The Glorious Prodigal (8 page)

But Leah had known that deep down something was missing in Stuart. True enough he loved her and had been more thoughtful, but for the last two months she had sensed a drawing away, and she dreaded the thought that he was falling back into his old life-style.

Annie interrupted her thoughts. “You let me take care of that young’un. You go get yourself ready.”

“All right, Annie. Be sure you powder him good.”

“You teach your grandmaw to suck eggs?” Annie said with sprightly disdain. “I reckon I knows how to take care of a young’un, since I got four of my own.”

“I know. I was just teasing, Annie.” Leah hugged Annie and then left the room, saying, “Put on his blue suit. He looks so good in that.”

Going into the bathroom, she quickly bathed her face and
fixed her hair. Then going to her bedroom, she took off the worn brown dress that was so comfortable and slipped into the new one she had worn only twice. It was an expensive dress, a gift from her mother-in-law, made of fine dotted voile. It had a deep collar and cuffs of sheer organdy, and the colors were a light delicate green with gold checks within. She was admiring herself in the mirror when the door opened and Stuart came in.

He grunted, “I got Merle hitchin’ up the team.” He stopped suddenly and said, “I don’t feel up to going to eat with the folks. You take Raimey and go on.”

Leah’s heart sank and she turned to him, studying his face. His eyes were bloodshot, for he hadn’t returned until three in the morning after a late-night engagement with a band in Fort Smith.

“Stuart, you’ve got to go,” she said. “Everyone’s expecting you.”

Stuart rubbed his stubby cheeks and shook his head, saying with irritation, “I wouldn’t be good company.”

“You’ll feel better. You go shave, and I’ll fix you a snack to eat.”

Stuart’s jaw set stubbornly. “I don’t feel like having Dad preach at me. That’s all I ever hear out of him. ‘Why don’t you straighten up?’ What does he want out of me, anyway?”

“Things have been going better lately. He’s proud of the way you’ve taken hold here at the farm.”

“He’s always at me to come into the business. I can’t stand there selling beans and horse collars to a bunch of farmers all day long every day. That may be all right for Jeff, but I’m not cut out for it.”

It was an old argument, for Richard Winslow could not give up his dream of having both of his sons in the business with him. Already Jeff had taken over as manager of the store in Fort Smith, which was growing rapidly. He boarded there now but came home on the weekends and as often as he could. This left Richard to run the store in Lewisville, and
he was struggling to open another one over at Twin Oaks. He was having trouble finding 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 sparkling
blue 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 different from Jeff.”

“He certainly is!”

Diane reached over and took Richard’s hand. “You must be patient, dear,” she said.

“I think I’ve been patient for a long time, but he’s got to wake up. He’s not a child now. He’s got a wife and a baby. It’s time for him to take control of his life and be responsible.”

Diane did not have an answer for her husband’s valid concerns. She lay silently and, as always, went to sleep praying for her son who had given them all such grief.

****

Without question, the summer wedding of Carter Simms to Cora Langley was the most extravagant event to ever take place in Lewisville. Reverend Charles Fields performed the service, and the church was packed. Everyone had followed the stormy courtship of the pair, and several bets had been made as to the outcome of it.

Stuart Winslow was one of the few unhappy spectators. He had sat beside Leah and after the ceremony had attended the reception in a large hall nearby. A tense moment came when Leah approached Cora to wish her well. Her cheeks were slightly pale, for she well knew what she had never voiced to Stuart. She said quietly, “I hope you have a happy marriage, Cora.” Then she turned quickly to Carter. She was almost as tall as he was, and she noted the strain around the edges of his eyes. “Congratulations, Mr. Simms,” she said. “I hope you have a happy marriage.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Winslow.” His eyes did not remain on her but darted quickly to his bride.

His expression changed as he saw Winslow lean forward and kiss Cora on the cheek. He did not speak, but he heard Stuart say, “Congratulations, Cora.”

Neither man offered to shake hands, and Winslow nodded and said coolly, “I wish you a happy marriage.”

“Thank you.”

The tension between Carter and Stuart was evident, and everyone watching knew that the two men had clashed before. Lewisville loved its drama, and here was Carter Simms marrying Cora Langley—a woman who had never been denied by any man she chose to put her eyes on. The other actor in the drama was Stuart Winslow, who had pursued Cora avidly—many said he had captured her heart—but the moment passed quickly.

Ace Devainy later encountered Simms, who had deliberately come over to stand beside him. “Congratulations, Carter,” he said. “Hope you’ll have a long and happy marriage.”

Simms nodded briefly and murmured a word of thanks. His eyes went across the crowd to Cora, and then he said, “Your friend Winslow’s a dashing fellow.”

Ace hesitated, not knowing how to answer. “I guess so,” he said finally. “He’s had his troubles, but he’s settling down now.”

Simms turned to him, and there was a cold light in his hazel eyes. “You can pass the word along that he won’t be welcome at my home. Cora won’t be receiving any of her old friends, at least not him.”

The threat was not even veiled. As plainly as if Carter had shouted the warning, Ace understood that Simms would not tolerate any advances at all on the part of Stuart Winslow. He nodded and murmured, his voice soft as the summer breeze, “I’ll pass the word along, Carter.”

“Make it clear.”

Carter left Devainy and went over to stand by Cora. He possessively put a hand on her arm, and she turned and smiled up at him, then reached up and patted his cheek. Devainy watched all this and then glanced at Stuart. He saw that his friend’s eyes were on Cora, and a sense of foreboding came over him. He knew he would never pass the warning along, for Stuart was just the sort of fellow who would take it as a challenge.

I hope he shows a bit of good sense for once,
Ace thought. Then he turned to Ellie, who was coming to him to take his arm.

“Wasn’t it a wonderful wedding?” she said.

“Yes. Makes a fellow want to get married himself.”

Ellie blinked with surprise. “That’s strange coming from you.”

For some time Ace Devainy had felt the futility of his life. Now he said abruptly, “What about me, Ellie? Will you have me?”

Tears came into Ellie Mason’s eyes. She dropped her head, and her shoulders began to shake.

“Here, Ellie. Don’t carry on so,” Ace said quickly. He put his arm around her, and suddenly she embraced him.

From across the room Leah was watching them. Her heart warmed suddenly as she turned to Stuart. “Look,” she said. “Isn’t that sweet?”

“It’s about time those two got hitched,” Stuart said. “Come on. Let’s go see if we can’t shove them into a marriage.”

****

“Looks like a man ought to be able to do something other than build fences.”

Merle Waters looked up with surprise at Stuart’s remark. They had been working on a stretch of fence that would hold in the new group of colts that had come. With winter approaching, they needed to get the post-holes dug before the ground froze. “Why, I guess somebody has to build fences,
Mr. Stuart,” he said. “Them new colts gotta have a place to grow up. They’re mighty fine. You’s gonna have a good herd. They be mighty good stock for you.”

He leaned on the post-hole digger, his eyes thoughtful. For several months he had observed how Stuart Winslow had thrown himself into the work. To Merle it had been somewhat alarming, and he had told Annie, “That man needs to have some fun.”

“Don’t argufy with him, Merle,” Annie said. “It’s about time he worked.”

“I know, but he done cut off all his playin’, and all he do now is work like a crazy man.”

“I think he’s trying to show his family he can work iffen he have a mind to.”

“Works fine, but he gotta have some other life.”

Now as Merle studied Winslow, he saw a restlessness he had seen before from time to time.
He’s like one of them there volcanoes just waitin’ to blow off,
he thought.

The two worked on for another hour. Finally Stuart looked at Merle, and his mouth turned downward. “I’ve dug enough post holes,” he announced.

“Yes, sir, boss. You go back to the house. I’ll finish up.”

Without another word Stuart left the field. His back was straight as he stalked toward the house, and Merle shook his head. There was an ancient wisdom in the black man, and he said, “Looks like that volcano’s gonna blow mighty soon.”

Leah was in the kitchen cooking supper with Annie. She heard the door slam and said, “I guess that’s Stuart. He came in early.”

“You go get ready. If you folks are going to that camp meeting, you’ll have to prettify yourself up. You don’t worry none about Raimey. I’ll take care of him.”

“We can take him with us.”

“There ain’t no need of that. He’s too young to enjoy preachin’. He ain’t even a year old yet.”

“He will be next month.”

Leah removed her apron and headed toward the bedroom. As she passed the bathroom, she heard Stuart splashing in the tub and went at once into the bedroom. She sat down and wrote in her journal for a few moments.

She hesitated for a few moments and then added:

She heard Stuart’s footsteps and quickly closed the journal and put it back under some clothes in her armoire. For some reason she did not want him to know that she even kept a journal, though she suspected he did.

“Well, I’m glad you quit early,” she said. “Let me go take my bath, and then we’ll get an early start.”