Free The Glorious Prodigal by Gilbert Morris

someone to operate it, and he had had several vociferous arguments with Stuart about it.
    “Have you thought about just taking over the new store for a while? Just until you can get things under way.”
    “I can’t do it. It’s just not for me.”
    Stuart stared defiantly at Leah and listened as she pleaded with him. Finally he growled, “All right! I’ll go. But it won’t be any pleasure for me or anybody else.”
    “Well, at least you’ll get to meet Jeff’s fiancée. She’s a fine young woman from what I hear.”
    Stuart did not answer but left without another word to shave and get ready.
    By the time they were both dressed and ready to leave, Annie had dressed Raimey in the new blue suit that his grandfather had picked out for him from the store stock. “Oh, he looks wonderful, doesn’t he, Stuart!”
    “Good-lookin’ boy,” Stuart said, smiling as he picked up Raimey.
    And at that moment Leah knew a quick surge of pride. “He looks just like you, Stuart. He’s going to be big like you, too. He’s got big bones.”
    Annie was watching all this, getting Raimey’s gear together, and her thought was, I hope he’s a better man than his daddy is. Good looks ain’t nothin’ in this world without a good heart to go with ’em. When the family had gone off in the Oldsmobile Stuart had recently bought, her heart was heavy, and she turned back into the house, saying aloud, “He ain’t no fit man for Miss Leah. No, indeed he ain’t. The Lord’s gonna have to deal with him!”
    ****
    The dinner was a success, except for Stuart’s withdrawn attitude. Hillary Devoe, Jeff’s fiancée, was an attractive, tall young woman of twenty-two with blond hair and sparklingblue eyes. She hit it off at once with the family, who were all intensely proud of Jeff’s choice.
    The meal was wonderful, as it always was when Diane Winslow set her mind to it, and she hovered longer over Stuart than over any of the others, urging him to eat more.
    “Mom, you’ll have me fat as a pig.”
    “You’ve lost weight, Stuart,” Diane said. She reached out and touched the hollow spot in his chin. “You’ve been doing too much.”
    Richard glanced up quickly and opened his mouth to protest, but one look at his wife silenced him. He shook his head and went on eating.
    “How’s the new store coming over in Twin Oaks, Dad?” Jeff asked. He was happy with his new fiancée, satisfied in his work, and his life was going well, and he showed it.
    “Not good. I had to let Blevins go.”
    “What was wrong with him?”
    “He was stealing and he was lazy. Half the time he would open the store an hour late.”
    It was Hillary who made the mistake of saying, “Twin Oaks isn’t too far for you, is it, Stuart? It looks like a perfect opportunity for you to develop it.”
    Stuart turned his eyes on the young woman and said in a hard tone, “Everybody else tries to run my life in this family, Miss Devoe. I don’t think they need any extra help.”
    An embarrassed silence ran around the table, broken only by the faint cry of the baby in the next room. “I’ll see to Raimey,” Diane said. She got up and left the room and was joined by Leah. Picking up Raimey, Diane turned her eyes toward her daughter-in-law. “I wish Hillary hadn’t said that,” she murmured.
    “So do I.”
    Diane cuddled the baby and planted a kiss on his smooth cheek. “He’ll find his way, Leah,” she said gently. “It’s just taking him more time than any of us would like.”
    “I know. I pray for him every day, and I know you do, too.”
    Back at the table Jeff had started talking quickly to cover the embarrassed silence, but the fellowship had been destroyed. Stuart said nothing for the rest of the evening, and his father kept a tight rein on his own remarks. It was after they went to bed that Diane said tentatively, “I’m sorry it turned out so badly, Richard.”
    “Why can’t he see what everyone else sees, Diane?”
    “I don’t know. He’s