days before the harvest…
After the funeral, Claire and her children returned home to find their neighbor Monica taking apples and pears from the trees. Claire asked her to stop, but Monica said she needed the money and that the fruit would only rot. The next morning, Claire discovered something even worse: Monica had returned during the night and stripped every tree bare, using Daniel’s own ladder. For Claire, it was more than stolen fruit. It felt like someone had taken a piece of what Daniel had built for his children.
