A Dire Situation

Chapter Twenty

>

"Scarlett" exclaimed Melanie as she opened the shabby white front door of Tara.

"What are you doing back so soon my dear? Oh not that I'm not thrilled of course, only we weren't expecting you." Suddenly her face fell a little and fear replaced the look of welcome in her eyes. "Is something wrong in Atlanta? Aunt Pitty?"

Scarlett bristled as she always did at Melanie's fussing. But then as she looked into the kind little heart shaped face, small lines of worry at present creeping about her eyes she wondered why she felt this way.

If she were to be perfectly honest with herself, something she had been doing more frequently as of late, she would realise that the only reason she had ever really disliked her sister in law was because Melanie was married to Ashley and she, Scarlett, was not.

It was not as though Melly had done anything deliberately to personally offend Scarlett. In fact the reality was quite the opposite. She had always gone out of her way to be kind to her, to welcome her. And she had done all of this without Scarlett offering her one bit of thanks in return.

A sickening trail of guilt ran it's way down Scarlett's spine and she resolved to try, from now on, to set things right. After all, now that Scarlett had realised how much she disliked Ashley, surely it would be easier to show her sister in law the kindness she deserved.

Scarlett stepped forward and put her arms around Melly pulling her into a friendly embrace.

"No, no darling nothing is wrong in Atlanta, Aunt Pitty is just fine. I just realised when I got there that this is where I should be, where I was needed most, at home, at Tara."

Melanie was slightly taken aback, never had her sister in law shown her such genuine affection before, but she wisely disguised her initial surprise and simply replied. "Oh I'm so glad Scarlett, we did miss you so around here. Oh but how rude I am being, blocking the door, leaving you to stand out on the door step of your own home. Please forgive me dearest. Come in come in" she said ushering Scarlett inside gently and grabbing hold of her arm.

"We must have a long chat soon, I'm so keen to hear all the news from home."

Scarlett was so tired and she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her own bed upstairs and go to sleep. She was exhausted both mentally and physically but she didn't want to hurt Melly's feelings so soon after deciding to be nicer to her. Fortunately Melly seemed to sense something.

"Oh but darling how selfish of me. Of course you must be dreadfully tired after your long trip. I'll have Pork fetch your trunk and bring it up to your room. You must need to rest, we can talk after dinner perhaps? You just go on up to your room. I'll inform everyone that you're back but that you don't want to be disturbed yet."

Melly was now gently leading Scarlet in the direction of the stairs and Scarlett followed her, exhausted and trusting. But then a thought struck her mind.

"Thank you Melly you're too kind. But please tell me, where is Wade?" She asked, craning her neck in search of him. She felt she owed it to her son as well to make an effort on his behalf.

She reasoned that she could make a fresh start now. With everything. She had been given a second chance. She considered her escape from Belle's, without having to have actually worked of her despicable debt, as an extreme blessing which she was more than grateful for.

She wasn't sure why she had been let off the hook. Though she did have her suspicions. But Scarlett O'Hara wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. So now she just planned to focus on getting everything in her life sorted out. She had taken care of Tara and she hoped that it wouldn't be a problem for some time now, so she could now work on stabilising her family. Starting with Melly and Wade. The rest she could deal with later, though she wasn't entirely sure that the others were worth the effort, excepting pa of course but she knew that all she could do for him now was attempt to make him as comfortable as possible and just hope that he got better.

"I think he may be out in the yard playing right now Scarlett." Replied Melanie, leading Scarlett up the stairs towards her room.

"I see, could you please ask him to come up and see me in my room when you inform him that I'm back?"

Melanie was shocked but once again tactfully didn't let it show, she was just so grateful that Scarlett was finally paying more than a polite interest in her Charlie's only child. "Of course I will Scarlett. You go on up and I'll fetch him."

"Thank you Melly, we'll take after dinner." And with that Scarlett walked the remaining few steps into her room and collapsed onto her bed and then, only then, did she allow herself to think about Rhett.

Her thoughts about him were complicated and try as she might she was having difficulty fathoming and pinpointing her exact feelings.

She didn't love him, she knew that. How could she? She hardly knew the man. Certainly they had been through a lot together, but she didn't really know him, she didn't know how he worked on the inside, what he felt about things, what he felt about her. No she didn't love him, but she couldn't deny that there was an attraction, a spark between them that thrilled and excited her. The things he had made her feel only last night couldn't possibly be natural.

Did Melanie feel those things when she was with Ashley? Somehow she doubted it and she knew that she had never even come close to feeling that way when she was with Charles. Only with Rhett had she felt every inch of her skin come alive and burn with a wonderful fire and that strange, almost foreign feeling of wanting to give back.

It was odd, but Rhett had filled her with so much passion with his touch, made her feel so alive, so good with his kisses that she had wanted nothing more than to make him feel as good as she was. This strange, selfless almost shameful concept was completely new to Scarlett but she couldn't deny that that was what she felt.

She wasn't sure what she felt about Rhett. But she did hope she would see him again soon. All thoughts of him were soon dispelled from her mind however as she was brought back abruptly to the task at hand as Wade Hampton came racing through her door on his impossibly short legs crying "Mother you're home" at the top of his voice.

>

Rhett opened the door to his hotel suite and strode directly over to the liquor pouring himself a liberal glass of whiskey. He'd had a productive if not draining day.

The first thing he'd done when he'd woken up was go see his lawyer. There he had transferred the deed to Belle's Saloon to Belle herself. Therefore cutting all ties he had with the place.

He couldn't say that this move hadn't hurt him. It had. Belle and he had been friends for a long time. They'd seen one another through some difficult times and Rhett knew he would always be grateful for that. They had shared a wonderful companionship.

But that to him was not worth the anger and disappointment he felt towards Belle. Of course he was well aware that Scarlett would have offered her services to Belle. He knew Belle and never would she even consider something as apparently preposterous as asking one of the fine ladies of Atlanta to work for her. It was not that he was angry with her about. He was angry she'd agreed or more to the point, he was disappointed.

He had thought Belle knew him, thought she'd understood him better than anyone. They'd told each other everything. And that was why he could not believe that Belle had accepted Scarlett's offer. He had always used her to confide in about Scarlett, about how she made him feel. And while he had never said so in so many words he knew that Belle knew that he cared for Scarlett, it wasn't possible that she was so dense to not notice.

And yet she'd taken Scarlett in, knowing full well how Rhett, her oldest friend, would feel about the matter. He felt disappointed, betrayed. But it had still hurt to let go of that part of his life.

The next thing he'd done was purchase train tickets. He couldn't restrain himself and truth be told he didn't even want to try. He needed to see Scarlett again. The need consumed him and because of that alone he knew it was the right thing to do. He would be driven to madness if he didn't.

He was still unsure of what his plan of action was, but he knew that he, this time, had to take action. And he vowed to try and do so without his mask on, without pretending he did or didn't feel a certain way. He would be honest and would see how far that got him. For if there was one thing Rhett Butler was sick of, it was pretending. He knew it was only a matter of time and he would loose himself completely if he carried on like this, loose his real emotions and become truly, inside and out, the unfeeling, uncaring man he showed to the rest of the world. And that thought scared him into action more than anything else, he could not become the image of his father.

Rhett downed his drink in one gulp and poured himself another. Tomorrow certainly was going to be an interesting day, and he vowed that tomorrow would make a difference.

>

Belle sat alone in her parlour, the uneven light from her candles casting a dark glow that entirely reflected her mood. She had just dismissed a messenger from Rhett's lawyer. She couldn't believe he had actually done it.

She knew Rhett had been angry, but she never thought in a million years that he actually would have gone through with it. But then, perhaps she should have known. He was an extremely proud man and he always did what he said. She cursed herself for not knowing him better and as Belle stared at the deed, to what she had once, wrongly, thought of as her life, in her hand, a thick tear drop fell onto the crisp paper.

>

Scarlett woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and light, a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time.

Certainly the burdens of survival were as ever present as they had always been, but she knew now, after all she'd been through in the past few days, that she could face them.

Last night had been an interesting affair. She'd played with Wade when he'd come up to her room, telling him stories about his father and the days before the awful war, tickling him and even jumping on the bed until both were completely tired out and had taken a nap together right there, fully clothed on Scarlett's bed.

Melanie's heart had been filled to bursting when she'd walked in and seen her sister in law and her nephew asleep together on the bed. Wade's small body nestled closely besides Scarlett. She had hated to wake them, they looked so perfect. But it was time for dinner and with the way things were these days nobody could afford to miss a meal.

Scarlett had been apprehensive about going down to dinner with the family. After all she had returned so soon. Everything was so cloaked in suspicion.

What she didn't know was that loving, kind Melanie, having sensed something odd, had instructed each member of the household not to interrogate Scarlett in any way. She figured that if her sister in law wanted to tell them what had happened then she would, in her own good time.

So when Scarlett walked into the dining room she was greeted, not by an onslaught of questions as she had expected, but a mix of greetings some cordial and some not so pleasant.

Suellen was scowling. Evidently not happy to see Scarlett return so soon. Careen merely smiled softly as she did. Her pa, in one of his lucid moods had greeted her warmly. Mammy had embraced her and Ashley, still obviously petrified from her attack on him when he had taken her to Atlanta had said hello very quickly and retreated even faster.

If Melanie or anyone else found that odd they didn't say anything but they got on with the scarce meal in peace. Wade excitingly regaling the family with details of his play date with his mother.

After dinner Melanie and Scarlett had had their pre planned talk. It was a pleasant affair and Scarlett had begun to wonder why it was she had always refrained from female companionship, it was so much easier so much more relaxed. She did not have to be so constantly on her guard making sure every move she made was charming and flirtatious.

Of course Melanie still said or did the occasional things that annoyed Scarlett. They were two very different personalities and it was only inevitable. However Scarlett found herself having more patience with the situation and she had sincerely enjoyed and was thankful for Melanie's company.

After their chat Scarlett had gone upstairs to say good night to Wade and then gone to bed herself. She was still thoroughly worn out by her recent activities.

She had spent a blissful night, her sleep scattered with dreams of her and Rhett together, however when she awoke she could not remember what her dream had been about. All she remembered was the feeling of warmth, safety and happiness it had left her with. A far cry from the feeling of despair created by her usual nightmare.

After breakfast, another poor excuse for a meal, Scarlett had immediately gone out to the fields to see what needed to be done. She had resolved to set things in her life right, and creating a functioning plantation was a major part of her endeavour.

Dressed in a simple dress of plain calico Scarlett had set vigorously to work picking cotton.

She had been so absorbed in her work that she had failed to come in for lunch.

The sun was hot and her back was breaking as small beads of perspiration gathered on her forehead. But she worked on, knowing that she had to, and in a small way, really wanting to.

It was late in the afternoon and nothing had broken her steady work all day, it seemed she was immune to her surroundings. So focused was she that she never heard a rented carriage grate its way down the gravel path towards the house, nor did she see a distinguished looking gentleman, devilishly handsome in a crisp white suit topped with a fine panama hat step out of the carriage and gaze up at the decrepit Tara.

>

>

Okay I'm going to stop there. The stuff in this chapter all needed to be said but I feel it would be too long if I kept going from here. Because as you may assume the next chapter will be quite an important one so I hope you can bear with me. Thank you so much to all those who have reviewed it means so so much to me. I hope you liked this chapter and please let me know what you think by reviewing, that would be great. Next part should be up soon. Thank you again.

Annie