Disclaimer: I own nothing regarding GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews and feedback.
Chapter Ten
One day when Uncle Peter was driving her to the job sites so she could sell lumber, she saw Rhett. She was climbing into the carriage. She climbed back down and hollered at him. The grin that broke out on his face when he saw her warmed her down to her toes. Just like a glass of brandy.
He walked over and said, "My dear Mrs. Kennedy. It is so nice to see you my first day back in Atlanta and you are wearing the green hat I gave you."
"It is my favorite."
"Probably because you look so good in it."
"You must come to supper so I can update you on the progress of the mills and give you a loan payment."
"If I must, I will. What time?"
"Six."
"At the Hamilton House."
"Of course."
"See you at six."
Rhett arrived at six on the dot. He had tied his big black stallion at the hitching post two doors down. Scarlett saw the horse and it made her giggle. She welcomed him into the house. Rhett told them of his travels up North and his immediate plans for the future. Scarlett told him of the sawmill. Frank talked about the store. Aunt PittyPat didn't know whether to be upset or not with Rhett Butler eating at her supper table. She finally decided that he was just Scarlett's business partner. That, of course, almost gave her vapors because a woman shouldn't be doing business.
After supper, they all moved to the parlor. Scarlett gave Rhett her first loan payment. Rhett could tell how proud she was of the accomplishment. She listened while Frank and Rhett talked about politics and what was going on in Atlanta and Georgia. Before the tax incident she would not have paid that close of attention, but she paid rapt attention now. More to Rhett than Frank but she did listen to them both. She was not going to be caught flat-footed again.
Soon Rhett took his leave. As Scarlett was walking him to the door, she said loudly, "You will have to come to supper once a month so I can pay on my loan and give you an update on the sawmills."
"Of course, shall we say the first Wednesday of the month?"
"No, Frank has his political meetings on Wednesday nights."
"The first Thursday night?"
"Yes."
Scarlett opened the door. Rhett walked by her. He bent down and kissed her lips. He didn't look back. She was smiling. He certainly was taking liberties. She shook herself. She couldn't stand there mooning over him. If anyone saw her, they would ask too many questions.
Unbeknownst to either of them, Rhett and Scarlett looked forward to their once-a-month suppers.
Rhett the rest of the month traveled out of town or frequented Belle's. Except for his visit upstairs after he had found out Scarlett had married Frank Kennedy; Rhett kept his use of whores to when he was in other cities.
Belle would often ask him if he wanted a girl. When he would reply in the negative, she would say, "I would be happy to take care of your needs for you."
Rhett would smile roguishly and say, "My needs are being taken care of, my dear."
Belle had been disappointed. It seemed that Rhett had not given up his pursuit of Scarlett. Strange to Belle, Rhett never talked about Mrs. Kennedy with her. She had brought the woman up several times and Rhett had listened to whatever she had said but had not really responded. About Scarlett Kennedy the only thing Rhett ever said was, "She is my friend and business partner."
Tony Fontaine made his mad dash away from Jonesboro after killing Jonas Wilkerson. He arrived at the Hamilton House in the middle of the night. Frank gave Tony some money to get out of the state. Scarlett did not. She hoped Tony got away, and she was glad he had killed Wilkerson, but she wasn't parting with any of her money.
Rhett would see Scarlett around town at the job sites. When she saw him, she would always call to him. He would always go over and talk to her. How could he resist? He wanted her so badly but for his bad luck they would be together now.
They would talk and the naked longing was evident in both of their eyes. One day Rhett said, "Maybe you could come see me at the hotel?"
"No. I don't have relations with Frank therefore if I was to get pregnant, he would divorce me. The scandal would ruin me."
"I told you once with enough money and courage you could live without a reputation."
"I could not. I'm sorry, Honey."
Rhett had accepted her answer. While it pleased him that Scarlett was not having relations with Old Frank, he was frustrated that she would not meet with him. He knew what she was doing. She was trying to get him to the altar. She was not the first woman to try to get him to the altar. Women had been trying since he was seventeen. He might just have to marry Scarlett for he knew now she would never say yes to being his mistress especially since her sawmills were making money hand over fist. He might have to help Old Frank to the other side. He couldn't wait forever. He wanted to marry her while he could still perform. Wouldn't that be awful. Be married to Scarlett and not be able to get an erection. That might be even worse than his current situation.
Scarlett was not giving Rhett access to her honey pot until he put the ring on her finger no matter how much she wanted him.
Scarlett did indeed want Rhett. She dreamed of him every night. She always thought of him when she pleasured herself. Yet she knew the only way she was going to get him to the altar was by not giving him access to her body. She wondered if his knowing she wasn't having relations with Frank would get him more sexually excited. She knew she had to keep Rhett in a state of sexual fervent to get him to the altar. A state where he couldn't imagine not possessing her body. She was keeping in mind that old saying: Why buy the cow when one can get the milk for free?
Everyone in Atlanta was talking about Scarlett Kennedy and her running a sawmill. How improper it was? How mannish it was? How she was shaming Mr. Kennedy? They were also talking about Scarlett and Captain Butler. People had seen them talking on the street. Most people agreed. They were a little too cozy. Mr. Kennedy would always say that his wife and Mr. Butler were just business acquaintances although nobody believed he believed that was all they were.
Scarlett was running her sawmills and sending money to Tara. Her aunts asked her to send them money. She wrote them back and said, "No, I will not send you money, but you certainly can move to Tara, and we will take you in."
Her aunts moved to Tara in June. With Rhett's help she found an attorney in Charleston to clean up her aunts' estates. Before the older women left Charleston, they had gone by Charles Mobbs' office and signed a power of attorney.
Scarlett had sent Suellen a letter telling her about their aunts moving to Tara. She also told her sister which room to put the women in. They were to be put in the guest bedroom.
Suellen wrote back saying that nobody at Tara wanted their aunts to move in with them, but she guessed they couldn't turn them away. She agreed with the room selection. It was the smallest room in the house. Wasn't that where poor relations were supposed to sleep? The smallest room in the house.
The Robillard sisters were not happy at Tara, but they had no other choice. It was live at Tara or starve. The only pleasure was the fact that Gerald O'Hara was crazy except he still remembered them. Even though Gerald didn't know what year it was, he remembered his sisters-in-law. They brought back some of the feistiness the man had always possessed. He was very rude and insulting to them.
Unbelievable Eulalie had written Scarlett complaining that not only did they have to share a room, but it was the smallest room in the house. Scarlett had written back that if they were unhappy with the accommodations they could return to Charleston.
In the middle of June, Rhett's father passed away. Rhett traveled to Charleston to arrange for his mother and sister to receive a support check from him. He was fond of his mother, and he would take care of her, but he also had a grudge against her. She had urged him to marry the girl and not ruin himself. After his father had disowned him, he had left Charleston and the South. He was gone for three years. When he started visiting his mother again, they never spoke about the disownment. Rhett didn't want to know if his mother had supported his father's decision. That would hurt far too much. If he never asked, then he could pretend she had fought to keep his father from disowning him. Rhett, in his more honest moments, knew that she hadn't. Elizabeth Butler had never done anything improper in her entire life except maybe take money from her prodigal son. That made Rhett smile sadly. Weren't all proper people hypocrites? That made him think of Scarlett. No, she wasn't a hypocrite. She was just behaving the way society wanted her to behave so she could continue to function in that world. Yet, he knew that she would marry him despite the fact he was unreceived. He thought of Melanie Wilkes. She wasn't a hypocrite either although she certainly was naïve and gullible. Neither Scarlett nor he had any problem manipulating her. They neither had any guilt about it either.
At the end of July, Scarlett received a telegram telling her of her father's death. When she learned of Gerald's death she did not cry. Pa had been gone since the night Ellen O'Hara had died. All that had been left was the shell of the man.
When Frank had declined from going to Gerald O'Hara's funeral. Scarlett knew it was because Frank still couldn't face Suellen. She thought about making him go with her to torture Frank and Suellen but had finally decided to let him stay in Atlanta. Scarlett knew that everyone knew she was married to Frank, but she didn't want everyone seeing her with that stinky, old man.
When she found out that Suellen had tried to trick their father into signing the Unionist oath. Her only thought was, 'How did Suellen mess that up?'
She quickly found out that stupid Suellen had mentioned the Slatterys while trying to coax Pa into signing the oath. Scarlett thought, 'It is amazing I am doing as well as I am when I have to rely on all these incompetent people.'
As they were approaching the main house Will said, "There is one more thing, Miss Scarlett."
"Yes."
"The Wilkes are moving to New York."
"Why?"
"Mr. Wilkes has a job at a bank that his friend is getting him."
"How are they getting there? Ashley has no money."
"I think he is going to ask you for a loan."
"We will see."
"The reason I brought it up is I would like to ask Miss Suellen to marry me."
"I would have picked Careen over Suellen."
Will flashed her a smile and said, "Careen wants to become a nun and therefore will not marry me."
"Why would you want to marry Suellen?"
"In the long run I think we will make a good marriage."
"Go ahead and ask her but I can assure you she is not an easy person to live with."
"I am aware of that."
"Are you sure you want to marry Suellen? You would then be stuck here with my two aunts, a nun, and a shrew."
Will laughed one of his rare laughs. He said, "I don't want to live anywhere than Tara. That is part of the reason I want to marry Suellen. This is my time to make my move and get a lady to accept a proposal from a Cracker. The county folks have turned on her because of her trying to get the unionist money. She needs me."
Scarlett thought, 'Yes, this was Will's opportunity to rightfully stay at Tara the rest of his life. Suellen will say yes because she still thinks that all her problems will be solved once she is married. Scarlett said, "I will feel better with you being here."
They got to the main house and Will stopped the wagon. They got down and went into the house. The funeral started and hour later.
The funeral got a good turnout. Although everyone pointedly ignored Suellen. In fact, more people spoke to Cathy Calvert Hilton than Suellen. Her marriage to Hilton may have hurt her standing with the county people but she had a new dress on, and she looked like she was getting enough to eat. Cathy looked good. Scarlett looked over to where the carriages and buggies were parked. There was a new one in the group, and she knew who it belonged to.
After the funeral Scarlett thanked Cathy for coming. Cathy said, "In a year or two we will be moving North."
"It certainly isn't the life we imagined we would have."
Both women turned and looked over the crowd of people. Most were in rags and looked like they hadn't had a decent meal in years. Cathy said, "Not for anyone. Bye Scarlett."
"Bye Cathy."
As Scarlett watched her former friend walk away, she wondered if she would ever, see her again. Probably not.
