Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW

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Rhett and Scarlett are building trust but it will be a hard road because both of them are suspicious by nature and they both have done underhanded things to each other. They have both tried to manipulate the other.

Chapter Sixteen

The buyer, Noah Bryant, and Ashley were already at the lawyer's office. As soon as the Butlers arrived everyone was escorted into Henry's office. They signed all the papers and agreed he would take over the running of the mills on the next Monday. Scarlett noticed that Ashley kept giving Rhett looks filled with hate. She just kept scooting closer to Rhett. She had never seen that much emotion from Ashley. She thought, 'That is the strongest emotion I have ever seen coming from Ashley and Rhett has inspired it. That's my Rhett! Inspiring strong feelings of anger and hatred in men and women equally even from the most humdrum of people." She had giggled then stopped when everyone turned to look at her. She said, "Just nervous."

Rhett had heard all her thoughts and it made him want to laugh also. It made him happy that she thought of him as her Rhett.

Scarlett asked Ashley, "What are you going to do now?"

Ashley said, "For now I am going to work for the Daily Democrat. I am going to work as a reporter."

They soon left the lawyer's office and went to their bank, 1st National Bank. She deposited the check in her account and they left.

When they were back in the buggy Rhett said, "Where to now?"

Scarlett replied, "The park with our children. Then we can get ice cream from the café by the park."

They did have a good time at the park even though Rhett was being verbally assaulted by the women that were there. The two thoughts that kept coming to him were: Sorry jerk/bastard and poor Scarlett. He wished he could tell her how many women were on her side. As they were walking around the park with Rhett pushing the baby buggy Scarlett thought, 'No other man could push around a baby buggy and still be so incredibly masculine.' He smiled at her and she smiled back. They were doing that a lot. He so enjoyed listening to her thoughts because they were so unfiltered.

They stopped at the café and got a table outside. Rhett would have preferred to sit inside away from the ladies of the park but it was too hot inside. The waiter came over and Rhett ordered some ice cream for everyone.

Bonnie was sitting in Rhett's lap and he started to give her a bite of his scoop of ice cream. Scarlett said, "Don't do that. It is bad for her." She even pushed his hand away.

Before he could stop himself, he said in a mocking tone, "How can it be bad for her? It is cream and sugar."

Scarlett didn't even notice his mocking tone so intent was she on him not giving Bonnie ice cream. She said, "If she eats a lot of sweets then she won't want to eat things that are not sweet, like her vegetables. We start her on vegetables first then mushed up meats then fruits and finally sweets but that is not until she is two or three. If we give her sweets first, she will never want to eat anything else."

Rhett said, "That is ridiculous."

"Ask anyone of these mothers and they will tell you the same. There is Melly you can ask her." Scarlett was standing her ground on this point. She knew she was right. She thought, 'This is worth fighting with him about.'

Rhett thought she was being ludicrous and he was going to ask Miss Melly about it. As Melly and Beau approached the table Rhett heard Miss Melly's thoughts, 'I am so happy that they are getting along. Since Scarlett forgave him Captain Butler has been so thoughtful of Scarlett.' Rhett was proud that he had redeemed himself in Miss Melly's eyes.

After they had greeted each other, Rhett ask, "Would you like some ice cream?"

Miss Melly said, "That would be nice. Beau and I would enjoy the treat." The waiter came over and they placed their order.

As soon as that was taken care of and Melly was settled Scarlett said, "Melly do you remember what you told me about giving Wade sweet treats when he was a baby."

Melly said, "Of course, I do. Children should not have sweet treats until they are at least two years old."

"I remember you saying that but I don't remember why exactly."

"If you give them sweets too soon then they never develop a taste for the more nutritional foods like vegetables. The order you start the child on is oatmeal, vegetables, meat, fruits and then sweet treats but not before two."

Scarlett's thought was, 'I was right! So there Mr. Know-it -all" She said, "Does that answer your question, Rhett, as far as why Bonnie can't have ice cream?"

Rhett smiled and said, "Yes. It does. Thank you for the edification."

Scarlett kept the smile on her face but she thought, 'What an ass. He knows I don't know what that word means and he knows I won't ask or I would lose ground in this little battle. I hope it is not an insult.'

Melly knew that Scarlett didn't know what that word meant and she said, "Captain Butler how kind you are. So many men would not take being taught by their wife as pleasantly as you have.

Scarlett smiled even bigger and said, "Melly would you like to hold Bonnie for a few minutes."

Rhett handed Bonnie over to Melly and Melly gave Bonnie her attention.

Rhett looked at Scarlett and smiled his most innocent smile which made Scarlett laugh out loud. Rhett started laughing with her. Wade, Beau and Ella looked at them and decided they weren't going to tell them what they were laughing about and went back to eating their ice cream. Melly didn't care as long as she got to continue playing with the baby.

That night as Rhett was telling his stories in the dark, Scarlett said, "He never wanted me for anything more than my devotion."

Rhett didn't even pretend that he didn't know who she was talking about. He said, "No, he didn't."

"I was willing to give up everything for him. Even you."

"Yes, you were."

"How could I have been such a silly goose?"

"I don't know, my dear."

"I'm sorry for the times I chose him over you. You will always come first from now on."

"Thank you, my pet."

And as expected Rhett felt the swat on his chest and knew she was going to be okay. He would rather she be annoyed than sad. He went back to telling his stories.

The next morning Rhett woke her up at seven and told her to get up he wanted to get an early start. He asked her if she had arranged the picnic basket and she said she had. He told her he was going to go check on it and left the room. Just as she was about to fall back to sleep there was a knock on the door. It was her maid, Prissy. Prissy told her that Mr. Butler had sent her to help her get dressed. She got up while verbally cursing Rhett. All Prissy said was, "Men" and shook her head. Scarlett smiled and laughed. She got out of the bed and took care of her toilette. She came back from the water closet and got dressed. While Prissy was fixing her hair Scarlett asked her, "How are things going between you and Elijah?"

Prissy smiled. Most of the time Miss Scarlett was so obtuse but occasionally she saw more than she let on. Prissy said, "Fine. We are spending a lot of time together."

"Just remember that old saying about the cow and the milk."

"I will."

And both women giggled. She was putting on her bonnet when Rhett walked in the room. He said, "Let's go Scarlett. The picnic basket is in the buggy. We are burning daylight." As she walked out of the room she thought, 'Men.' When they got down stairs, he handed her a mug of coffee and led her to the door. She said, "I would like to eat first."

"I have some muffins for you."

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I want to get on the road so we have plenty of time to see all three gins."

Scarlett carried her mug of coffee outside and got in the buggy. Once she was settled, she took the muffins from Rhett and he got in the buggy. Before she knew it, they were on the road.

Rhett wasn't making the horse gallop but he was making him go faster than a walk.

Scarlett had arranged to meet the sellers at their gins. She had just told them they would be down sometime in the morning. She had a wonderful day with Rhett. He got the managers of the gins to explain everything about the operations. The men selling the gins were trying very hard to get him to buy the gin. Each time Rhett would laugh and say, "I am not the buyer. I am the driver. She is the buyer."

When Rhett told the owner of the first gin, Hank Thomas, that Scarlett was the buyer, he turned around, got on his horse and rode off. He would not deal with a woman. They stayed for a little while and looked the gin over. Rhett finally told Scarlett, "This gin is defective. The owner kept telling us how easy it will be to fix. If that were true why hasn't he fixed it already." Scarlett nodded her head. She had thought there was something off with the seller and Rhett had pinpointed the problem. They walked back to the buggy and went to the next gin.

The owner of the second gin, Joey Hughes, included Mrs. Butler in the discussion from the beginning. He was very nice and polite. He reminded Scarlett of Ashley with all his gentlemanly airs but Mr. Hughes was not a gentleman. She figured he was just trying to be polite and respectful of her. He told her exactly what was wrong with his gin. He told her how to fix it. He said, "I would have fixed it by now but I can't afford the cost of the parts." He also said, "I will be glad to stay on with the gin if you want a manager."

The owner of the third gin, Shawn Smith, was nice and polite but very standoffish with her. Rhett and Scarlett looked the gin over. When Scarlett asked him, what was wrong with the gin the man had spoken to her like she was a five-year-old and said, "The insides are damaged. One would have to replace all the parts to make it functional again." Scarlett thanked the man and they left. Scarlett didn't like being talk to that way and if she bought his gin, she would have to find someone else to manage it.

They had their picnic lunch. After eating they laid on the blanket together and Rhett just held her hand. Scarlett felt that Rhett really must care for her. It made her happy. She didn't think of how she could use his feelings against him. She just thought about how good it made her feel that Rhett cared for her. These thoughts made Rhett happy and made him feel like they were making progress in building trust between them. Trust on both sides.

While they were lying there, they decided to buy the second mill. They went back to talk with Mr. Hughes and were able to reach an agreement with him for the price of the mill and his salary. Rhett had told him that as soon as the contract was signed, they would pay him for his labor over the next two to three months. Mr. Hughes told them that he was a widower. He had lost his wife in the spring. They had been married for over thirty years. The man was in his fifties, had gray hair and was on the thin side but who wasn't these days. He had two sons and they had both died in the war. The gin was all he had. He was only selling it because he didn't have the money to fix it and he needed money to live on. Rhett and Scarlett had felt that Mr. Hughes was telling them all that so they knew his commitment to the gin. Rhett told him they would be back Saturday with the contract. Scarlett told him to have a list of parts they needed to order on Saturday so they could go ahead and get them ordered. Mr. Hughes told them his home address and he would expect them on Saturday.

When they got in the buggy after leaving Mr. Hughes, Rhett said, "He is probably not going to earn his salary these next couple of months but.."

Scarlett interrupted him and said, "By paying him now we are fortifying his commitment and loyalty to us."

"We want him to be happy. People work harder and better when they are happy."

"And we don't want him to starve. We need him to run our gin."

Rhett laughed and thought, 'Just when I think she is having unselfish feelings she proves me wrong. But that's part of the reason I love her.'

On the way home Scarlet was so happy. She was happy with the gin they were going to buy. She was happy with the day. She was happy with Rhett. He had been so nice all day long. He had mocked and teased but in a playful way. He had made her laugh. She didn't know why he was being so nice but she was beginning to believe that mean and hateful Rhett wasn't coming back.

Rhett was happy too because all of Scarlett's thoughts were happy. She was having such positive thoughts about him and she was thinking about him more than the gin. She wasn't thinking about him exclusively but she was bouncing back and forth between him and the gin. Even if he had not been able to read her thoughts, he would have known she was happy with him. She was smiling up at him. She was laughing at his jokes. She was sitting very close to him. Rhett was a happy man. Then why did he want to run away.