My neighbor insisted I remove my apple tree—then one morning, I woke up to my entire yard buried in apples.

said, pointing toward a sunny corner of the garden.

I reminded him that his doctor had forbidden heavy lifting.

“It’s a tree, Sloane,” he replied with a grin. “Not a weightlifting competition.”

We planted it together. In truth, I did most of the digging while Dean sat nearby and offered guidance. When we finished, he pressed continue reading …