A Time to Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

out her arms, he reached down and hugged her.
    Hannah smiled as she got a hug, too. "She is such a loving child." Getting up, she poured her brother a cup of coffee and set it before him. "Pie?"
    "Of course."
    She cut him a piece and smiled as he forked up a bite and sighed as he chewed it. He loved her baking. "It's time you thought about getting married again."
    Matthew choked on the pie and took a gulp of coffee."Where did that come from?"
    "It's been three years. You need a wife. Your children need a mother." She sat again at the table. "Amelia would want you to be happy, for the children to have a mother. You know that."
    Leaning back in his chair, Matthew regarded his sister thoughtfully. "You've been a wonderful sister, coming here to help—"
    She waved away his words. "Family helps family."
    "But you've put aside your own life. It's time you did what you wanted. Time you got married."
    Standing, she gathered the bowls to wash them. "I have been doing what I wanted. And you're trying to change the subject."
    He hid his grin by taking another sip of coffee. She knew him well. "How is Jacob?"
    "I'm sure he's fine," Hannah told him. "But he's not the right one for me." She sat again. "I remember how you felt about Jenny."
    "That was years ago."
    "And now she's back."
    "She's back to heal, Hannah, not to look in my direction again."
    "But it could happen."
    Taking a last sip of coffee, Matthew stood. "I have work to do."
    She swatted at him as he passed her to reach for his coat."Think about it," she told him.
    "Did you forget she's Englisch?" he asked her gravely, settling his hat on his head. "She's not part of our world."
    "No? Then why did she return?" Hannah wanted to know.
    Matthew stared at her for a long moment. "Because Phoebe is her family. Jenny needs to recover, to have someone watch out for her. That is the only reason."
    Hannah tilted her head as she watched him pull on his gloves. "Maybe. Maybe not. All I'm saying is you should think about it."
    "I have work," he repeated. "And so do you. No more romantic daydreaming, Hannah. Idle hands, remember?"
    Exasperated, she threw a kitchen towel at him, but she missed, and he walked out the door, laughing. Another blast of cold air, then he shut the door.
     

     
    Matthew thought about what Hannah had said as he moved about doing his chores. She'd shocked him when she'd said it was time for him to get married again. He hadn't thought about such a thing since Amelia died.
    And he hadn't thought enough about what her living at his house, caring for it and his kinner, had done to her own life. He'd been selfish.
    It was true that he'd been in shock from the day his Amelia had died after six months of desperate attempts to save her. He'd walked and talked and taken care of his children and his farm, but he'd been lost in his grief.
    Then one day he woke up and realized that for two years he'd just existed.
    Now he realized his children were his responsibility and it was time to see that Hannah found a life beyond his home. Time she found the happiness she deserved so much.
    As he forked up hay for his horses, he thought about Jenny, too. If Hannah had seen Jenny as he had today, she'd have known that Jenny hadn't returned hoping to rekindle their relationship. She'd come at her grandmother's invitation to heal here.
    Jenny. She was so fragile, reminding him of a bird with a broken wing, a broken voice. Her eyes had looked so lifeless. The long blonde hair he remembered had obviously been shorn for her surgery. And the scar on her face. . . .
    His hand tightened on the bucket of feed for his horses. How his heart ached at the way she'd been so self-conscious about it. She was still beautiful, but it was obvious that she didn't feel that way. She was so different from the bright, happy, carefree teenage girl he remembered and not just because she was older and she was struggling to talk and to move. No, it was obvious that Jenny was experiencing so much inner pain. He'd