Dear readers, thank you so much for all your reviews and thoughts! :)

This chapter is a little bit shorter, but let it be so.

And a little note about our favourite Captain Butler!:)

Rhett had found Scarlett but didn't tell anyone! Not the Hamiltons, not the O'Hara sisters. I'll try to slowly reveal his motivation, thoughts and feelings on the matter in future chapters, but it's still a lie... So, it won't be easy for our couple, to build their relationships, but I believe in them, as usual!

Enjoy reading!:)

Chapter 5.

A few days after Captain Butler's visit, Scarlett was going for a walk with Wade.

Those days she had gone over all the papers again and realized that her husband had done everything in the most convenient way for her - some of the money were at home, some in gold at the bank, and some he had successfully invested on Mr Butler's advice.

After he left, Scarlett sat in her husband's study that evening and read all the letters that this strange man had written to John.

Contrary to her expectations, there were questions and discussions about family, hobbies and daily life. Mr Butler himself had asked a few times in passing about her wellbeing and mood. And in almost every letter, he wondered if her memory had returned.

Scarlett sighed and put the last letter, about a planned future long trip to Europe, into an envelope. The man seemed strange, but she wasn't afraid of him. His looks, his touches were unfamiliar to her, but somehow she physically reacted to them with a slight shiver or goosebumps. But she thought it was just the shock of the last few months, because she'd become a mother for the second time and then a widow and her body could have reacted worse. So, no longer puzzling over the matter and the strange man, glad to be physically well at least, and completely forgetting about her dinner invitation, Scarlett went on with her life.

She couldn't afford to grieve for her husband, for there were children to look after. First and foremost, there was Wade, who, at almost five years of age, was taking the death of John, to whom he had become as attached as to his own father, very hard.

And if during the day Scarlett held on as best she could, in the evenings, after the children had been put to bed with the nanny, she went into their bedroom, look at their picture with John and sigh heavily, sometimes crying like an offended child. In the silence of the bedroom she could only admit to herself that it was hard and frightening for her because she had no one but her children, and if there was anyone related to her, her stupid memory hid those memories.

Things didn't go to plan that day, right from the start. Their cook sent a note, saying she was ill and couldn't come, it was cold outside, but Wade wanted to go out and buy sweets, like he and John often did, and Ella was more cranky than usual, barely calming down and falling asleep in her mother's arms, and the nanny sat and watched her all day, never trying to leave.

So Scarlett had to dress herself and go out with her son, although she didn't want to on such a cold day, but she had no choice. She also wanted to have a little break from Ella, whose crying was driving her to despair. She didn't know what her little daughter's complaints were, she didn't remember what Wade was like, or if she was being good as a mother, but right now she didn't think she was being good at anything.

Anyway, dressed in a warm dress with a black cape over it, with Wade, they stepped out into the cool street after lunch, caught a carriage and headed for the park in the centre of their city.

The streets, the shop windows - everything was decorated for Christmas, which was just over two weeks away. There was a buzz in the air, people strolling around despite the cold, peering into shops, and the air smelled of vanilla and cinnamon, especially around the pastry shops and bakeries.

Scarlett took a moment to breathe in the sweet, familiar scent, but all she could remember was their last Christmas with John, here in Saratoga Springs.

They had a small Christmas tree in their house, the cook had made cinnamon rolls, and she and John had baked vanilla cookies. She remembered the evening he had called her into the kitchen and set out the various ingredients, trying to distract her with talk and jokes, and kisses, but he had kept his eyes on her, and then he had noticed that she had mixed all the ingredients herself, as if she had done it before. "You'll remember everything, Darling, I'm sure," he'd whispered in her ear, kissing her neck tenderly, and she'd smiled, but stained his nose and cheeks with flour.

"Mummy, Mummy," her son's voice distracted her from the cozy memories, and Scarlett lowered her eyes to Wade.

"What is it?"

"We were going to get some sweets, Mummy! Come on, I'll show you the shop where we used to buy sweets for you with daddy! I remember where it is," Wade replied confidently, leading her by the hand down the street. They stopped at a few shops to buy fresh bread, milk and some vegetables. They stopped at a shop for cocoa and Scarlett took a small bag of coffee beans, although she and John preferred tea at home.

The number of paper bags grew, but they couldn't find the sweet shop Wade had mentioned.

They finally stopped near the park, after walking up and down the street. Scarlett's hands were freezing, she'd taken off her slippery leather gloves so she wouldn't drop the bags, and now she wanted only to go home and warm up. She noticed that a few snowflakes had fallen on her cheeks and was worried that the wind would become stronger. They stood near the bench where she'd put the bags and Wade sat down. Scarlett took a seat beside him and looked away, wondering where they could get a carriage, but when she suggested to go home, Wade frowned and didn't agree.

"I've got to find that shop!" he insisted.

Scarlett first tried to tell him, that she didn't want any sweets at all, then tried to persuade him to come back when it was a bit warmer, then, rubbing her frozen hands, she got angry with him and told him off.

Glancing back at the carriages, her cheeks burning with anger and irritation, she heard Wade sob a few times.

"Please, not now," she thought, looking nervously at her son. She dreaded the street scenes, and of the two of them, John had always been the better parent, as if he'd been made for it.

"Damn it," she thought to herself, crouching down in front of her son and rubbing her frozen hands again.

"Wade, honey," she began, trying to keep her voice soft, "I understand that you wanted to please me like you did with daddy, but right now, you and I - we're really freezing..."

"I'm not freezing," Wade interrupted her sharply, pouting and sniffling.

Scarlett looked at his ruddy cheeks and said quietly, touching his chin and trying to catch his eye, "But I'm freezing, son... And if we don't go home, we might catch a cold..."

She saw his angry look change to one of concern, and then she saw tears in his eyes and thought desperately to herself, "What am I doing wrong?"

But before she could say anything, she noticed Wade reaching for her hands and began to speak, almost crying, "I'm sorry Mummy, I wanted to be like daddy, he always knew how to make you happy!"

"Son, I..."

"And I lost the shop too," the little boy finished, crying his eyes out and hugging his mother's neck.

Scarlett was almost crying herself, that they were near a busy street, a park, that they might attract attention and she would be embarrassed.

"Wade, son, please don't cry. We'll come back, I promise. I'll buy you some sweets, just please..." Scarlett looked at her son pleadingly, but suddenly she heard what was really behind his childish crying. It wasn't until she heard it from him that she realized it wasn't the sweets at all.

"It's not the same without daddy... And it won't be the same. Mummy, I forgot where the shop is, what if I forget him too?" he asked, trying to wipe away his tears but only smearing them on his cheeks.

Scarlett looked at him, painfully aware of her own fear of forgetting the few memories she had. So she tried to look serious, adding conviction to her voice, "No, son! You won't forget daddy, that's impossible! We have pictures of him, I remember him, you..."

"And Ella doesn't remember," Wade interrupted her quietly again.

"You will tell her about daddy... We will... Things will get better, I promise," she tried to speak more confidently and added with a smile, "wipe away the tears Wade, I promise we'll find a shop together next time!"

She noticed Wade sniff his nose, but saw his eyes sparkle with belligerence and recognized herself in them. Smiling, she nodded to her son and stood up, reaching for the bags as she heard a familiar voice behind her, "Hello, Mrs Carter."

Rhett spent the days after their first meeting in a state of both joy and impatience. He'd missed the hell out of her since their meeting and was glad she'd invited him to dinner. Deciding that a week was a reasonable amount of time to send her a note later, he checked into a hotel in the city centre and started counting the days. But the days dragged on damn slowly, and by the third day he was wandering aimlessly through the downtown streets.

On the fourth day he went to look at horses, not to buy one, but it was a good distraction.

On the fifth day Rhett went to a local gallery recommended by a guest at the hotel, but tempted by painting and the art of Europe in general and Paris in particular, he quickly became bored, went out and walked along the main street looking at the shop windows.

"Two more days," he repeated to himself as he saw a young woman with a little boy in the distance and suddenly, squinting, he recognized Scarlett and Wade, tired of shopping and, judging by the number of bags she had placed on the bench, ready to go home.

"That's a sign," Rhett thought, smiled and quickly went into the nearest shop, bought a box of sweets and asked to tie it up with a green ribbon.

As the shopman wrapped the box, Rhett glanced through the window from time to time and noticed that Wade seemed upset and Scarlett tried to calm him, looking around nervously.

"Sir, everything's ready," Rhett heard the voice of shopman, then he quickly paid, adjusted his coat and hat before walking out and heading straight for the mother and son.

Rhett walked over to them, called out to her and saw her turn and look at him in surprise.

"Oh, that's you, Captain Butler," she murmured, smiling awkwardly. She had forgotten that she had promised to call this man for dinner and had generally been distracted by the daily routine.

"Good afternoon, Scarlett," he greeted her and smiling. She flinched slightly at the man calling her by her first name but nodded at him and glanced back at Wade who was sitting quietly behind her on the bench, "Unexpected meeting, Wade and I were shopping," she gave her son a stern look and he looked up from behind her dress only to say quietly, "Hello, sir".

Rhett noticed the boy's red eyes, then Scarlett, who looked a little confused, and asked, "Everything all right, I hope? Do you need any help?"

Scarlett smiled at him and said, "No thanks, we were just on our way home and..."

"Mummy's freezing," the adults suddenly heard a child's voice say. Scarlett turned quickly to her son and frowned, and Rhett only now noticed that her cheeks and the tip of her nose had turned pink.

"You'll have to hurry home then," he said worriedly, but Wade interrupted him again, "and I forgot where the shop is where we went with daddy to get sweets for Mummy..."

"Wade!" Rhett heard her slightly angry voice and saw her turn back to him and say sternly, "I'm sorry Captain Butler, Wade is also tired and cold, so he forgot his manners..."

"Scarlett, it's all right," he replied, quickly assessing the situation, glancing at the bags on the bench and then at her reddened, gloveless hands, which she was trying to warm in the warm fabric of her cape.

"You really are cold," he said suddenly, instinctively reaching out with his free hand and lightly touching her hand.

Scarlett flinched at the touch of his warm palm, looked up at him with a kind of anxious look, and jerked her hand away gently, explaining, "You see, we arrived, but the shopping took a lot of time. My gloves are slippery and I put them in one of those bags," she said, gesturing to the bench, "we were just about to find a carriage and..."

"I'll take you home," she heard his firm voice, and then she saw him step closer to her son, hand him the box of sweets and say with a smile, "Wade, I'm going to help you today. Don't feel bad, look, we've got sweets for your mother, now let's go quickly, let's get her home, okay?"

Wade gave Rhett a suspicious look, but nodded and smiled cautiously.

"I'll be in a minute, Scarlett," he called her by her first name again and walked quickly towards the road to find an empty carriage, not noticing her confused look.

Scarlett didn't even have time to object when she saw Captain Butler, who had found a free carriage for them as if by magic, come over, helped Wade down with a box of sweets, then took all the paper bags off the bench, smiled at her and said, "Let's go home, Scarlett."

They were travelling in a carriage and Rhett noticed that she sometimes rubbed her cold hands. For a moment he imagined taking them in his warm palms, trying to warm them, and then gently touching her soft skin with his lips and...

Scarlett looked at the man awkwardly, wondering what she should do since he had helped her and now they were going home together. It would have been polite to invite him to dinner, but the cook was ill. Yes, there was meat and stew left, but as if that wasn't enough... She frowned slightly, glanced out of the window, then caught his strange gaze and he smiled at her gently. Scarlett had no choice but to smile back at him and to act by situation.

She glanced cautiously at Wade, who was sitting next to her, staring out the window, holding a box of sweets tied with a green ribbon. "At least Wade isn't upset anymore," she thought, then looked out the window and noticed that the weather had turned bad, the sparse, chaotic snowflakes turning into large flakes.

Finally the carriage stopped in front of a familiar little house on the outskirts of town, and Rhett helped Wade out, then Scarlett, noticing how cold her hands still were. He paid the coachman, then took all the paper bags and they pulled up in front of the house.

There was an awkward pause, Wade was already looking impatiently at the house, the snowflakes were falling and Scarlett noticed them on her companion's dark grey woollen coat.

She looked up at him and said, "Captain Butler, you've been a great help to us and I don't know how to thank you..."

Then he gave her a mischievous smile and his black eyes... Scarlett felt something for a moment, seeing that playful glint, those raised eyebrows, that smirk - it all seemed so strange familiar to her... As if she had seen it somewhere before...

"Dinner, Mrs Carter, remember? You invited me to dinner... I'd like to join you today, if it's not too much trouble..."

Scarlett looked into his black eyes again and... sneezed, managing to cover her nose with the palm of her hand.

Rhett looked at her lovingly and worriedly and just said, "Let's go inside, Scarlett, you need to warm up."

"Let's go," she replied, trying not to notice how warm she was becoming under his gaze.