RETURNING

Chapter 8: "Surprising Return"

For the next three weeks, Scarlett was always short-tempered, always ready to snap at Wade and Ella or at the servants for any minor misbehavior. Rhett had written once, at least, to say that his mother was doing just fine, only that his sister was taking it all much more seriously than it really was. Still, no further word from him about whether he would be returning anytime soon or not. She should have insisted more on her going with him, maybe using the excuse of visiting her own maternal aunts, Eulalie and Pauline, whom she had not seen in close to twelve years by now (and whom she really had no interest in ever seeing again, truth to be told, but they would have made plausible excuses for her going with Rhett to Charleston). Without Rhett, she did not know what do with herself to keep her mind busy. Not even the store brought her any joy these days. If she only still had her mills… Last week, after months of hearing Wade and Ella complaining because Beau hadn't come home to play with them for ages, she had eventually and rather reluctantly invited Ashley and Beau to come over for dinner. A big mistake, it had turned out to be. Not only was she afraid of what Rhett's reaction to it would be once he knew (and he would learn from it, for surely Wade and Ella would want to tell Uncle Rhett it all about Beau's visit) but hearing Ashley's dull explanations as to why the mills were faring so badly had broken her heart in a million pieces. She almost wanted to cry for days afterwards. Her beloved mills, so abused and going bankrupt now…

That first Ella and then Wade had caught a bad cold which resulted in her having both of them home for most of these three past weeks did nothing to improve Scarlett's mood during Rhett's absence. Well, at least this time she didn't have to lie to them about Rhett's whereabouts or the reasons why he couldn't be at home with them. Which was far from meaning that they didn't complain about his absence or endlessly inquire when he was expected to come back.

On Tuesday, when she eventually could send both Wade and Ella off to school, she decided to go to her dressmaker and order a couple of new dresses as well as some new silk nightgowns of the kind she had not bought for years. These tasks taken care of, she went to the store in the hope of working on the ledgers peacefully but she was constantly interrupted by a number of people, including by Mrs. Merriwether, who had come to store and requested to personally greet Scarlett, which forced her to leave her office at the back of the store and chat endlessly with the old matron until she had chosen a yard of green velvet the exact match of the color of the dress she was making for Maybelle's youngest.

Finally relieved to get rid of the old cat, Scarlett decided to call it an early day and take the ledgers home with her, entertaining herself all the ride home with the expectation that maybe today she would receive a letter from Rhett announcing his return in a couple of days' time. That hope was quashed miserably as soon as she arrived home, though, as she saw that the silver tray where all her correspondence was put, lay empty. Tiredly, she made it upstairs to her bedroom, taking mental note hat she should scold Pork for having failed to come meet her upon her arrival.

Once in her bedroom, Scarlett was heading towards her closet when she stopped suddenly. That was Rhett's robe that was at the bottom of the bed, neatly folded next to Rhett's pajamas. But what could it be doing there? Rhett hadn't slept in her room for years, at least not so openly, despite what had happened between the two of them before he left for Charleston. Then she noticed that Rhett's clothes had been moved to the closet too, where his suitcases had been stored, now empty.

'I see you're back home, Mrs. Butler,' Rhett's voice welcomed her.

Scarlett turned around to see him standing at the threshold and before she knew what she was doing, she had already run to his arms. Rhett embraced her, pleased with her enthusiastic welcome.

'Oh, Rhett, I didn't know you were coming today or I wouldn't have gone to the store.'

'I have just arrived and I wanted to surprise you all.'

Yeah, you all. Of course, Wade and Ella too, Scarlett thought, her enthusiasm a bit curbed by now. Don't be stupid, she told herself. Rhett is back. That's all that really matters.

'If your mother ok, Rhett?,' she asked. She had almost forgotten all about her mother-in-law in the frenzy for welcoming Rhett. Rhett wouldn't have forgiven her for not asking after his mother's health, given how close he was to his mother and sister.

'Actually she is in much better spirits than I've seen her in years,' he said, smiling broadly. 'She has taken the train this morning to go visit some relatives of hers in Philadelphia with my sister-in-law.'

'Is it sensible to let her do that so soon after her stroke?'

Rhett was deeply touched by Scarlett's concern.

'Oh, she's hard as nails, the old Mrs. Butler, don't worry about her, Scarlett, she'll be fine. And my sister-in-law, Edith, will make quite a capable nurse.'

'I'm so glad she is fine, Rhett.'

'It's certainly a relief to see her well and around,' he admitted and kissed her on the forehead, disengaging himself from their prolonged embrace. 'My sister, Rosemary, as I suspected, exaggerated a bit about the seriousness of my mother's stroke. She meant well but Rosemary has this tendency to…'

Sitting down on the loveseat, Scarlett stopped listening as Rhett went on talking about his sister. Why did he have to waste their precious time alone talking about his boring spinster sister? Not that they had so much time alone – Wade and Ella would be back home in half an hour. And, anyway, Scarlett had never met Rosemary – nor had she any desire to. She could not care less about the doings of a person she had never been introduced to. She idly played with the lace in her right sleeve while Rhett told her yet another anecdote about Rosemary and he going out for a walk in the pier and running into a lady whose name she hadn't caught. Something about a boring ball that Rhett had attended in Charleston a million years ago…

'So, now that my mother was gone, I thought it would be a great idea to invite Rosemary to come with me to Atlanta while Mother was visiting in Philadelphia with Edith.'

If he expected any encouraging word from Scarlett, urging him to write to Rosemary immediately and instruct her to please come, he could wait in vain, Scarlett thought. She could hardly put with Wade and Ella's presence now that she was trying her best to get Rhett back for good, and they were her own children! Having a sister-in-law at home to entertain would be hell. What in the world would she need Rosemary here for? Just another nuisance, that's what she would be. She had two sisters herself – one she had never been and another one whom she hated. A sister-in-law was bound to be much worse.

'I'm sorry she couldn't come with you, Rhett. Maybe next time,' Scarlett said.

'Actually, she could.'

'Pardon?'

Shock registered in Scarlett's face.

'She has come with me. She occupies a room at the end of the corridor.'

It took all of Scarlett's might to be able to leave her frozen smile in place.

'Really? Oh, Rhett, I had no idea at all that she was already here,' she tried to amend her previous mistake. 'Shall I go see her right now?,' she volunteered.

'I think she was going to take a nap, so no need for it by now, Scarlett. I'll introduce you two later.'

Scarlett felt her heart sink. When things were going so well, now this meddling, bothersome sister-in-law!

Definitely, Rosemary Butler was nothing to look at, Scarlett reflected over dinner. Too masculine for her liking, the resemblance to Rhett was quite astonishing. Her manners were rather blunt, not the comely behavior one would expect from a proper Charlestonian lady, the daughter of the picky Mrs. Butler, nonetheless. Her overbearing ways intimidated Scarlett a bit. Rosemary had been here less than a day here and she was already giving orders to all the servants as she owned the place and that even though it was Rhett's house! Talk about feeling at home. Scarlett couldn't even imagine how she must be at the Butler residence in Charleston. Another very good reason for never visiting there, or, at the very least, for staying at a hotel if they ever went. Even staying with her fastidious aunts would be preferable to having to endure Rosemary's presence any minute longer than necessary.

Wade and Ella hadn't taken too kindly to their "auntie Rosemary," as she had insisted that they called her. The lavish gifts that she had brought them had enthused the children for about five minutes before privately complaining to Mother about the unsuitability of the presents – the books Rosemary had bought for Ella were too childish and Wade was past caring for the obviously expensive toy train he had received. That Rosemary loved to hug and kiss the kids hadn't sit too well with them either. It was no surprise, then, that Wade and Ella went to bed diligently at their appointed bed time without needing to coax them to, instead of begging to stay for another half an hour, as had become their custom ever since Rhett had come back home. Tonight, however, not even the excitement of being reunited with Uncle Rhett (whose gifts had been, as usual, just perfect) could persuade them to stay in the presence of his horrid sister any minute longer.

Fortunately Rosemary did almost all the talking on her own and didn't even need much in the way of a contribution to her lengthy monologues, for which Scarlett felt really grateful. That did not mean that she hadn't gotten a headache in the process but, at the very least, it saved her the trouble to make her sister-in-law feel welcome and at home. Rosemary felt too much at ease to be there to notice Scarlett's growing discomfort or the children's animadversion, or even Rhett's amused glances at Scarlett over dinner.

It was funny how anxious Scarlett had been for Rhett to stay as long as possible the last time and how eager she now was to see the back of his beloved sister, she reflected that night in her bedroom after wishing Rosemary goodnight. How long Rhett would stay this time, she had absolutely no clue of. Maybe forever. After all, he had been really comfortable here the last time and wouldn't have left if it hadn't been for his sister's telegraph urgently summoning him to Charleston. And they were even sleeping in the same bedroom again and Rhett had definitely moved into her bedroom now. Wait and see, she told herself, as the door opened and Rhett entered. Scarlett smiled to him; she could endure Rosemary's presence and her incessant chitchat and even be gracious about it, knowing that at night Rhett and her would share a bed.

Scarlett stretched herself as the first sunrays caressed her eyelids. She yawned, although she hadn't slept this well for years, without any nightmares and without waking up in the middle of the night for motives she could not put her finger on. Scarlett moved her head towards her left. As always, Rhett had gotten up earlier than she. Not that she expected him to be still in bed; Rhett had always been an early riser. In any case, it was comforting to see the rumpled sheets on his side of the bed and the form of his head still impressed on his wrinkled pillow. Their bed, actually, no longer her bed, she immediately corrected herself. In any case, it was strange that it was small things like this, such as not waking up in an empty bed, the ones that made such a big difference. Things she had not noticed before when she and Rhett had first lived together, like the few possessions of him scattered through the room, now made a world of difference, marking that this no longer was just her bedroom but theirs.

Oh, she loved Rhett so much… Even though she had thought that she could not love him any more when he had left her after Melanie's death, now she knew that she loved him more than ever before. It was not a love born out of sheer desperation, an unrequited love, but the love created by living in harmony day after day, taking care of the children together, sharing the daily occurrences… She was dying to tell Rhett how much she loved him but she did not dare to. Not yet, in any case. Would he think that it was just another ploy to get him back for good? No, that thought was all too horrible. He couldn't be willing to believe such a horrible thing about her, especially not now that they were getting along so well. He must know that she was speaking the truth when she decided to declare him her love anew. There was no doubt in her mind that she truly loved him, genuinely, not as she had deluded herself into believing that she was in love with Ashley. Oh, how much she loved Rhett… He had to believe her. She didn't know when she would tell him again, but before she did she had to make sure that there would be no doubt in his mind that she was telling him the truth.

~TO BE CONTINUED~