Dear readers!
Thank you so much for all your reviews, kind words and for your thoughts! It's a pleasure to read them and it's inspiring!
I'm posting the second chapter, it's quite long. The next one will probably be up by the end of the week. I also have "Half a step to..." I'm writing a chapter there too and have some work to do with texts in real life. So I'm all about the texts right now, literally, and my thoughts are constantly jumping from one thing to another. Still, I love it!
So, Rhett is a typical Rhett, he's so self-confident, and Scarlett is as emotionally stupid as ever. Oh well, it's up to them to find their way to each other and we're at the very beginning of their journey:)
Enjoy reading:)
I own nothing in regard to GWTW.
Chapter 2.
Scarlett returned that day all soaked and cold, but with a faint smile on her lips. She was fortunate that on her way back, as soon as she had left Rhett's and walked a few feet, she was called by Frank Kennedy, who was driving a small buggy and gallantly offered to drive her. All the way he talked about something, asking about her cranky sister, but Scarlett barely answered, only to be struck by how old he was on closer inspection. Those sideburns, and his hands... For some reason she remembered Rhett's strong hands, his swarthy skin, his long fingers. Yes, Rhett had beautiful hands... She squeezed her eyes shut and shifted her thoughts back to the man sitting next to her. Yes, Frank Kennedy was a Southerner and a gentleman, caring and affectionate, and by all accounts, a trouble-free man. "Suellen's obviously going to twist his ropes," she thought to herself, grinning and glad she was a widow and wouldn't have to share a bed with anyone.
"Or have to," an inner voice traitorously reminded her of the deal and she inwardly shuddered, but decided to push the thought away and just rejoice, if only briefly, that their home, her home, would be saved. Her mother's home!
"It's worth it," she repeated again and smiled sweetly at another Frank Kennedy joke.
He drove her to her aunt's home in Peachtree Street, asked her to give a warm greeting to his fiancée, and drove away, very pleased with himself.
When she got home, Mammy wailed a long time over the ruined dress and the fact that "her lamb was sure to catch pneumonia or fever," and Scarlett, really shivering, let her take care of herself.
And soon she was lying in her old bedroom, Charles's bedroom, her dinner was brought to her in bed, the fireplace was made hotter, and Aunt Pitty had even got out some jam from her secret stock so that Scarlett would have hot tea with it and not get sick. The old lady was also worried about her newly acquired niece, but she was rather more worried about herself, for it was Scarlett who took care of the Wilkes. The thought of their living here in this house frightened her, for she could barely feed herself and Uncle Peter on the pittance her brother, the old lawyer, gave her.
At last Scarlett was glad to be left alone in a warm bed under two blankets, and closed her eyes, glad that everything had been resolved. She didn't have a shadow of a doubt, if Rhett promised, he always kept his word, which meant the money would be there in the morning and she'd be on her way to Tara, paying the taxes beforehand.
And the payment... The debt... Scarlett was just pushing the thought away from her. "Yes, I'll sleep with him, I gave my word... Or maybe Yankees will hang... No, no, I don't want that for Rhett, after all, although he's a scoundrel, he helped me. I wonder what it'll be like... Maybe it'll be quick, like with Charles, and at least it won't hurt so much... Oh... And if I get pregnant after that... Oh, no, that's not going to happen! Rhett's sleeping with that redheaded woman, definitely, and I've never seen her pregnant. He must know how to do it right or... Or maybe he can't have children at all, it's also possible... For Tara's sake, I'll get over it somehow... I wonder if he'll want to kiss me before this..." She rolled from side to side for another long time, catching the thoughts that scattered like peas in different directions and as she fell asleep, she remembered his hands for some reason.
And across town, Rhett fell asleep in his prison cell, remembering his meeting with Scarlett, their fight, her deception... Her hands, and then her loose, curly hair. The look in her eyes when she'd agreed to the deal. He wanted her and he knew he could have her, she depended on him now, and that thought warmed his soul. He knew it would all work out.
Rhett rolled over onto his other side, the wooden bench with the rough woollen blanket thrown over it was not made for a good night's sleep, but he had no choice. He knew Yankee had no proof, Belle had whispered to him today, as she'd heard in the brothel from her girls, that some papers had come in under Butler's name, which meant he'd be released soon. He'd have to be patient for a while.
Rhett closed his eyes and remembered Belle resenting his request, not wanting to help this "selfish little widow," but when Rhett mentioned Melanie Wilkes and the two children in that plantation house, Belle frowned but agreed to give Scarlett the money in the morning.
Rhett lay there, constantly recalling the image of that cunning yet naive green-eyed vixen. He would tame her, by all means! "This woman will be mine," he thought, falling asleep with a smile on his lips.
Scarlett woke up very early that morning. First she was awakened by the nightmare that had plagued her almost every night since she'd returned to Tara in the autumn, and then she tried to sleep, tossing and turning, but her sleep was shallow, quick, and at six in the morning she rose to face the new day of January.
She was nervous as she braided her hair and buttoned the bodice of her simple, old dress, her hands trembling. She trusted Rhett's word and believed he wouldn't let her down.
When they were eating breakfast around nine in the morning, there was a knock at the door, and Scarlett glanced nervously from the dining room toward the hallway.
A moment later, a scowling Mammy appeared in the room and handed Scarlett an envelope, with the words, "This was brought by a black coachman for you, Miss Scarlett."
Scarlett smiled, pretended not to notice Aunt Pitty's curious look and Mammy's wary look, and excused herself from the table. She went quickly up to her room, closed the door behind her, and with her back against it, opened the envelope with trembling hands. The money was there. A sigh of relief escaped from her chest, they were saved!
Before Scarlett knew it, a couple of days had passed. The taxes were paid the same day she received the money, and she and Mammy said a warm goodbye to Aunt Pitty and set off for Tara the next day.
Rhett had somehow got a little more money and the extra fifty dollars was not unreasonable. In town Scarlett had time to buy some warm fabric to make clothes for the children, because the boys, especially Wade, were growing very fast. At the station, they met Will, to whom they had sent a telegram, and together they were able to buy more groceries.
Everything was quiet in Tara, they were preparing for the spring planting, tidying up the house, which looked clean and tidy, but the signs of war and ruin were everywhere Scarlett looked. To her, who had seen the cosiness and grandeur of her home and plantation, it was a painful thing, and she wanted more and more earnestly to earn money and see it as it had been before the war.
Her father was quiet, calm, sometimes smiling, but he cared little about anything, and it was this detachment from the world that frightened Scarlett the most. Her sisters were carefree, especially Suellen, counting the days until spring and her wedding to Mr Kennedy, Carreen was always reading her Bible and avoiding Will's warm gaze, Melanie was constantly thanking "Dear Captain Butler" for his help and Mammy just looked at Scarlett suspiciously.
Scarlett announced to everyone at home that Rhett had agreed to help them with the money, knowing that she would pay him back the profits from the cotton sales the following year, and everyone believed it. Everyone except Ashley.
She caught his attentive gaze, but would not answer him, and then, one day he led her into her mother's office and gestured to the small sofa by the window, standing beside the desk and staring at her.
Scarlett stared back at him, trying to figure out how he made her feel. It was different, not like before the war, and not even like before their kiss in the orchard. After Rhett's phrase that Ashley had let her go to him, clearly realizing she was desperate, she felt bitter, resentful of herself. She was a young girl, brought up like a lady, and Ashley was a gentleman. He would never have let Melanie or India go like that, but he closed his eyes when she went. It was a depressing and disappointing feeling, turns out Rhett was right and Ashley didn't appreciate her, saw nothing in her beyond her pretty face and figure. And now she'd basically "sold herself" for 300 dollars. Scarlett sighed heavily and realized she didn't want to think about it right now.
"What did you want, Ashley?" she asked in a calm tone.
"Scarlett, I'm probably too late, I've regretted letting you go to Atlanta a thousand times. I shouldn't have, after all, you're practically my wife's sister. Part of our family, too. It wasn't fair to you. Tell me now, Scarlett, the truth about the money!"
She only stared at him intently and he continued to ask "What did you promise him for it?"
"A mortgage on Tara," she lied quickly, lowering her gaze.
"God, Scarlett, why did you ever go to him? For heaven's sake, he's a scoundrel! He abandoned you on the way to Tara, you told me so yourself! "
Scarlett was bitter at the memory of that hot and terrible night, when Rhett had left her alone with Melanie, a baby, a little child, and a maid. She hadn't forgotten it, and she realized she hadn't forgiven it, only pushed the memory into a dark corner of her soul. Now was not the time for that, she had to survive.
Ashley continued, "And what makes you think he won't show up here in a week and kick us all out, because he has the right to do that now!"
Scarlett replied seriously, "I know, he won't. He won't do that."
"Why not?" asked Ashley hotly.
"I know, he's a good," replied Scarlett suddenly, defending Rhett. He would never do something so mean to her, to them.
"No, You hope he's good! You want him to be good, but he's not, Scarlett!" objected Ashley hotly and even blushed.
He stepped back to the window and stood pondering, then said quietly, "This is a terrible conversation..."
"I was hoping for your support and friendliness, Ashley," she said suddenly, swallowing back tears and thinking to herself that it was free. Support couldn't be bought with money, turns out he didn't have that for her either.
"Because of our friendship, support and promises, I got us into this situation, this mess. I should have taken Melly and my son and left at the very beginning!"
"What would have changed that, Ashley?" she asked bitterly, "although yes, you wouldn't be seeing all this now. You know I'm not asking for help, though God knows I need it. If you want to go, go."
Scarlett finished her speech and walked out of the office without looking at him. It pained her that he had told her off, that he had not found it in his heart to give her at least an ounce of support and compassion.
Toward the end of the week, on a sunny January afternoon, before lunch, while Scarlett was busy cleaning the porch and Will was fixing the rocking chair, they heard hoofbeats approaching.
Will was about to go for the gun Scarlett had hidden under one of the floorboards on the ground floor, but she gestured for him to stop.
Squinting, Scarlett looked closer and her heart raced as she recognized a familiar figure, and then closer, a familiar grin. Rhett Butler had come to Tara!
He was impeccably dressed in a dark suit, as usual, fitting him perfectly and Scarlett inwardly wormed herself. She was wearing a simple house dress, a light green, faded colour, and her hair was styled in a simple knot. Putting down the rag, she shook off her hands and with a nod to Will, walked towards her guest.
She walked up to him and Rhett extended his hand to her, for a greeting, saying with a smile, "Good afternoon, Mrs Hamilton! Here I am!"
Scarlett barely shook his outstretched hand, her knees already trembling with fear and excitement and she only mouthed, "Hello, Rhett..."
"I've come to visit you all and you, Darling, won't you invite me into the house? I'm tired from the road, maybe you could even offer me a glass of water," he continued, smiling and winking at her.
"Oh, this man is incorrigible!" she barely had time to think before a smiling Melanie called out to them and they all went into the house to get acquainted and then to have lunch together.
He noticed that the meal was very sparse, the ration was dominated by vegetables, that she had put the least for herself, and that she was jealously watching her son to make sure he ate everything. Rhett knew that she had always been strict and demanding of her son, even when he was a baby. But then he noticed something new in her eyes and gestures, something special and meant only for her little boy. Something that made his heart ache.
Smiling and keeping the conversation quiet and polite, he could barely stifle the cries of his soul within him. "She shouldn't have to live like this! God! She should have the best of everything, she should grudgingly choose from three desserts instead of eating yams and carrots. She should wear silk dresses and sleep on silk sheets..." Thoughts one after another attacked him.
He noticed everything, every detail. How detached her once boisterous father looked. How caring she was with him, how she listened to Will and looked at him with gratitude, how she barely looked at Ashley, how she tried to be patient with her little son.
But, they needed to talk and preferably without witnesses, so after lunch Rhett politely asked for a quick tour of the plantation and under Mammy's frowned gaze, Scarlett took her black shawl and the two of them went outside, where the winter sun continued to warm the red land, bringing spring closer.
They walked along the path Scarlett knew so well. She'd already given Rhett a brief tour of the plantation, though she didn't fully understand why he wanted to do it, or, more importantly, why she was doing it at all. His entire arrival had kept her in a wild state of suspense from the start and left her with a trail of questions.
"Why is he here?" she asked herself as he made polite conversation in the parlour with Melanie and, more importantly, Ashley. He couldn't stand him.
"Why is he here?" she asked herself as she watched him play with her son.
"Why is he here?" she continued to ask herself and found no answer except the obvious one, about their deal. At these thoughts her cheeks turned red and she became very angry with him.
"So," he began, as they strolled along the lane, between the tall cedars, "was it all about this house, Scarlett? This land?"
"It's my land. Ours. My father's land. And the house... My mother's house. It's like a part of my heart, though why I'm telling you this... You wouldn't understand."
"Anyway, setting aside poetry and romanticism, for it's not in my habit to speak poetically," he hinted to her subtly, but she didn't seem to notice, "there's no income from the plantation yet, more like expenses. It takes time to set things up here..."
She hesitated, became sad and only whispered, "What to do..."
Rhett smiled quietly to himself. When he'd thought out his plan the day before, he'd realized, clearly realized, that he didn't want just a one-time sexual encounter with this woman. No! He wanted her all to himself as before, and her heart first and foremost. At dinner, he noticed that she wasn't looking at that fool Wilkes with adoring eyes, so it really hurt her that he'd let her go to town then... But, he needed to break that bond, to distance them from each other and create a new bond with himself. So that they would see each other more often and talk, because he didn't say exactly when he wanted to spend the night with her. A week from now, a month from now, or a year from now... The plan began to take shape in his head and Rhett arrived in Tara already confident and satisfied with himself. All he had to do was see if the plantation was doing so badly, and he wasn't wrong.
"Scarlett," he began in a calm voice without looking at her, "I can help you, I can offer you, hmm... A job..."
She stopped for a moment and looked at him in surprise, but then went on and asked suspiciously, "What kind of job, Rhett?"
"In Atlanta. I've bought a sawmill, or almost bought it, and I've already sent the seller an offer he can't refuse," Rhett spoke confidently but evenly, "the city's under construction now, so I'll have a good income from this business. I'm thinking of building a hotel myself, I have some land in the centre of town... Well, it doesn't matter."
Scarlett listened to him and didn't realize what he was getting at, only marvelling at how rich this man was and how unfair it was. "So much money and resources for him alone, and I have a bunch of hungry mouths hanging on me and relatives in Charleston. It's not fair..." she thought, frowning like a hurt child.
"Now, Scarlett," he went on, admiring her furrowed brows and pouty, childlike lips, "I know you're very good at counting, at numbers. Remember once in Atlanta, you won a bet from me when you multiplied quickly in your mind?"
Scarlett only nodded, not understanding what he was getting at.
"So, Darling, I need a person who can count well, there at the sawmill. Counting orders, amounts, summarising. I'll pay you well and you can send money back here, especially since I've noticed that your lodger, Will is a nice and serious man and he can stay and keep an eye on things!"
Scarlett smiled and replied, "Yes, Will is a blessing. God sent him to us, I don't know how I would have managed without him..."
Rhett marvelled once again at how this man she didn't know very well had firmly, and most importantly quickly, taken a place in her soul. How she spoke of him with pride. How he wished she could speak of him as well!
"You can stay with your Aunt Pitty, Honey," Rhett continued to explain to her, "and I will pick you up and take you to the sawmill to work. You don't even have to show up there every day, sometimes I will bring you books right to the Hamilton house..."
"Oh no, Rhett," she started to say and he frowned, but Scarlett only continued with a playful smile, "just not to stay at home with Aunt Pitty, she'll drive me crazy with her complaints! "
Rhett smirked and asked, "So do you agree for it, Darling?"
Scarlett thought about having to leave Tara and sighed sadly, but Rhett immediately clenched his hands into fists of rage and said wryly, "Of course, my Dear, it's no fun leaving your little gentleman, but since he can't do anything for you but send you back to town..."
Scarlett frowned and looked at him. He didn't know about their last conversation with Ashley. And though he'd been useless, he was her childhood friend, a thread to the past. A past that was gone. She couldn't and wouldn't break that thread, because Ashley looked at her like she was still the same sixteen-year-old girl from the barbecue, and it warmed her soul. So she looked at Rhett again and said sternly, "Rhett, please,stop..."
But Rhett was seething with rage and couldn't stop, "He humiliated you, Scarlett! By letting you go to Atlanta! Like a whore!"
"Shut up, Rhett," she said loudly and added more calmly, "When l returned from Atlanta, he apologized for that!"
"But you had already sold yourself, yes, My Dear?"
All the colour seemed to drain from her face. It was very humiliating to hear. Yes, she realized it, but she pushed the thought into a dark corner of her mind so she wouldn't go mad. If her mother would found out... And her father...God... When he said those words out loud, it hurt so much. Unbearable.
Rhett saw her pale and clasp her hands together, was about to beg forgiveness for the rudeness.
But then he saw her pull herself together, the belligerent fire in her eyes again, and raising her head she said clearly, "Yes. I did. I sold myself. And I'd sell again, Rhett Butler, to keep a roof over my head, not only for myself but for my family! So don't you dare judge me! Especially since you're the 'buyer'!" she said in a sarcastic tone, looking at him in disgust.
The way she looked at him hurt him. He wasn't a scoundrel, he just wanted to save her from other scoundrels.
But smiling back at her only with his lips, he said with a chuckle, "Yes, that's a very accurate characterisation of our relationship, Darling. You are the 'thing', the 'toy', and I am the 'buyer', the 'owner'."
She choked with indignation and resentment, but found the strength to continue the confrontation, "You are not my owner, Rhett Butler! I am not your property and I will never be yours! You bought a night with me! We can end this right now, you hear me! And..."
At all those words, anger flooding his heart, Rhett suddenly moved closer to her and grabbed her by the shoulders. He wanted to shake and shake, and shake her so she would forget all those disgusting words.
"Let me go, you, rascal!" he heard her desperate quiet voice and came to his senses. She wasn't supposed to notice...
Rhett let go of her shoulders, then with a deliberately calm movement brushed non-existent dust from the sleeves of his jacket and spoke calmly, "Darling, don't break our deal. One of the terms was that I set the place and time, do you remember, Scarlett? And..." then he stopped, noticing her desperate but brave look, the few strands of hair that were out of place, her simple homemade dress, the buttons on the bodice, it seemed all he had to do was reach out, pull the shawl down from her shoulders, and... He swallowed. No. And he continued, "Besides, Sweetheart, you don't give me any desire right now except to feed you. You look like a skinny, hungry cat, Darling..." he noticed her blush, turned away, and wrapped herself tighter in her shawl.
"And those freckles, Honey... Where's that praised snow-white skin of yours..." he reasoned, dreaming of something else entirely. Every freckle (and she had a couple on her cheeks and a few on her neck, as he had noticed) he wanted to kiss, to touch them with his lips, one by one...
Scarlett kept her back straight and didn't turn round. It was humiliating.
"Okay, Honey, the tour has come to an end, it's time for me to head back to the city. I'll see you in Atlanta, Scarlett, come by the end of next week, I'll get things sorted out before then," he spoke, addressing her back.
Rhett looked at her, realizing that he seemed to be overreacting in defending his biggest secret, but then she said without turning around, "I hope your horse will drop you in the bushes somewhere, Rhett Butler!"
Rhett laughed in a ringing voice, and only said, "Don't see me off, Honey, I'll find the way!" And with a quick gait he strode off in the direction of the main house.