Well, I finally updated and even though it's a short chapter, at least it's something. I had a horrible case of writers block so forgive me if it's not the best I've ever done. I would still love to hear from you to let me know you are still with me after such a long time. Thanks for the support and encouragement.

The Journey Home

Chapter Eighteen

The Taste of Revenge

The sun was setting low once Scarlett and Eli came back from their walk. Eli was true to his word, he never once mentioned her troubles or what had gotten her so upset. He kept the conversation clear of anything except for Tara and what her aspirations were for it.

She told him of Noah and what his plans were to bring Tara back to the finest plantation in the county. Some of the fields that were allowed to lay fallow were now going to be brought back into use for not only cotton but other grains as well.

He kept her talking until she actually did begin to feel better. When they finally decided to head back to the house she felt as if she could face what lay ahead, no matter how difficult. She had been blindsided by Rhett's coldness and hadn't expected it to be so awful to bear, but now after she realized where she stood she could face it with dignity. She would not allow him to bring her down so low again.

As she and Eli stepped onto the back porch he stopped her. "Thank you for the walk, Mrs. Butler. It was quite informative."

"Your quite welcome, Mr. Barrett," she smiled tentatively. She hadn't felt embarrassed or ashamed once on their walk, but now she felt more than a little self-conscious standing in front of him.

"I should be heading for the barn and checking on my horse. Good evening then," he tipped his hat and started to turn, but stopped short and looked back to her. "Oh, and I meant what I said. No one will ever know about your 'incident'. I always keep my word."

Scarlett's smile widened as she watched him walk away toward the barn. It was the strangest thing but she just knew she could trust him. She didn't know why, but she just did. Why, she actually could call him a friend if she chose to.

A friend, the thought occurred to her, was something she hadn't ever had too many of. Melanie was the closest thing to one she ever had and she hadn't even cared about that until it was too late. Had she really ever had a friend to just talk to or confide in or any other thing that friends do with each other?

As she thought about this she realized she did, only she didn't know it until itwas almost too late.

Rhett.

Rhett had been her confident, her companion and her friend long before he was her husband. He had been there for her during the most crucial moments of her life, standing by her, letting her speak her mind, joining in when it suited him. He encouraged her to do anything she pleased and then laughed at her when she fell. Only, when she fell he was there to pick her up and brush away the hurt.

And that's what she missed more than anything. She missed the feeling of comfortableness she had with him. He could make her madder than anyone and then just as quickly, make her laugh and forget about why she was mad in the first place.

But she had ruined it by taking it for granted. Now, he was gone from her in every way possible and she this time she just didn't know how to make it right. Her miserable attempt at seducing had been the ultimate humiliation and his attitude had been harsh and unforgiving.

There was no more comfortableness, no companionship and no friendship. It was all gone now and in its place, rejection and sorrow.

In the distance a lone rider sat hidden behind a small grove of trees looking down on the scene below her. She had seen Scarlett walking with that man and felt a pang of jealousy stir within her. She could see the ease of which they talked and she wished she were close enough to hear what was being said. But she didn't move for fear of giving herself away, so she sat and watched and waited…

Suellen O'Hara Wilkerson was not a gregarious by nature, she hadn't been born that way nor did she grow up that way. Her mother Ellen had tried, no doubt of that, for she had tried with all three of her daughters to teach them to be kind, unassuming and considerate. It was unfortunate that of the three, only Careen had really inherited their mother's calm nature.

Scarlett was too much like their father Gerald and that left Suellen not only his shadow, but Scarlett's as well. She wanted to be more like Scarlett than anyone ever realized but Scarlett was too consumed with herself to think about a sister who watched her and had tried to emulate her.

It didn't help matters that Suellen had been what they called a 'late bloomer', another mark against her when Scarlett had bloomed so early. She was the apple of Gerald's eye and Ellen's pet. Their parents didn't mean to be forthcoming with their affinity to Scarlett, it was a seemingly natural thing but it was the thing that Suellen craved the most and it was not lost on her that more than once she was pushed to the background when Scarlett entered the room with a new dress to show off, or a new pair of slippers that Gerald picked up for her one of his travels. He brought Suellen and Careen gifts too, but to Suellen they were baby gifts. What was a miniature tea set in comparison to red, satin slippers just made for dancing?

Didn't their father see that she had been growing up, too? She was only a year younger than Scarlett, but she might as well been younger than Careen for all he had ever noticed. Even when she was finally allowed to attend parties and balls, her dresses were never her own, always hand-me-downs of Scarlett's that Ellen and Mammy had made over.

If she said anything against it, she was called unthankful and persnickety by Mammy, who huffed with agitation that Suellen would dare to sully her handiwork. So, with hurting pride, she would attend the parties and hope that no one noticed what to her was so very obvious.

It had always been that way. Suellen wanted what Scarlett had but always got her leftovers. Dresses… beaux's… it didn't matter what it was, it was always the same outcome. That's why Suellen chose Frank Kennedy to court. Scarlett didn't want Frank. To her he was an 'old maid in britches' and he was too intimidated of Scarlett to even dream of being one of her beaux's.

Frank was the only man in the county who would never have been one of Scarlett's leftovers. He wanted Suellen and only her because he could be himself. He was at ease around her and although he was much older than her, she enjoyed the attention he gave her. After all, what was age? Wasn't Gerald twenty-eight years older than Ellen? No, Frank wasn't a prize in relation to the beaux's of Scarlett's, but he had been hers and only hers…

That is until the war and Ellen's death and Gerald's addle-mindedness had changed everything. Until Scarlett, in desperation, trapped Frank into marrying her and stole what was rightly Suellen's life. It was when that happened that Suellen's hatred of Scarlett truly began.

After that, she never spoke to Frank again. She was left humiliated and broken, the subject of idle gossip. She was the 'poor O'Hara girl' who was jilted by her fiancée for her very own sister.

And so, while she was stuck at Tara, Scarlett was living in Atlanta helping Frank run his store and living in a nice home. While she was stuck at Tara, Scarlett was wearing new dresses and jaunty hats and riding in fine carriages.

What did Suellen have? A plantation she hated, dresses she despised because they were plain and dull, food that was plentiful but that she was sick of and pity… oh yes, she had plenty of pity.

After the gossip abated, it was replaced by pity. She was considered an old maid with no chance of landing a decent husband. The older women clicked their tongues at her predicament and they younger ones whispered at how sad it was for her. Year after year she was left at Tara growing older and more and more bitter about the hand she had been dealt. As she grew more bitter so did her hatred for Scarlett grow.

When she heard the news that Frank had died, she cried. When she heard the reason for his death, she spit at the very mention of her sisters name. Many nights she would cry silently in her bed for Frank and the life they would have had if Scarlett had not interfered. She did love him in her own way and she always would.

But now, Suellen was no longer the pitied one, now she was married to a successful man who had a lot of money and had given her a fine home to live in. She had her reasons for staying in Clayton County. She could live anywhere she chose now and Jonas had told her more than once all she had to do was name the place and he would take her there. But, she wasn't ready to leave just yet and the main reason was Scarlett. She was going to make Scarlett pay for all she had taken from her. She was going to make sure her sister tasted the bitterness of loss and defeat. She was going to take Tara from her one way or the other.