The Glorious Prodigal by Gilbert Morris

hills, leaving the golden glow in the heavens. The longer he sat there, the more aware he became of his surroundings. At his feet a tiny green snake slithered in the grass. He did not move but watched the strange grace of the reptile as it moved away. Overhead a hawk was circling in the last vestiges of daylight, and Stuart felt a moment’s envy for the freedom of the raptor.
    A dissatisfaction for the emptiness of his life came to him, and he could not shake it off. This part of his being he could never understand. The day had been a good one. He had enjoyed it as he had few other days in the past months. It was a joy for him to be around Raimey, and one thing he knew for certain. The love he had for this boy of his was stronger in him than he had ever dreamed possible. Once again the resolution came. I’ve got to do more with Raimey. I’ve got to be a real dad to him. He deserves that.
    But another thought rose from deep within him and surfaced, and he fought it off. It was the memory of Cora. She was intoxicating and seemed to possess a power over him he could not define. Vainly he struggled to put the thought of her out of his mind.
    He got up, kicked angrily at a stone, and sent it spinning into the pond. He turned and walked rapidly, gritting his teeth. I’ve got to shake her. I can’t go on this way, he thought. I won’t go.
    He went at once to the house that he had helped Annie and Merle build and found them sitting on the porch with Wash, watching their three younger children playing a gameof tag in the yard. “I’d like to try that new idea for a shoe we were talking about, Wash,” Stuart said abruptly.
    “Why, yes, sir! Yes, Mr. Stuart, we’ll work on that. I’ll get the forge fired up right now,” Wash said.
    Annie watched the two go off and shook her head. “That Stuart ain’t got no peace and no contentment.”
    “No, he ain’t. It’s like somethin’ on the inside is fightin’ him all the time,” Merle said sadly. “He’s got the world by the tail and everything a man could want, but it ain’t enough for him.”
    The two sat there quietly, both disturbed in their minds, and soon they heard the sound of the hammers striking on steel, and they knew that it would go on until Stuart Winslow exhausted himself.
    ****
    Leah lay in bed running her hand over her swollen abdomen. The baby was beginning to move, and always she was awed by the life that was growing within her. She lay there thinking of the child to come in a few months until Stuart slipped into bed beside her, and then she waited for him to speak. He had stayed out at the forge until almost eleven o’clock, and she had gone to bed, too tired to stay up. Her thoughts troubled her, and she whispered, “Stuart.”
    “Yes. What is it?”
    “The baby’s moving. Here. Feel it.”
    Her hand tugged at him, and he rolled over slowly and put his hand on her abdomen. He could feel the quick movement of the baby, and he, too, was struck with a sense of awe. “I hope it’s a girl,” he said.
    “I thought you wanted another son.”
    “A girl would be more company for you.”
    Leah laid her hand on Stuart’s and said, “I do get lonely, Stuart. You’re gone so much.”
    Quickly he pulled his hand away. “I have to do it. I don’t know why.”
    Leah felt a sense of pain and anger. For years she had been losing this man, and now it all seemed to rise within her, and she said, “A woman needs a man, Stuart. You’re my husband and I’m losing you.”
    “You’re not losing me.”
    “You think I don’t know about what you do? You come in smelling of perfume and whiskey. It’s Cora, isn’t it? Why don’t you just go to her?”
    As soon as she had spoken the words, Leah could have bitten her tongue. She had vowed she would not be a shrew, that she would never bring up such an accusation. She had known about Stuart’s old affair with Cora, and she knew he was still infatuated with her, yet she had vowed never to say a word. But now