Margaret Mitchell owns "Gone With the Wind" and all its characters. I own a handful of OC's and a story idea. Book-verse. Not "Scarlett" compliant.
Everybody who ever read GWTW has their own idea of how it all played out after Rhett walked out the door not giving a damn. Here's what I think happened. Of course, the story hasn't concluded yet…
Scarlett Butler sat at her desk, pencil in hand, staring out at nothing. She was supposed to be adding the totals for the store, but her mind was wandering, just as it had been all day.
In less than a month her house would be full. Wade Hampton would be home from his Grand Tour and Rhett was coming to Atlanta, arranging for his arrival to coincide with Wade's. It would be good to have her family around again.
This past year had been rather a lonely one and she had been more than glad to allow Ella to stay in Atlanta over the summer. She realized with a sense of surprise how much she would have missed the girl if she had gone to Tara like she had every other year. Scarlett would have been terribly alone rattling around the mansion with only the servants for company.
She was also taken by surprise with how much she missed her son. After all, he never seemed to make much of an impression when he was home. He was quiet and serious, his manner towards her unfailingly courteous and grave. His Hamilton blood was quite evident in the interest he took in books and culture and art, things Scarlett had never cared about, and in the way he had worked so hard in school to earn high marks. When she thought about it, Scarlett could see how logical, how fitting it was; the way the Hamiltons had intermarried with the Wilkeses over so many generations, Wade had to have inherited some Wilkes blood. He also had outdoor interests; he was an expert horseback rider--Rhett had taught him--and he played other sports with his friends passably well. His small circle of friends included his cousin Beau Wilkes, for the two were as close as brothers. But like Charlie Hamilton before him, Wade was timid with girls. But it never seemed to bother him very much: there was only one girl that Wade had ever shown an interest in, and that girl was Elsie Wellburn.
Scarlett's son would be home and so would her husband. She looked at the letter sitting on her desk. It was from Rhett, announcing his arrival date. Letters from Rhett were so unexpected she had opened it with shaking hands, hoping it wasn't bad news. He rarely ever sent word of when he planned to be in Atlanta. He would simply appear on the doorstep, putting the whole household into a state of uproar. The servants would be galvanized into action, scurrying about preparing his room, fixing his favorite meals, attending to his creature comforts. Wade and Ella would hurry from wherever in the house they happened to be to greet him. Both her children adored Uncle Rhett, and Scarlett knew the feeling was mutual. He would always bring them gifts and tell them interesting stories about the places he visited which kept them enthralled. But it was more than gifts and stories that bound them to their stepfather.
When they were children, Rhett took the time to play with them whenever he was home and they throve on his regard, as limited as it was to his infrequent visits. He also had a way of paying them attention, of listening to them as seriously as he would an adult. And now that Wade actually was an adult and Ella nearly so, they both had an easygoing affection towards him. As for their feelings towards Scarlett, well...
When she sat at Melanie Wilkes' deathbed, she promised her dying sister-in-law that she would do certain things--look after little Beau, oversee Ashley's needs. And with all her heart, she had meant to do it. And she realized, although she hadn't put it into words, that her children would also be bereft of Melanie's maternal love and that all three children would have only Scarlett to rely on for mothering.
But on the heels of these fine promises came an unbearably shocking blow--the estrangement between herself and Rhett. And with all the strength of her willful nature she directed her energy towards winning Rhett back.
Rhett, however, possessing an equally strong will, refused to be won. He was as good as his word, Scarlett reflected. In order to keep gossip down (although it hadn't been squashed entirely) he came back to Atlanta periodically, treated her with polite courtesy in front of the servants and the children, foiled all her attempts to maneuver him alone and to her despair and chagrin spent at least half his nights in Atlanta with Belle. He was very discreet these days, he never mentioned Belle's name and she didn't think the children were aware of his nocturnal absences. But she didn't sleep well on those nights, torturing herself with imagings about Rhett and that creature.
The fact was, everybody in the household loved Rhett. The servants were fond of him, Ella had taken to confiding in him about her girlish infatuations and Wade Hampton found him to be an excellent source of advice when he needed to talk to him man-to-man. There was even one time that Scarlett, peering through the window of the second floor, had seen Beau Wilkes out in the paddock with Rhett, the two of them involved in serious conversation. Amazed beyond measure, she had run out to the paddock herself, unable to contain her curiosity. Beau had greeted her arrival with a kiss and a smile for "Aunt Scarlett", Rhett had regarded her with cool courtesy, but they would not continue their conversation while she was there.
But how did Scarlett feel? Scarlett was the one who heard Rhett's approach with trembling, with wild hope and fear. She remembered minutely every detail of their conversation the night Melanie died. It was etched into her very brain. He would not be pursued as she had pursued Ashley. Afraid to drive him away permanently, wanting desperately to induce him to stay, she could only strive to be the woman she believed he wanted. There were to be no tears, no scenes. She matched his cool, polite courtesy point for point. She worked to bring grace and beauty into their home and their life because he said he wanted grace and beauty. She tried to act like all the other Atlanta matrons, attending their clubs and circles, insisting that Wade and Ella do so also, because Rhett said he wanted the outward semblance of respectability. And she had only been to Tara twice since that fateful night--a brief visit following Melanie's funeral and a second visit when she and Suellen were wrangling over their inheritance. Because, after all, he might come home and she might miss his visit...
A/N: Short, to the point, and setting up the action for later scenes.
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