A Time for Peace Read Online Free PDF

second gown with the ties in the front, covering the one underneath that she would have felt immodest to leave the room in.
    As always, Phoebe wore her kapp over her perfectly groomed hair.
    The aide rolled the wheelchair closer to the bed and Phoebe sat in it and watched him adjust the footrests for her. Then he picked up the blanket from the foot of the bed and tucked it around her. "It can be a bit cold where we're going."
    Jenny wanted to ask where that was but Matthew took her hand and squeezed it and when she glanced at him, he sent her a silent message that husbands and wives quickly learned to interpret after their wedding. This one said, "Leave it alone.Please."
    Even though his look wasn't one of censure, she wanted to object, to say that she had a right as a granddaughter to ask where they were going, what tests the aide was taking Phoebe for. It wasn't nosiness, it was simply concern. If something was wrong, she wanted to know so she could do something. Something.
    And then the sobering thought came that if there was something wrong that there was nothing she really could do about it . . . it was all up to God.
    The aide pushed the chair toward them and then stopped, sensitive to Jenny's mood.
    Jenny bent and hugged Phoebe and noted that her grandmother's arms felt as strong as ever. Drawing back, she forced a smile.
    "I'm not going to worry," she said. "Because—because you always say that worrying is arrogant. God knows what He's doing."
    Phoebe beamed. "Exactly. I'll be back home before you know it."
    Matthew kissed her cheek. "See you later."
    They stood and watched as the aide pushed Phoebe out of the room and then Jenny turned to Matthew.
    "What was that about, that stopping me when I wanted to ask about the tests?"
    Matthew touched her shoulders and his eyes were kind. "She's your grandmother but I've known Phoebe for a long time and she's a very private person. If there's something she wants to tell you, she will. And if she doesn't, you need to respect her privacy."
    "But if she's seriously sick—"
    "We must respect her wishes, lieb."
    "Don't try to distract me by calling me 'love,' " she told him, trying not to pout.
    His lips twitched. "I wouldn't dream of it." Then he sobered."I'm not saying that if her health were to change seriously that I don't agree with you about talking with her about it," he told her. "But I feel she'll talk to us if things change."
    Jenny nodded and sighed. "Well, let's go on home, then.Maybe the children will want to come when we bring Phoebe some of her things."
    "I think if we try to leave them home we'll never hear the end of it," he said with a chuckle as they left the room.

4
     
     
    I t's driving you crazy, isn't it?"
    Jenny frowned at Hannah. "It's not funny."
    Hannah sighed and reached for Jenny's hand. "No, it's not. I don't know why Phoebe's being so secretive, either."
    "You didn't know she was taking prescription medicine?"
    Leaning back in her chair, Hannah began rubbing her abdomen, a habit Jenny had noticed.
    "I really didn't," Hannah told her. "I've been concerned by how hard it was on her to climb the stairs here at the house but she kept saying she was fine. Then Chris and I got married and she insisted we should have her bedroom upstairs so that solved that."
    She looked around the room and her smile was soft. "You know, sometimes it seems like a dream. Everything that's happened, I mean. Did you feel that way when you first married Matthew?"
    Jenny smiled. "Yeah. Sometimes I still do. Especially when I look at the children. It already felt like a miracle that Matthew and I got a second chance but to have a ready-made family.Well, I still find myself thinking I should pinch myself."
    "I was remembering this conversation we had not long after I met you," Hannah said. "I thought I wouldn't ever get married.You said I should make a wish list of what I wanted in a man."
    She glanced at Jenny and grinned. "A wish list for a man. Imagine, I thought. What's