A Time to Love Read Online Free PDF

been getting a box from his buggy when he'd heard her scream as if monsters were chasing her. She'd been shaking so hard her teeth chattered when he reached her.
    He hadn't told Hannah that Jenny didn't remember him. Shame came over him again now as he thought of how his pride had been hurt. Then he'd realized how badly Jenny was injured and he knew it would be very small of him to tell her about his hurt feelings.
    Their worlds were so different and so much time had stretched between them, so many experiences. Once, they'd been friends. Once, they'd almost been more.
    Then Matthew and her father had talked. The older man had shown up several weeks before the time Jenny was due to leave. He found Matthew out in the field and insisted they had to talk. Somehow the man had found out that his daughter was seeing Matthew. He said the relationship was over, that he'd left the Amish community behind, and he wouldn't allow her to be married to someone from it. He insisted she deserved a chance to go to college. He'd wanted her to have more than she'd have in the Amish community.
    And that was that. Matthew was forced to agree there was no future for him with Jenny. It was all he could do. He had to respect her father. Respect for the head of the household came first in the community.
    He never got a chance to talk to Jenny again before her father took her away later that day. He never knew if her father told her they'd talked. But she never answered the two notes he sent to her—even sent them back unopened.
    Matthew tried to force away the painful memories. God hadn't meant for them to marry, he told himself, and he'd worked hard to forget her and married another.
    He'd be a friend to Jenny now if she wanted one. He'd help her in any way that he could, for he'd discovered that he still cared so much for her.
    And he'd pray that God would keep His gentle hand on this child of His and help her to heal.

3
     
     
     
    D reams were funny things.
    Even before she opened her eyes Jenny knew she'd been dreaming. She'd been running barefoot through the grass on the farm, laughing, feeling free and joyful. The sky had been so blue, the sun so warm.
    She wanted to stay here forever.
    The pain was the first clue it had been a dream. She came awake feeling it in so many places that it became one big ache. The awkwardness of movement was next—her limbs moving like they were filled with molasses when she tried to roll over.
    Still, she said her morning prayer of thanks for the day, just as she'd done every day for so many years. She was grateful for a day to be alive, no matter how pain-filled, no matter how disappointing.
    And it was one day closer to getting better. Even if she often complained that it was taking too long. God's time definitely isn't the same as mine, she thought with a sigh.
    Lying here thinking about it wasn't getting her anywhere. A glance at the clock on the bedside table showed her that it was 8 a.m. Her grandmother would have been up for hours.
    Jenny winced as her body registered aches and pains that seemed to have grown worse through the night. She supposed she should have set the alarm to take her pain medication during the night, but she was trying so hard to wean herself from it. Too often she'd heard of surgery patients having problems with addiction after being on painkillers.
    Kicking back the covers, she began the exercises the physical therapist instructed her to do each morning. Determined, she forced her body to work harder, pushing herself to add a few more to each prescribed set.
    Panting, exhausted, and sweating, she finished and lay back, trying to catch her breath.
    A warm bath helped to soak away more of the aches and pains. As usual, as she soaped and scrubbed, she avoided looking at the scars, the visual reminder of why her body hurt.
    Her grandmother looked up from the kitchen table as Jenny limped into the room.
    "You look like you're moving more easily," she remarked after they said their good