Free Be Sweet by Diann Hunt

can’t forget. She lured my husband away when I needed him most. And he willingly betrayed me. No one gets over that.” The words sting my soul as they leave my lips.
    Janni sighs. “Eddie has left a trail of broken hearts. He’ll regret it one day.”
    â€œI doubt it. Once a jerk, always a jerk.”
    Janni shakes her head. “An unforgiving heart and bitterness can do more harm to you than he and Linda ever did.”
    â€œLook, Janni, don’t preach to me. I’ve heard this business all my life. The truth is, I believe God is good, but people stink. Linda stole my husband. My chance for a family. I’m not bitter. It’s just a fact. She took my life and made it her own.”
    â€œIt was wrong of her, but you have to forgive her.”
    â€œWho says I haven’t forgiven her?”
    â€œHave you?”
    â€œHello? It’s not as though I’ve set out for revenge, have I?”
    â€œWe all make mistakes, Char.” She turns to me. “All of us.”

six
    â€œI wonder if this is how Daniel Boone felt blaz -ing a trail,” I say, shoving branches out of my way as we walk through the woods the next afternoon.
    Janni chuckles. “Maybe. Though I imagine his paths were not as easy to get through as ours.” We take a few steps in silence.
    â€œDid you get the menu ordered for the party?”
    â€œHad to. The time will be here before we know it.” Now that she’s grown used to the idea of a fancy party, there’s no use telling her I ordered the menu while I was still in Maine.
    â€œStill getting cards in the mail?” I ask, stepping over pinecones.
    â€œYep. Almost daily. I think we’ll have a good crowd. Still think we could have done it in the church fellowship center. It would have been appropriate what with him being the pastor for so long.”
    â€œThis isn’t a church matter. This is about their lives together as husband and wife. Hey, what happened over there?” I ask, pointing to some trees with severed branches on the ground below them.
    â€œWe had a bad storm last fall and haven’t been down here to clean up yet. It always amazes me how nature can beat the trees up, but some-how they manage to survive.”
    We step around the debris. “We’ll just finish off these two rows of trees here,” she says, pointing. “They were the only ones Daniel and I didn’t get to on Saturday.”
    My fingers trail the rough bark of a tree. “Funny how they dry up during the winter.” Just like me—dried up. Used. At least that’s how I feel when I return to Tappery.
    â€œYeah, it’s pretty amazing.”
    â€œWon’t be long until we’ll be eating pancakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” I say.
    â€œMom probably wouldn’t like that any more than she appreciated the turkey dinner last night.”
    â€œOh, you know Mom. She’s just a tad opinionated.” I laugh. A hole in the ground makes me wobble a moment, and I try not to think about the fact it could be a snake hole. The only thing that sets my mind at ease is in knowing the ground is still frozen, so they’re not likely to be slithering around outside. “Besides, she dug into those maple buns this morning like nobody’s business.”
    â€œAnd then complained about them after eating four.” Janni sighs.
    â€œYou know, it amazes me that you and Daniel got so many trees tapped by yourselves.”
    â€œSome friends from the church helped. It shouldn’t take us long to finish up.”
    â€œYou sure are blessed with people who love you.”
    â€œYou know, we really are. Let’s start with this one,” Janni says, stop-ping at an old, sturdy maple. She studies the tree a moment, her fingers rubbing across the bark for the scar from last year’s drilling.
    â€œIt’s cool how these trees heal themselves.”
    â€œHow do you mean?” Janni