It hadn't taken long before all of Atlanta heard of Scarlett's condition and began gossiping. There were even group sessions where they devoted their time to discussing Scarlett and how to reshape her into their societal mold of how a proper woman should behave, but these were on occasions where Melanie was not present. Although the Old Guard never approved of Scarlett, especially since the death of Frank Kennedy and her betrothal to Rhett Butler, they now did esteem Captain Butler for his changed ways and the way in which he treated his daughter, and they now also believed that it would be all that much easier to have to associate with Scarlett when they at least deemed her respectable. This was their chance to fill her head with the ways of society, introduce her to groups all confederate women should belong to, mend what she had broken long ago and build her into a woman Ellen O'Hara would have been proud of.

Even though most of the women were in accord with the plan, India Wilkes felt the need to voice her disapproval, which no one paid much heed to because they all secretly believed India had been jealous of Scarlett long before when she had taken her beau away from her. It had been relatively easy for them to implement their plan because Scarlett was eager to create social connections and occupy herself with something, even if it meant joining their groups, and Melly was also more than pleased to have Scarlett around more often. Rhett encouraged her to make friends because it strengthened his endeavor to get back into the good graces of the Confederacy, though he secretly believed she would grow restless in time. He only hoped that the women societies to which she now belonged would entertain her long enough so that she would realize she no longer wanted to keep the mills and would eventually decide to sell them, but he doubted it.

~R&S~

One morning, Rhett woke to find his wife was not in their bed. He found this particularly odd because he was accustomed to waking before Scarlett, especially since she enjoyed sleeping in. After dressing, he went in search of her, and he was slightly taken aback by what he saw. Scarlett sat in the wooden rocking chair with Bonnie resting in her lap as she delicately brushed through her ebony curls. Ella sat on the floor, playing with her dolls and jabbering incoherently as Wade rolled his eyes, thinking that his younger sister was a ninny and wishing full-heartedly that he had a brother instead. Wade found it quite strange that his mother was spending her morning with them, most of all in the nursery, because she rarely spent much time with them. He also found it odd that she'd been so patient lately, and though he hoped she would remain this way, he was terrified to do something wrong which would cause her to go back to her old ways.

"Mother," he finally said tentatively.

She looked up from Bonnie's hair to meet his eyes and answered, "Yes Wade."

"Do you think I could go over to Beau's today? I don't think I could spend another whole day with Ella."

At the mention of her name, Ella looked away from her dolls to listen to the conversation.

"I don't see why not. I'm going over to Melly's this afternoon, you could join me."

"Oh, yes, thank you mother," he said, walking over to her and hesitantly giving her a peck on the cheek. Scarlett smiled and resumed her hair brushing, thinking he was slightly overly grateful when she'd promised him such an insignificant favor.

"Oh mother, can I go to Aunt Melly's too," cried out Ella when she'd understood what they were talking about.

Wade groaned, thinking he'd never escape her, and Scarlett couldn't help but smile.

"But darling, who is going to keep Bonnie company if you go to Aunt Melly's? She'll be awful lonely without you," Scarlett said persuasively, hoping to sway her.

Bonnie began wriggling and called out, "Daddy" when she finally saw her father leaning against the doorframe, listening to their conversation.

Scarlett set her to the floor and Bonnie waddled over to Rhett, and he gathered her up in his arms and kissed her. He then also went over to Ella and gave her a quick peck, and he squeezed Wade's shoulder affectionately before placing a gentle kiss on Scarlett's cheek. It was the first time he'd kissed his wife since her memory loss, even though it couldn't be considered much of a kiss, and he was pleased to see she'd welcomed it.

Scarlett was a little surprised by the gesture, and she wondered if he'd done it only for the children's benefit. It wasn't that she'd been wishing he'd kiss her, though if she were being honest with herself the thought had crossed her mind on several occasions, but she wondered what it was that kept him from making any advances. They'd shared a bed now for the past two weeks and he still seemed distant and unwilling to share any of his emotions. Pulling out information about their life together was strenuous, and his vague replies always seemed to be laced with riddles. He was an enigma, and try as she might to solve him, he only seemed more resolved to keeping up his shield. The only time where she'd found hints of his true character was with the children, but even so, it told her very little about their relationship.

"Good morning Scarlett," Rhett said, now putting Bonnie to the floor. "You woke rather early today."

Scarlett stood up from the chair and answered, "I know. I couldn't sleep."

"Is there a particular reason?"

"No," she said quickly, making her way to the door.

He could tell she was lying though he didn't know why. "Are you going somewhere?" he asked casually as she walked away, though on the inside he was dying of curiosity.

"Only this afternoon. I'm going to Melly's with Wade."

"You've been spending an awful lot of time there. Don't you think you'd like to spend the day with us?"

"I would, but I can't. I have a meeting with Ashley Wilkes this afternoon."

His face hardened and his eyes grew darker as he replied, "And why would you need to have a meeting with Mr. Wilkes?"

"Because I share a business with him and I haven't even met him yet. Weren't you the one that told me about the sawmill? I'm going to have to learn what it is that I do before I head back to work. I can't leave the man doing it all by himself," Scarlett said simply.

"He'll survive. I did not inform you of your businesses so that you would head straight back to work instantly. I don't believe you are ready yet. Ashley can manage just fine."

"I think I should know when I'm ready," she replied, irritated by the fact that this man thought he could control her. The truth was that she was not quite ready to go back to work and that this meeting was only supposed to get her used to the idea in the future, but Rhett's words only spurred her into saying the opposite.

"Indeed? You don't even know how a sawmill operates I imagine," he said, and as the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted them.

"You're insulting me?!" she cried out, stunned by his response.

Wade looked down at the floor, uneasy and thinking this was more like the way in which his parents interacted, and he wished he were anywhere but in this room. Bonnie seemed oblivious to the altercation, and Ella just sat and watched them in awe.

"Scarlett, I didn't mean to insult you. I—" Rhett started, but was cut off.

"Really? I find that hard to believe," she said walking away to their bedroom. Rhett followed closely behind, leaving Bonnie in Wade's care for the time being.

She went to close the door behind her, but he swiftly put out his hand and held it open, shutting it after he'd entered the room as well.

"Why did you follow me? I want to be alone," she snapped.

"And I want to finish this. I did not mean to—"

"Yes you did. You're a skunk Rhett Butler, and you meant every word. You knew—"

"What did you call me?" he interrupted, his dark eyes boring into hers while his hands gripped her upper arms, causing her to falter in her tirade.

"What?"

"Before. What charming insult did you choose to throw at me?"

His eyes were so close that she felt like she was swimming in them as they alertly searched her face. He was in a perfect position to kiss her, if only he would bring his head down a tad more, she could effortlessly touch his lips with her own, but just the thought brought on a faint flush to her cheeks.

"A skunk," she replied uncertainly, unsure if that was what he wanted to hear.

It was rather difficult for her to concentrate when he was this close to her. Though they'd shared a bed for quite a few nights now, there had never been this zapping electricity emitted by his touch nor this unsettling anticipation in the pit of her stomach.

Rhett chuckled lightly, brought his hand up to her cheek and softly said, "That's what I thought you said. I never believed I would be pleased to hear you call me that once more."

As he grazed his thumb across the apple of her cheek, his left arm snaked around her waist, and she was automatically pulled in closer, her body now pressed up against his. She could feel the acceleration of her heartbeat, her green eyes glowing while he stared down at her, and she sucked in a breath when he bent down as if he was going to kiss her. Then, as though he thought better of it, he retreated, but when she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, encouragingly drawing him in and refusing to let this opportunity slip away, his mouth came down on hers fervently. He kissed her with smooth longing lips, kissed her like he would never get the chance again; luring Scarlett into a dizzying world where her breath caught in her throat and her blood rushed to her head. Thoughts of Rhett kissing her never went quite like this. There was never this overwhelming tide of warmth that consumed her, and the emotions he was evoking greatly surpassed anything she could have imagined.

When his lips parted from hers, her head was still spinning and she could only clutch onto his shoulders for support. Both were left standing and gazing at one another, neither knowing what to say. Rhett hadn't intended on kissing her just yet, not in that fashion anyhow, and he knew that if he hadn't withdrew, there was no telling where he would have taken their kisses. What had surprised him was the way she returned his embrace and that she had been the one who pulled him in. Even though he'd always had a way with Scarlett's body, she'd only responded to him that way once before, when he'd proposed. However, she'd been relatively tipsy that evening.

"Why did you…" she mumbled then trailed off, the rosiness of her cheeks deepening.

"Why did I what?" he asked, his dark eyes searching hers.

She averted her eyes, feeling foolish for having said anything. "I—nothing," she answered, lowering her hands from his shoulders, but he caught her hands before she could back away.

"No, ask it. I will try to answer anything you ask me directly and honestly. You want to know why I broke our kiss, don't you?"

Scarlett nodded in reply, now wishing they weren't so close together when discussing such an intimate topic.

"It's because I cannot know the boundaries of my self-restraint around you, my dear, and I do not want to push you too far."

"Would you stop worrying about me, I'm fine" she answered, frustrated by his constant need to watch over her.

She tried to wrench her hands out of his grasp, but he held on with a firm grip and chuckled softly.

"Why shouldn't I worry? I care about you," Rhett said smoothly, hiding just how deeply he felt.

"Oh, well, I still don't want you to pity me."

"I assure you, I feel no pity. You have your family, you have friends, and you're happy for the most part, aren't you? Why should I pity you?"

"You shouldn't, it's just that sometimes it's like you do. Sometimes you look at me like, well I don't know how to explain it," she finished quickly.

"When I look at you, it is certainly not with pity."

"Then why do you look at me like that?" she asked, wondering why his eyes seemed to follow her, assuming it had been pity or even concern.

This was not a safe topic for Rhett, and even if he had encouraged her to ask him anything, he was not prepared to say he was watching her with pining eager eyes which waited to see her love radiated back to him.

"I look at you in the way any husband would his wife."

"Oh," Scarlett said, not expecting this answer that she wasn't completely satisfied with, but she decided to drop it. She was not in the mood to try and coax anymore answers out of him.

He could have said he loved her because she already thought they were a happily married couple, but he was not ready to confess his true feelings less her memory should return and he would be left the fool. If she ever said the words aloud and truly meant them, then that was an altogether different matter, but until then, he was going to let her believe he loved her without actually having said the words. This was the only way in which he knew how to operate, and it was relatively more prudent and preventative to heartache than any other method.

A special thanks to Cheryl for her kind review that sparked some ideas for this chapter. Hope you liked the 'spice' :) Also, I know I'm late updating, sorry RL sucks, and for those of you who read my other story, it is going to be delayed just a bit as well.